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Bike Suspension

If you’re looking to ride off-road, you will most likely want to find a bike featuring some type of suspension. Your bike suspension lets the wheels move up and down to absorb bumps and shocks - without it, in any offroad situation you would quickly become uncomfortable and possibly suffer injury. There are a few different types of bike suspension that you’ll need to know about:

• Full suspension: Bikes with full suspension have suspension on both wheels. This is great for downhill riding on highly technical trails but it can make riding uphill more difficult – the rear suspension tends to absorb some of the power of each pedal stroke – for this reason some riders prefer to only have front wheel suspension.

• Partial or front suspension: A bike with front wheel suspension only is called a hardtail. Hardtails are great for most general use – they are also much cheaper and simpler than full suspension bikes.

• Some bikes feature limited rear suspension called a soft tail. These designs don’t sacrifice climbing ability as much as a full suspension bike but they generally are not as effective either.

• A bike with no suspension at all is referred to as rigid. Generally these bikes are okay for simple dirt roads but some type of bike suspension is recommended for even mildly technical trails or downhill riding.

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