RELATED SEARCHES
Sponsored Mountain Bike Suspensions Results:
Mountain Bike Suspensions: Front Forks And Suspension Performance
By:
Published: March 16, 2007
Many of the complaints about off road biking are the same. It's great fun and great exercise, but it's hard on the body. It can be an incredibly jarring experience once a bike goes away from the pavement and off road. However, with the right mountain bike suspensions any bumpy ride can be turned into a smooth experience for the rider.
It just takes the right research and testing to find the mountain bike suspensions that fit each rider's style and match the terrain.
Mountain bike suspensions are a big, changing business. Since the late 1990s, the experience of riding uneven terrain has changed drastically. In order to give riders more support when attacking off road courses and uneven surfaces, bikes started carrying front-end mountain bike suspensions. These mountain bike suspensions allow the wheel to give and absorb the shock so that it does not reach the rider. The front end suspension models (called hard tails), are the most common type of mountain bike suspensions on the market right now.
The mountain bike suspensions that are quickly gaining popularity, however, are those with both front and back end suspensions. Many riders find the experience to be a little uneven at first, due to the moderate decrease in stability in the back wheel. Nevertheless, with both tires gaining the benefit of suspension performance, it makes for an all around more smooth and enjoyable ride. Still, those used to the hard tail models or even the less common soft tails, where the suspension is fully on the back, there is going to be some trouble adapting to full mountain bike suspensions.
Understanding mountain bike suspensions relies a lot on understanding one key piece of the bike: the front forks. The front forks on any bike will come in one of two models, either with the mountain bike suspensions or rigid. The benefit of the suspended front forks is clearly making for a smoother ride as the fork adjusts to uneven planes with the tire. However, many riders prefer the stability of bikes with rigid front forks. The danger with those, however, is that the wear and tear on rigid front forks can be much greater, and in some cases can break the fork, rendering the bike useless.
For that reason, suspension forks are the most common and most popular on today's market. That having been said, bikes with full suspension forks are still far more expensive, often going for more than $1,000. They are also much heavier than hard tail mountain bike suspensions or rigid bikes. It's a cost versus performance analysis from here. More casual road bike users could probably get away with spending less and going for the cheaper, lighter hard tail models. Those who care deeply for suspension performance, or who ride often enough to be seriously affected by driving uneven terrain on a hard tail bike, should definitely look into purchasing full mountain bike suspensions.
Mountain bike suspensions are far more important than anyone might suspect, as they affect the entire ride and life of the cycle. Picking the wrong suspension type for a riders style can be disastrous in the long term. The best thing possible is to try out all the different mountain bike suspensions types, and discover the one that fits a rider's particular style. Is the suspension enough to accommodate the ground being navigated? Is it light enough to take around? Is it stable enough? Ask these questions before making any major bike purchase.
Sources:
How to Buy a Full-Suspension Mountain Bike. eHow. 22 Nov. 2005. 13 Mar. 2007. http://www.ehow.com/how_14113_buy-full-suspension. html.
Tisue, Kevin. “How Much Suspension Do I Need?” About: Mountain Biking. 10 Feb. 2007. About, Inc. 13 Mar. 2007. http://mountainbike.about.com/od/buyersguideandrev iews/f/suspension_size.htm.
"Mountain Bike." Wikipedia. 11 Mar. 2007. 13 Mar. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_bike.
Ross, Mark. “CPSC, Answer Products Announce Mountain Bike Suspension Fork Recall.” Consumer Product Safety Commission. 14 Feb. 2003. 13 Mar. 2007. http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/PRHTML96/96114. html.
Related Articles
Mountain bike suspensions are a big, changing business. Since the late 1990s, the experience of riding uneven terrain has changed drastically. In order to give riders more support when attacking off road courses and uneven surfaces, bikes started carrying front-end mountain bike suspensions. These mountain bike suspensions allow the wheel to give and absorb the shock so that it does not reach the rider. The front end suspension models (called hard tails), are the most common type of mountain bike suspensions on the market right now.
The mountain bike suspensions that are quickly gaining popularity, however, are those with both front and back end suspensions. Many riders find the experience to be a little uneven at first, due to the moderate decrease in stability in the back wheel. Nevertheless, with both tires gaining the benefit of suspension performance, it makes for an all around more smooth and enjoyable ride. Still, those used to the hard tail models or even the less common soft tails, where the suspension is fully on the back, there is going to be some trouble adapting to full mountain bike suspensions.
Understanding mountain bike suspensions relies a lot on understanding one key piece of the bike: the front forks. The front forks on any bike will come in one of two models, either with the mountain bike suspensions or rigid. The benefit of the suspended front forks is clearly making for a smoother ride as the fork adjusts to uneven planes with the tire. However, many riders prefer the stability of bikes with rigid front forks. The danger with those, however, is that the wear and tear on rigid front forks can be much greater, and in some cases can break the fork, rendering the bike useless.
For that reason, suspension forks are the most common and most popular on today's market. That having been said, bikes with full suspension forks are still far more expensive, often going for more than $1,000. They are also much heavier than hard tail mountain bike suspensions or rigid bikes. It's a cost versus performance analysis from here. More casual road bike users could probably get away with spending less and going for the cheaper, lighter hard tail models. Those who care deeply for suspension performance, or who ride often enough to be seriously affected by driving uneven terrain on a hard tail bike, should definitely look into purchasing full mountain bike suspensions.
Mountain bike suspensions are far more important than anyone might suspect, as they affect the entire ride and life of the cycle. Picking the wrong suspension type for a riders style can be disastrous in the long term. The best thing possible is to try out all the different mountain bike suspensions types, and discover the one that fits a rider's particular style. Is the suspension enough to accommodate the ground being navigated? Is it light enough to take around? Is it stable enough? Ask these questions before making any major bike purchase.
Sources:
How to Buy a Full-Suspension Mountain Bike. eHow. 22 Nov. 2005. 13 Mar. 2007. http://www.ehow.com/how_14113_buy-full-suspension. html.
Tisue, Kevin. “How Much Suspension Do I Need?” About: Mountain Biking. 10 Feb. 2007. About, Inc. 13 Mar. 2007. http://mountainbike.about.com/od/buyersguideandrev iews/f/suspension_size.htm.
"Mountain Bike." Wikipedia. 11 Mar. 2007. 13 Mar. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_bike.
Ross, Mark. “CPSC, Answer Products Announce Mountain Bike Suspension Fork Recall.” Consumer Product Safety Commission. 14 Feb. 2003. 13 Mar. 2007. http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/PRHTML96/96114. html.
Featured Mountain Bike Suspensions Products:
