9 Tips for Picking the Right Bike - Hardtail Party's 95% rule

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[reallybigphilly]

I do find many mountainbike channels and most marketing channels tend towards glorifying the 'extreme and hardcore' enduro and downhill racing - good to see someone else catching on to that :D
But flowy cross country trails through beautiful scenery on a hardtail with XC tyres can be unbelievably satisfying. It's easy to forget when checking out all the tricked out full suspension bikes though...

[Carlsen]

Why has Youtube never recommended your channel. ?? But I'm glad I found it myself. :-) I have a hardtail and are tired of hearing that the only right choice is a fullsuspension

[mtb]

The 95% Rule applies to picking a spouse too. : )

[bensieber]

30 years of mountain biking and it's the flow, the swoops, the pops that are fun for me. Extreme steeps and drops and tech look cool in videos but are high risk, high impact and only great for elite level skills. Give me an old school hardtail and miles and miles of smooth singletrack snaking through a forest and I'm in heaven. I guess I still operate from the mindset when mountain bike choice was steel or aluminum, 2.25 tires seemed huge, and "do I really need a suspension fork?" Yes, I've owned a number of full sus rockets, but it's hardtails that I still ride, including a rigid single speed. Love your channel, love your videos, love your attitude!

[SuperSarlatan]

This is your 3rd video in a row, in which you taught me something I have never heard of. And I am watching a lot of US-UK MTB videos, GMBN, Bikeradar... Cheers from Hungary! Besides, I am hardtail fun too. In my country a hardtail is good 95 % of the time... ;)

[LeDore]

Great advice,
I'm living in the center of Paris and don't own a car, so a gravel/cx bike is actually my 95%, in the forests around Paris technical spots are pretty rare and leaving the city is at least 15 km each way so tarmac efficiency is still important.
The fast acceleration and snapiness actually makes the easy singletracks way funnier.
Doesn't hurt that it doubles as an almost road bike with a second wheelset.

Some friends ride tracklocross with mtb geo for the same reason.

Now, my parents live in the Alps and I left my 13 y old Al deore mtb at their place and I'm actually quite underbiked with it (mostly steep chunky descents and going up by jeep trails, with a few flowier trails and tight turns mixed in). Still having fun but I'm considering getting a trail hardtail that would double as a remote bikepacking rig.
The gravel bike is a bad choice there, 95% of the trails are too rough, and a light road bike is way better for climbing roads.

[jonmarshall]

I’m guessing you won’t get a job at Mountain Bike Action magazine 😂 it’s taken me years to come around to your way of thinking. Well thought out video.

[MaddBaggins]

This is a great video and so true. I spent a lot of time thinking long and hard about what bike I would build. I finally realized a good hardtail 29er with 130mm forks was going to be my jam.

[_drawkward_]

This is the most balanced take I have seen about this on the YouTubes. Way late with the thank you, obviously, but thank you.

[sixate]

I have helped a few friends get into mountain biking over the past year. I have had them all watch this video and your video of the phases we have all gone through. Very helpful vids to help point people in the right direction who are newer to the sport.

[douglawrence]

Great explanation again I ride a Chromag Hartrail up hear in BC because my full squish erased my local my Hardtail (with modern geometry), Made them come alive again.. I do ride a little slower but still do everything I used to on my like Steve says be RIGOROUSLY honest with yourself and you will have more fun

[Max-xlml]

Totally agree with this. Although I think I follow the 50 percent rule. On most of my local blue and blue to black trails I'm a bit underbiked on a rigid. Then again my skill level isnt quite there either lol. Couldnt be happier running the rigid right now though. Front range colorado trails are so busy its impossible to maintain social distancing so ive been stuck in the city. A rigid or hardtail make great urban shredders, ive been bombing alleyways, staircases, urban dirttracks and my backyard. A full squish would be boring soaking up curbs and concrete chunk like a road bike on fresh asphalt.

[j.l.]

Been binging your videos, you post the best current advice for both novice and experienced riders alike. I’ll point anyone thinking about getting a new bike directly to this video. When I want to make my local trails more interesting and different I’ll take out the 26” single speed short travel dirt jumper 👍🏼

[enpluson]

I love your perspective on this, as it is something i have seen firsthand, working as a salesman in a bikeshop. Seemingly everybody is asking for an Enduro bike, despite the fact that there are no trails requiring that sort of thing near where i live and ride. This applies mostly to very unexperienced riders that are getting their first proper Mountainbike and struggle with getting a proper bunnyhop done. Selling the idea of a trail hardtail is something i do on a daily basis.

[Mr-lmdv]

In May I got back into mtb after a 20 years away from it. Back then I was into full-sus, but this time I was on a tighter budget so I got a decent-ish hardtale (2019 Specialized Chisel Comp-X1). I did suffer a bit of buyers regret at first... what with all the other dudes riding full-squish at the local trails (Waterloo, Ontario). After riding a few more weeks and reflecting I became convinced that 2/3 of those dudes are way over-biked for where we were riding). Maybe I'm just cherry picking my information, but this video very much sums up and resonates with my feelings. Lovin' my hard-tale (95% of the time!).

[standandeliver]

4:12 Exactly! If only everyone realised this. People are missing out.

[johanlindh]

I'm a bit late to the party, but thanks for a great video. I'm planning to buy my first serious MTB this year and I keep going back to wanting a full sus but I really don't have any need for it so this video really helped me getting my focus back.

[joebikes]

I agree 100%. BUT, the right bike is actually.... two bikes.... haha! Especially in Northwest Arkansas where I'm at. A capable 150-170 full suss and an mild/aggressive hardtail is the perfect combo for the trails here.

[Tribal]

just want to say your videos are great. Rare form of concentrating on the real world, not a forum style theory min/maxing that looks good on paper. Learned a lot from your videos

[JimmyBeanz]

I built a Big Al to add all the components to that I want for a future FS build. We have some crazy billy goat rocky trails here in Michaux Forest PA! Stepping it up one paycheck at a time is what's nice about the Ragley, until I graduate to the skill level of a FS ride. Fundamentals of my bmx years at 16 expert are quickly coming back at age my body would bounce back as fast as 16.