The dream of the all-rounder bike was born shortly after someone invented the fully in the early nineties. Before that day, the hardtail was the perfect mountain bike because there was nothing else. Back then, gifted riders like John Tomac won cross-country and downhill races on the same bike. Even today, this archaic longing for simplicity still haunts the minds of bikers. There is a bike for everything, it whispers from internet forums and sales catalogues. This wonder bike is said to have the shape of the original mountain bike: Diamond frame, unsprung! In view of the enormous range of movement of modern mountain bikers, this is a full-bodied promise: on tour, in the bike park, perhaps even on the dirt track - and as an everyday bike with a payload of 10 kilos, this all-rounder should feel right at home.
This promise is fuelled by titans like Danny MacAskill, who do backflips on an unsuspended small bike over anything standing around in junkyards and drop into the flat from 5 metres without the rim groaning. Or by CC heroes such as Nino Schurter, who prance over snarling rock gardens on huge bikes with hardly any suspension and hoisted saddles. With reference to such exceptional artists, some bike manufacturers want us to believe that their hardtail is the real deal. The noble English Cotic "BFe", for example, is said to be the ideal vehicle "from enduro to bike park use and bike mountaineering; 4X and dirt jump". The Commençal can easily keep up - at least according to the brochure: "Enduro, Big Mountain, Small Hills, Cross Country, Trial, City, Pumptrack" can be read on the website as the area of use.
How the hell is all this supposed to work? Have these hardtail freaks never ridden a fully? On the contrary. Even companies like Nicolai, which first and foremost built fullys, swear by the hardtail, with which, according to the advertising copy, you can "push far into the fully territory". In order to separate advertising promises from reality, we engaged one of the fastest fully riders in Germany: Marcus Klausmann. He is used to large-calibre two-wheelers, but is also a master of delicate cross-country bikes and is also an excellent analyst. The four bikes that we scrutinised with him at the Freiburg "Borderline" can hardly be compared with each other. They each represent their own hardtail concept, from the conventional 26-inch steel frame to the 29-inch Kona and the experimental 27.5-inch Nicolai with a toothed belt drive. The enormous price range of 1400 to 6200 euros also prevents a direct comparison.
The test is therefore intended as a system comparison. The question is which concept comes closest to the all-in-one bike. Can we disband our fully fleet and satisfy our freeride needs without rear suspension? Unfortunately, our impression is different. The testers - especially Marcus - had fun on the trails with the hardtails. However, they wouldn't want to swap any of the bikes for their fully. Even though the consistently high-quality forks cushion a lot of impacts, the ankles are repeatedly massaged by massive bumps. This leaves little time to devote to the finer things on the trail, and you're also giving away opportunities to jump and play. The bad thing is: the more forgiving the fork, the more pronounced the imbalance. After this experience, we also advise beginners to use a fully. Marcus Klausmann refutes the theory that you learn riding technique "from scratch" with a hardtail with a nice comparison: "Should learner riders learn to use the clutch in an old Beetle just because it's harder?"
CONCLUSIONS: After this test, we can imagine a type of cyclist for whom a light, lively hardtail like the Cotic or the Commençal is the ideal all-rounder bike: he rides his bike to work, compensates for bumpy sections on tours with a smooth riding style and likes to incorporate dirt jumps into his home circuit. He also sometimes heads to bike parks, but only rides the fourcross, flow and Northshore trails there. We envy anyone who can simplify their life in this way with a bike for everything. For enduro riders, freeriders and bike park fans, however, the loss of performance due to the lack of rear suspension is too great. The bobbing at the rear is simply annoying - both uphill and downhill.
These freeride hardtails were tested
- Commencal Meta HT SX
- Cotic BFE
- Nicolai Argon AM Pinion
- Kona Honzo
