Upgrading to fs from hardtail

[Philinmerthyr]

I’ve have owned a cube reaction hybrid for 8 months and done 4,000 miles mainly on non technical singletrack and forestry trails on the South Wales valleys and Brecon Beacons. It is fitted with high end 120mm forks and a dropper.

I’ve avoided the more adventurous trails as my background is road cycling so I lack the bike handling skills. I’m about to upgrade to a Whyte e160e. With the view of being more adventurous. How forgiving Will I find it on more rocky terrain. I don’t plan to do large drops or jumps. I’m also going from a 29er to 27.5.

what Can I expect? How should I approach stepping to to real mountain bike trails?

 

[mtb-steve]

Your arse will thank you!
I started with a Cube HT, then borrowed my dads FS and that just ruined me so I found a FS Orbea.
You can ride both in the same terrain, you just tend to be a bit more careful about line choice with the HT and that's not a bad thing, you'll also get more pedal strikes with the FS until you get used to timing your pedaling, then you jump back on the HT and realise how efficient it is
I've kept my HT for now as it's good for rides with my wife on road/forest tracks and BMBO events, the FS is used for most of my other rides.
As for progressing to more technical terrain get some training or find some locals to ride with, or both.
Following a good rider can be helpful to a point as long as they're taking your experience into account and are willing to answer your questions about why and how they ride like they do.
Also there's a lot of good YouTube videos on various techniques, the Pink bike ones seem quite good.

Steve

 

[Ogofmole]

I also ride a FS Orbea in the Brecon Beacons, great comfort on those rocky tracks. And I like the way that 29in wheels role over the lumps in the ground.

 

[pmcdonald]

Jumped from a Giant HT to Merida FS recently and oh my, I've found it a lot more forgiving, plush, confidence-inspiring.

 

[Gary]

FS Emtbs are also a lot more nimble than Ehardtails