First Ride On A Hardtail - The Perfect Winter Bike?

[@CalmoOmlac]

I'm 42 and never had a fully. Always ride/rode hardtails, even downhill :)

[@rents1977]

I've never ridden a full suss either, I was riding rigid steel til 2003. Used to pick lines much more carefully on a rigid, I feel suspension makes you a bit "lazy". Why go round when you can just cush over? Lol.

[@firminshepherd4834]

I recall an article in MBUK (around 27 yrs ago) where some dude and a pro rider switched bikes on a downhill course and naturally the pro still cleaned up. Skills, man, skills! As always, an outstanding video. Keeping it real. Kudos and best wishes!

[@AdamAshFay]

Literally in the process of a 27.5 Bird AM frame right now. Really good to see someone else riding one.

[@ShredBikesPetKitties]

13:56 "I'm actually going to take it fairly easy on this one". Proceeds to scream down the trail on a hardtail faster than I could on a full sus DH bike!

[@Ali_Clarkson]

Haha to be fair, that was a nice straight bit of trail without anything too chunky, pretty sure a DH bike would be slower on that bit!

[@PuffinPass]

I ride a Ragley Bluepig mulleted and love it. I know the day is coming where I will have to switch to a full sus in order to lighten some of the leg abuse but I am going to keep at it for as long as I can. I think it is the added challenge and difficulty that I enjoy most, I tend to do things the hard way anyways so this plays into that a bit. To this point I can't say I have ridden anything that I would have had more fun on with a full sus though. Either way as long as a person is out there and having fun doing it then it makes no difference what you are riding it on.

[@xyrius]

The asscam :D It's always a good thing to open up for different audiences :D

[@Ali_Clarkson]

😂

[@streetpigeonmtb]

Nice riding as always. Classic Golfie lighting conditions 👌

[@chrismcgourty1756]

Got a full sus and two hardtails, I hardly use my full sus after the honeymoon period I had with it. Just seems to have a lot more control and makes you work harder in the process, feels like it did when I was a kid. Cracking trails.

[@dansacco1964]

I love my hardtail even if it is like riding a stapler. I like to session rocky features on the trail with my modest trials skills. The hardtail is a great choice for that. A riding lessons vid would be informative. Looking forward to you entering trials comps on this and the 29er.

[@gibbonRS]

As much as I love my trials and enduro bikes, most of my rides are on my 140mm winter hardtail. It's way more fun that it has any right to be. I leave the mudhuggers on year round, cheap and care-free 10sp drivetrain, it's a do-it-all road/gravel/trail/jib toy in any weather. As for your vision, I'm short sighted too. Didn't matter for trials riding, but contact lenses were game changing for riding trails so they're worth trying out.

[@oldetymebiker2405]

I ride hardtail 80% of the time, full suspension makes my local trails boring. Your first impression and James May analogy were spot on, you do go slower, but its way scarier. Also, keep your head up man. You need to spot your line and put the wheels were you need them way more on a hard tail and looking at your front wheel tenses you up. Great vid man.

[@mattrockwell6214]

If Bird will give you a Forge, I'd highly recommend trying that here. I've got a Moxie and it's a very different experience to bouncing down hills on my aluminium hardtail

[@lukeharris84]

I’m in the Moxie club too! What a bike… built it up last winter and haven’t ridden my Hightower since 🤟

[@Blackberries_86_86]

Hardtail 4 life 🤙🏻

[@bobtknob]

I have a mullet hardtail, which I use for local and shorter rides, and I bloody love it Also did ard rock and naughty Northumbrian on it too

[@trueckforth]

Ali, you are doing great! Thanks for the video, cheers T.

[@lkb3rd]

I love a nice light responsive hardtail!

[@billlandon2160]

You know the wildlife’s waiting there for a wipeout 🍿 Killer riding- the cat can trial the trails. On a hard tail! 🎉

[@devononair]

It's surprising you've not tried a hardtail until now! Then again, I've never ridden a full susser, and I've been riding as long as you! Keep on riding :)

[@howardjones8629]

Never thought about doing NYNY on a hardtail, but bet it made the climb up better for sure!

[@weebryan]

Pretty much same set up as my winter bike, the hardtail defo gets the line picking back, its a good change for the better, spd made all the difference for me no more cut shins and better pedal efficiency, multi release kinda feels like flats enough to keep clipped in can do some trials move in them

[@dimensionsofearth]

Nice bike, I love my hardtail(s) and have tweaked mine to be a really nice trail bike. I think taking a little trail riding course would be sweet too!

[@eartharrow6772]

Great vid and I am genuinely interested in this bike now

[@racefaceec90]

i have recently bought a full sus bike as i am definitely starting to feel bumps a lot more nowadays (even on road sections on my road bike sometimes). love my ht bike i must add but am loving my new fs bike now for sure (and my back etc def does also).

