Full-suspension bike

Key facts

Suspension

Full suspension

Wheel size

29″

Typical travel

100–200 mm

Bike types

MTB, eMTB

How it works

The rear wheel sits in a swingarm that pivots on the frame and is controlled by a rear shock. A linkage decides how the wheel moves and how the bike reacts to pedalling and braking — each brand's design is a different answer to that.

How much travel

• 100–120 mm: fast cross-country and marathon bikes.
• 120–150 mm: trail bikes that climb and descend equally well.
• 150–180 mm: enduro bikes for steep, rough descents.
• 180–200 mm and more: downhill and bike-park bikes.

Worth knowing

A full-suspension bike only works as well as it is set up: start with sag, then rebound. It also has pivots and bearings to look after, which a hardtail does not.

Related articles

• Electric mountain bike (eMTB) — A mountain bike with a pedal-assist motor and battery. The motor helps only while you pedal, so you climb more, ride further and spend the day descending.
• Hardtail — A mountain bike with a suspension fork and a rigid rear end: light, simple, cheap to keep running — and the bike that teaches you to ride well.
• Specialized — An American bike company from California, founded in 1974. Its Stumpjumper of 1981 was one of the first mountain bikes sold in large numbers.
• Trek — An American bike maker from Wisconsin, founded in 1976 in a barn in Waterloo. One of the largest bike brands in the world, with a full mountain range from hardtails to downhill.
• Santa Cruz Bicycles — A Californian maker of full-suspension mountain bikes, founded in 1993. Known for its VPP linkage, carbon frames with a lifetime warranty and the V10 downhill bike.
• Canyon — A German bike brand from Koblenz that sells directly to riders online, without shops. It began in 1985 as Radsport Arnold and has carried the Canyon name since 2002.
• Wheel size — Mountain bikes roll on 26′′, 27.5′′ or 29′′ wheels. Bigger wheels roll over obstacles more easily and carry speed; smaller ones are quicker to turn and throw around.
• Rear shock — The spring and damper that control the rear wheel of a full-suspension bike. Its tune and setup decide whether the back of the bike grips, pedals and lands well.
• Downhill (DH) — Racing one steep, rough track from top to bottom, against the clock, on bikes with around 200 mm of travel. A World Cup run lasts three to four minutes and is decided by fractions of a second.
• Trail riding — The most common way to ride a mountain bike: loops that climb under your own power and descend the good stuff, on one bike that does a bit of everything.
• Enduro — Racing the descents and riding the climbs: timed downhill stages linked by untimed transfers you pedal up yourself. Also the name of the long-travel bikes built for it.
• Suspension setup — Half an hour with a shock pump makes a bigger difference than most upgrades. Set the air pressure by sag, then rebound, then compression — one change at a time.
• Sag — How far the suspension compresses under the rider's own weight, standing in the riding position — given as a percentage of travel. The first number to set on any suspension.
• Suspension travel — How far a wheel can move on its suspension, in millimetres — the first number in any mountain bike's description. More travel absorbs bigger hits; less travel pedals and weighs less.
• Rock garden — A section of trail covered in rocks — fixed or loose, round or sharp — with no smooth line through. Momentum, line choice and loose arms are what get you across.