A full suspension trail bike is also known as a twin suspension off-road bike because it is equipped with shock absorbers for both wheels. This is in opposition to the hardtail mountain bike that has a shock absorber for the front wheel. Both sorts of trail bikes have their own uses. The hardtail bike is simpler to pedal and is faster than the full suspension bike on smooth terrain. However the second kind can run faster on coarse terrain because the shock absorber allows more traction by soaking up the effect of stumbling blocks. Aside from offering the rider a more comfy ride, the bike suspension also reinforces potency and safety.
Sorts of bike Suspension
The suspension system can be implemented through a suspension stem, suspension front fork, rear suspension, suspension seat post, or suspension heart. A mix of these methodologies may also be applied. It should be observed that the suspension stem is no longer popular.
The front suspension is usually made feasible by using a couple of shock absorbers for the front fork. The shock absorber is frequently made up of a spring and a damper. The spring could be a coil spring, compressed air, or elastomer. The damper is mostly offered by letting oil pass through shim stacks or small openings.
Types of Rear Suspension
Rear suspension is commonly regarded to mean full suspension because trail bicycles with single suspension frequently apply a front suspension technology. The kinds of rear suspension include the single pivot, soft tail, Horst link and 4 bar suspensions, unified rear triangle, Virtual Pivot Point, FSR system, DW-link, Equilink, Monolink, and split pivot.
The single pivot is the most simple kind and is also the cheapest. Numerous bike makers have implemented their own designs for rear suspension and each design has its own benefits and downsides. It is up to the buyer to determine which of the features are most crucial to him.
Buying a Full Suspension Mountain Bike
When planning to purchase a full suspension trail bike it is important to ask if you’re truly serious about having the ability to ride across coarse terrain. A good hardtail trail bicycle will be faster than the least costly full suspension bike because the latter is mostly heavier except for being laden with the intrinsic drawbacks of a rear suspension.
The quantity of suspension travel is also significant when buying this kind of mountain bike. For uphill or cross country racing, suspension travel should be less than 4.5 inches. These are lighter because the less suspension travel, the lighter the bike.
However for those that need to do some jumping or free riding, the extra weight is not a primary concern. Thus, this kind of off-road bike will usually require 6 to 8 inches of suspension travel. And in between these two is the trail bike, which requires up to 6.5 inches of suspension travel.