[@InitialP_Photography]

Hard tails for the win!

[@Dani-El.]

21:37 Ali, do you ever have dreams where you're pulling wheelies? I do, so just wondering if other mountain bikers do. You can get all the way back - like 90-degrees. And it actually feels like it would do. It's quite mental having that sensation and not falling off.

[@Ali_Clarkson]

I don’t have wheelie/manual dreams but I do have barspin/tailwhip ones!

[@audunskilbrei8279]

Sometimes I dream that I can do manuals. Then I wake up and realize I can’t.

[@Dani-El.]

@@audunskilbrei8279 Do yours go all the way back to an impossible 90 degree angle? It's such a weird feeling, because obviously in real life you'd either fall back or have to put your feet down.

[@audunskilbrei8279]

@@Dani-El. no. I’m just doung normal awesome manuals all over the place like a pro. It’s exhilarating. But then I wake up.

[@Dani-El.]

@@audunskilbrei8279 Next time it happens, lean all the way back. It's awesome.

[@SosiskaTheHorrible]

I just got a mudhugger rear so I can use me dropper without taking one on and off my seatpost. Some of us mere mortals use our only rig for shredding and commuting 😉

[@RalphIvanDelaTonga]

Interesting stuff

[@mtboutdoors40something]

Mind you can go wild with the travel. The geo on this frame is ace.

[@whateverrobert]

I like hard tail,bikes I own a couple and dh bikes and full suspension but what I grab more to ride is the hard tail

[@tonymighalls9667]

lol that mudguard looks like you robbed it off a vertigo moto-trials bike! Some nice shredding there, love hardtails, every ride keeps you on your toes! 🤘

[@OskarAnalog]

I really liked the angle when it worked , maybe you can angle it slightly on "backmount" , i had it strapped it sharp angled backwards in a backpack with back protection. So it was damped but stable.

[@Onlydansmtb]

My man riding a hardtail down Golfie 🤯 got some coconuts on you!

[@Sunspot-19]

Ali, that bike was not amused by your antics! Tryna stave off the mud stripe is pissin that sweet bike right off!!

[@raheslop]

Hi Ali, I’m about your age and regularly swap between riding a hardtail and a full suss, interestingly my hard tail frame is more akin to the Bird Forge than you mentioned at the end, so definitely worth chucking you leg over one. If I could ride my hard tail all the time I would but I can no longer take the abuse so switch between the two to give my body a break. Using the hard tail for short fun rides & the full suss for bigger all day rides. You mentioned arm pump and sadly that’s one of those things that comes with age, I tried the going to the gym to get stronger approach but that wasn’t for me. I now go bouldering once a week and try to focus on those climbs that use both arm strength & core strength to strengthen those muscles and it’s making a massive difference.

[@Ali_Clarkson]

I’ve had arm pump all my life, I struggled a lot with trials comps back in the day but changing to a super light action v-brake was a huge help…similarly the Hayes brakes have a light lever action and that’s helped quite a bit too but I still get it in longer rougher trails

[@ADI121195]

They make you pick smoother lines you gotta look ahead and pop over ruff sections to keep the flow and fatigue down them roots in Scotland are like snipers get ya out of nowhere 😂

[@Ali_Clarkson]

That makes sense, perhaps I should stick with the hardtail for longer to help teach me to look further ahead

[@yannickbelz]

As a Hardtail only rider, I can say that the first rides are the worst. I would say after 2 weeks you really get used to it and your body really adapts to it. At this point I would never trade it for a full sus again!

[@doncairns9275]

Hey Ali, time to get the fat bike out again? I'd love to see how you think it compares on the same trails... 👍

[@Ali_Clarkson]

Got rid of the fat bike a couple of years ago :(

[@meteormedia7021]

Man I wish I had trails like these near me. Scotlands is quite nice isn't it.

[@Ali_Clarkson]

Scotland is nice, still a 4 hour round trip for me to ride here though 😭

[@LongPeter]

I prefer to squishy things to hardness but to each their own 🎉

[@MTBScotland]

loving the jerry rigged camera mount. did make me feel quite nauseous lol

[@turboelephant6298]

That steel framed 29er looked superdooper...

[@turboelephant6298]

@jonamail3143 The black steel framed 29er isn't...

[@ceriway380]

Can I ask why you use 360x rather than the 360 rs , I like the long poll angle, uk mudguard are a must to keep clean.👍

[@jerryriding]

Nice riding Ali! I am actually short sighted too. I tried wearing glasses while riding but it didn't work out for me. They were coming off my head all the time. Then, I tried contact lens and I think it's the best choice for biking. They felt a bit weird at first but I got used to them relatively quick. I suggest you try them. Also, what cameras were you using in this video? Keep it up!

