Ideal Suspension Travel for SoCal is.....?

At one point I had a cross bike, a hardtail and an 100mm FS. I liked switching back and forth because the FS would blaze right through stuff I'd avoid on the cross bike, and then I'd get on the hardtail and blaze the FS line as well as ride a little more aggressively on the CX bike.

I like a full lockout on the shock as well, cuz it keeps my seat position in the best climbing place relative to the bottom bracket. For my So Cal riding, there's pavement and smooth fire road involved in most rides, and I want the suspension as rigid as possible (which is probably a holdover from my roadie days). I only switch to 'trail' when things get rough.

 

This is the attitude ^^^

Although I've got a lot to learn, and am about the least technically skilled of the guys I frequently ride with, I'm going to choose to learn from the guys who can ride anything on any bike. There are several posters in this thread who are being pretty modest. They are faster and smoother in chunky stuff than most guys on enduro machines. They can ride just about anything... Maybe not as aggressively on a HT, but quite impressively.

On the flip side, we also have a frequent poster on here who was quite happy to do a 50 mile road ride on a 6 inch travel bike. Smiling the whole time.

 

What you're describing is the rider's reluctance, not the bike...

 

Is this why the Wolfman blew past me going uphill on the way to Golden Eagle???

 

Glad to see your making do with the poor riding out there... Way to suffer through it!

Nice climb, by the way.

 

This is really funny, 23 votes for 120-130cm, 8 votes for 150-160mm and 4 votes for hardtail, but he fight rages on.

 

Do as I say, not as I do...

 

That was very temporary, and I settled into my place toward the back of the conga line soon enough. Besides, I was riding my wife’s 29er with 120mm F/R. Riding that after being used to a 160mm F/R 26er feels like having a motor.

 

I was not one of the ones who voted hardtail.

My argument is with the "I ride with dudes who can't ride a trail on a hardtail; therefore, it's the hardtail that's the problem". By that logic you should kill every hardtail rider in this thread on things like San Juan, the Luge, etc... And that isn't the case.

Rider counts more than bike every day of the week.

 

100% agreed. I get smoked on my local spots by hardtail riders weekly. blows by mind.

 

Can we go back to fighting about clipless verse flats or oval chainrings?

 

I would be so much faster if I had a motor...

 

I have an oval on one of my bikes.

I have flats on one of my bikes.

Not the same bike though.

Oh, and some are 1x while some are 2x.

 

I also find the idea travel to be the Metrolink.

 

When I first saw the thread, my initial response was going to be, "Bend is a nice place to travel to from SoCal."

 

Oakridge is better! Bend sucks!

I'm in the mood to argue today.

 

My bike's better than your bike,
my bike's better than yours!

My bike's better cuz he eats Ken-L Ration,
my bike's better than yours!

 

Oregon is green because it rains all the freakin' time....I can do without that, my own self. I'm a desert rat at the core.

 

I’ve ridden Telonics on my XC HT but would rather ride it on my FS. My FS only weighs a couple pounds more than my HT and is a lot nicer, that’s what drives my decision to just ride one MTB. Quiver killer, for ME. I also like to jump a lot and as mentioned before I take my RIP9 to the bike park, not a good place for a XC or even trail HT. Simple as that, ride what suits your needs... I need a bike I can pedal all day long or take laps at the park.

Oh, I ride clipless at the bike park too so maybe we should debate that for a bit.

 

Isn’t Bend more arid and desert like than the typical Oregon that people think of?

 

There are other reasons I avoid Oregon...

 

Damn hippies!

 

High desert like Bishop.

 

MOAR BOOST

 

Yes, exactly. Rain shadow of the Cascades.

 

Oakridge is old lava, user friendly, 50 miles west of Bend is new lava, very unfriendly to your tires and your skin
Happy glass trails in lava land

 

Look at your current bike and find the dust line from the last ride. Is it 90% of the travel? then you need more. Is it less than 60% of the travel? then you are not fast enough on the drops.
Happy drops on the rugged trails

 

Full sus bikes are easier to climb in the chunk than a hardtail.

 

Well that's kind of an odd summation. Both of those speak more to how much air is in your fork than anything else. 90% of your travel? Probably perfect for where and how you are riding. But if 90% worries you, add air. 60% of your travel? You could use less air, or maybe you are riding really mild trails.

I am still perplexed by this thread. I see some elitism coming through from the proud riders of the least suspension and their uber skills, and I see a complete lack of understanding that there is a HUGE variety of trails in SoCal. A good rider could probably descend any of them on minimum travel, if that's what makes him/her satisfied.

If you like suspension, get the amount you like. If you don't, don't. Then ride the SoCal trails that suit your tastes.