All About Full Suspension Bikes

A full suspension mountain bike is also known to be a double suspension off-road mountain bike sine it features shock absorbers for both of its wheels. This is completely contrary to the hardtail mountain bikes that are equipped with just a single shock absorber on its front wheel.

Both types of trail bike have their own purposes. The hardtail bike is easier to pedal and runs faster than the full suspension bike especially if run on smooth terrains. However, the full suspension bikes can run faster on rough terrain since its shock absorber allows more friction by absorbing the effects of stumbling rocks. Aside from providing the cyclist with a more comfortable riding experience, full suspension bikes offers safety and functionality.

Different Types of Bike Suspensions

The suspension system is composed of a suspension heart, suspension seat post, rear suspension, suspension front fork and suspension. A mix of any of these aspects can also be utilized.

The front suspension is normally made by using a couple of shock absorbers on the front fork. Shock absorbers are commonly made out of damper and a spring and its spring could be a coil spring, elastomer or compressed air. Dampers works by letting the oil pass through small openings.

Front Suspension Mountain Bikes

One of the many advantages to front suspension is that pedaling on this bike is made easier especially on the road or smooth surfaces and terrains. They also weigh lighter than its counterpart and only need minimal maintenance. If you have plans in going on biking on a long distance on the road, then hardtail mountain bikes would definitely suit your need. Hardtail mountain bikes are also ideal for jumping.

Full Suspension Mountain Bikes

Full suspension mountain bikes are comfortable and very easy to maneuver. By having front and rear wheel shocks, full suspension bikes provide an even distribution of weight. This means that hitting bumps and obstacles would feel a lot easier on the body. This feature is most helpful especially if you are planning to ride through rough terrains.

However, there is still a drawback to full suspension mountain bikes. And that is adding additional shock absorbers to the bike would also add additional weight to the bike. In addition, full suspension mountain bikes are normally a lot more expensive than hardtail mountain bikes.

Different Types of Rear Suspension

Rear suspension is generally known to be a full suspension since trail bicycle with just a single suspension usually uses a front suspension technology. The different types of rear suspension would include split pivot, Monolink, Equilink, DW-link, FSR system, Virtual Pivot Point, unified rear triangle, 4 bar suspensions, Horst link, soft tail and single pivot.

The single pivot is the common type of rear suspension, it is also the cheapest. Several bike manufacturers use their own designs for their rear suspension and each of their designs has their own advantages and disadvantages as well.

Purchasing a Full Suspension Mountain Bike

If you have plans in purchasing a full suspension mountain bike it is very important to ask yourself if you really have the ability to ride across rough terrains. A quality hardtail mountain bike would be much faster and safer to ride than the cheapest full suspension bike.

The number of suspension travels are should also be considered when purchasing full suspension mountain bikes. For cross country and uphill racing, the suspension travel should be 4.5 inches less. This means that full suspension mountain bikes are a lot lighter because the lesser suspension travels, the lighter the bicycle. However, for those people that are thinking to do some free riding and jumping, the extra weight on full suspension mountain bikes should not really be a concern.