[@ShakaFPV]

How do you think the hardtail fairs against a full suss for doing more trials and jibbing?

[@Ali_Clarkson]

Video covering that this week :)

[@htimsdrahcir]

Mudguard question here, is that the mudhugger mk2? If so, is it the long or medium version? As always awesome video, I’ve got a Nukeproof Scout and I absolutely love smashing a hardtail all year round, but during the winter I don’t think it can be beaten. Hardtails for the win!

[@budycelyn]

love hardtails, all i ride these days,, training collab with ben cathro :) or any of the other numerous mtb pro's from up there

[@fraanzfan8158]

Thats not a rear mud guard. Thats a whole roof

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

Mr Clarkson, planning permission? 😅

[@edstorey4675]

I like my Chromag HT. Sure, speed is not my objective but it excels at slow, technical and punchy climby single-track. Also able to buy much higher quality frame in HT ,STEEL, than a FS comparable $ investment. .

[@chrisbarton8202]

Never having done any down hill stuff, some of it looks really sketchy and looks like it takes a lot of effort to ride the trails. Do you brake more with the rear or front brake?

[@IsaacRC]

Just today i was staring at a crazy steep trail wondering how a trials bike might handle it, although any bike not geared to climb easy like mtb and bomb roads at traffic speed like a roadie is not really worth it, oh wait, they don't even sell those 😂

[@andyflaw]

What size are your tyres?

[@lordnaz666]

Id rather get caked in mud than run that rear mudguard. Savage! 🤣

[@professionalidiot5099]

🫡respect my bro

[@Ali_Clarkson]

Thank you :)

[@rents1977]

You've been doing a few camera tests lately, so I was going to say I've noticed something with the different cameras on this video. The 360 and chesty cameras are nice and smooth, but the helmet cam is more jarring. I think the shutter speed is too fast? I'm not huge into video, but I think the term I'm looking for is the shutter angle? It's "normal" to have the shutter speed half the frame rate. If it isn't it can make the video look stuttery. Could just be my firestick/TV though 😅

[@Ali_Clarkson]

So I did up the frame rates on these cameras as people have commented in the past that I shouldn’t go down to 24/5fps. I can’t remember the exact reason but I didn’t match the DJI and GoPros fps (think it was due to the 360 camera not matching up or something) so for half of the video the GoPros fps matched the settings in my timeline so there are some dropped frames in the DJI footage. Half way through the day I did change the DJI to match the GoPro so hopefully looks smoother. It’s not something I ever really notice though so I always assume it looks good until someone says otherwise

[@rents1977]

@@Ali_Clarkson my eyes are kind of sensitive to these things. Most people probably didn't/wouldn't notice. The later footage the helmet cam seemed to be smoother, so does that tally with the changes you made? I assumed it was just using a slower shutter speed with less ambient light available. Anyway, I wouldn't have mentioned it had you not been doing the camera reviews 😅 it's wasn't that distracting from the actual content. Not so much as arse cam anyway 🤣

[@SosiskaTheHorrible]

Get varifocals, I wear them with no issues

[@sapinva]

Very strange, a trials rider who never rides hardtails. And not just any trials rider. How does that happen? If you feel the head angle change on the descents, your fork is way too soft. A too soft fork will actually beat you to death from the rear. The steel frame will make a night and day difference, it naturally softens the ride the harder you push it, whereas alloy fights back until something breaks.

[@mountaincruiser817]

So you hate how mudguards look? Funny, I hate how fishing poles jerryriged on bikes look. 😅

[@Ali_Clarkson]

Hey, I never said the pole was nice looking…or strong 🤦🏻

[@alimantado373]

To be honest theres so much Trails as in MTB out there , Trials (STB) is getting less and less coverage on YT. I come here for jibbage!

[@Ali_Clarkson]

There’ll be jibbage, it’s just hard you know…I live in a country where this time of year it’s just wet most of the time and also jibbing is the type of riding that aggravates my chronic pain the most :( That said, jibs are playing to my skill set and is top of my list of content I want to make but sometimes I have to make the videos I CAN make rather than what I WANT to make…I appreciate your keenness to see more stunts though 🤘🏻

[@alimantado373]

@@Ali_Clarkson Im old too and understand its better to move on to more sedentary sports. Im also in the UK. If I had that countryside around me Id ride it too, unfortunately Im in central London, so miss your urban riding 👍👍

[@pympin87]

i think it's a good idea to spend a week or so riding just a hardtail to break a bit of that "just plow through it" mentality you can get only riding dual sus bikes

[@Dwyane1st]

The chest cam footage looks fantastic. What camera do you use Ali?

[@Ali_Clarkson]

That’s a GoPro hero 12 with wide angle lens mod 👍🏻