The word ‘more’ almost universally equates to ‘better’, whether that’s cake, time on your bike or money. But does that rule apply to suspension designs? That’s what this test aims to find out.
Mountain bikes have become increasingly complicated as designers search for perfect suspension performance through a complex balancing act that aims to deliver bump compliance, pedalling efficiency, grip and traction, mid-stroke support and bottom-out resistance. Designs have evolved beyond the once-popular ‘pure’ single pivot and the enduring four-bar Horst-link layout, to include single-pivots with shock linkages, twin-link set-ups and, most recently, six-bar systems. Of course, there have been deviations along the way, too – see last issue for a deep dive into this.
Despite the shift towards more complex systems, claimed to offer easier-to-tune performance, there are plenty…
