We all know that a lot of mountain bikers won’t ride anything but a Full Suss, but there are still a lot of Hard Tail riders, and they continue in popularity especially as SS builds.
HTs offer easy handling, picking lines, and faster skill improvement. What some riders don’t want to lose is comfort and control with a weight within say 26lbs.
There are arguments for both, but I wonder if there is a bike which can offer something to both sides of the discussion… What if there was an HT which could offer superior comfort without gaining too much extra weight, and saving on the extra maintenance needed for an FS?
Bamboo, as a natural material, can offer a lot of characteristics that metals can, particularly when it comes to comfort and soaking up the bumps and jumps. The fibrous grass (not a wood as is commonly thought, so no danger of wood worm!) pulls up the shock of the ride through the frame before it hits the rider, meaning that although an HT, the ride is fluid and smooth.
Many riders getting on our bamboo HT have found that it offers easy handling with the simplicity of an HT, yet the absorption of the material boosts confidence and improves skills much quicker than an FS can. Flattening drops and obstacles, it enables the rider to feel what they’re riding over, without feeling all the shocks!
Chasing Trails offer Mountain bike skills courses and took our mountain bike for a day’s test ride, visit http://chasing-trails.blogspot.com/2010/02/raw-bamboo-bikes-dale-mountain-bike.html , and see some pics at http://www.rawbamboobikes.co.uk/gpage4.html
