Hardtail vs full suspension: Choosing your perfect e-bike

The word hardtail has a long, and surprisingly aquatic, history. It first entered the English language way back in 1704, describing the blue runner fish in North America. The Oxford English Dictionary traces its first appearance in relation to motorcycles to 1971, describing a motorcycle without rear suspension. This predates the first mountain bikes, but the burgeoning sport soon adopted the word as its own to describe a mountain bike with a rigid frame and a suspension fork at the front.  

Whether you need a hardtail or a full-suspension mountain bike is one of the oldest debates in mountain biking. Insert a motor into the equation, and it can become even more difficult to pick a side. Do you want the simplicity and directness of a hardtail, or the comfort and performance of a full-suspension bike? This short guide will help walk you through making your decision. 

In the simplest terms, a hardtail e-MTB is one with front suspension, while a full suspension e-MTB has suspension at both the front and rear of the bike. This fundamentally changes the riding experience between the two types of bikes, affecting the efficiency, weight and handling of the bike. Suspension can be a double-edged sword for some riders. If you are focused on conquering technical trails, then full suspension is a big advantage, but if your riding includes miles on the road or gravel tracks, then the rear suspension featured on full suspension e-MTBs may be an unnecessary complication and expense for you. 

Hardtails are where mountain biking begins for many people. With a suspension fork at the front and a simple, rigid frame, they are the most affordable and accessible of all mountain bikes, and that is no different for e-MTBs. 

A hardtail e-bike like our Grand Canyon:ON is perfect for beginners and people looking for a simple, easy-to-live with bike. With its rigid frame, mudguard mounts and optional kickstand, it is ready to be your everyday ride, while its 120mm suspension fork, fat tyres and powerful Bosch motor mean it also has everything you need to get out and start having fun off-road. It is also our most affordable e-bike, making it a great point to enter the world of e-bikes and assisted riding.  

For most serious mountain bikers, full suspension is their preferred type of bike. Even our elite cross-country racers generally prefer the Lux with front and rear suspension to our speed hardtail, the Exceed. The extra control and comfort that front and rear suspension brings make such a big difference in the technical sections, and when the Lux and Exceed weigh almost the same, the tradeoffs in hardtail vs full-suspension get smaller and smaller. Today, the biggest deciding factor is often budget, because the price difference between a simple, aluminium-framed hardtail and a carbon fibre World Cup race bike is significant.  

Having suspension at the front and the rear of the bike means the bike can absorb impacts much more effectively than a bike with only a suspension fork, making for a more composed, comfortable and fast ride. You also get a lot more grip with a full-suspension bike, so it can be a definite advantage climbing as well as descending. 

One of the big downsides of full-suspension is the increased maintenance requirements. The rear-suspension damper will require servicing at least once a year to keep it in good condition. On top of this, the frame uses a system of bearings and bushings that let the rear end move freely. Those pivot bearings and/or bushings will need to be serviced and replaced periodically. Both of these jobs generally require the assistance of a skilled mechanic.  

Full-suspension e-MTBs aimed at different disciplines will have different amounts of suspension travel to help them cope with more or less demanding terrain. For example, the all-rounder Neuron:ON AL has a 150mm fork and 145mm of rear wheel travel with a balanced, comfortable nature. This “mid-travel” bike doesn’t offer quite as much suspension travel as our more downhill-focused e-MTBs, but it offers just the right amount of travel to keep you comfortable on a wide range of trails.  

By contrast, our longer-travel Strive:ON is no compromise, e-enduro race bike. The Strive:ON is equipped with 170 mm of front and 160 mm of rear suspension, which is ideall for racers seeking to maximize their speed on the most technically demanding descents possible. 

Where and how you ride your bike should be the biggest factor in deciding which bike is right for you. What do you find fun and where do you like to ride? If your answer is that you like riding technical trails in the mountains, then we think buying a full-suspension bike will prove more fun for you. 

However, if you don’t happen to have the Alps on your doorstep, how far are your nearest trails from you? How much do you plan to ride on the road? Might you want to use your bike to commute too? If you live in a big city, and would like to use your bike every day on both trails and streets, an e-hardtail will likely be the perfect bike for you.

As you can see, a hardtail is likely a better bike for less demanding riders who prefer riding less technically demanding trails, while riders who are looking to develop their skills and push into difficult terrain may be better served by a full-suspension e-MTB. 

A full-suspension e-MTB may use a little more battery over the course of a ride than a hardtail, and this is especially noticeable on smooth surfaces. Having a rigid rear end means that a hardtail will be able to apply power to the rear more effectively than a full-suspension bike. Our engineers work hard to make sure that the difference is small, and getting smaller, but there is a good reason we don’t see full-suspension road bikes.  

If you do have a full-suspension e-bike and need to go on the road, there are a few simple steps you can take to maximise your battery life. First, check your suspension and tyre pressures - having these incorrectly set up can make your bike less efficient to pedal. Many of our bikes come with suspension that features a lockout - a small lever that allows you to stiffen the shock to pedal more efficiently. When you come to a smooth surface, you can flip this lockout lever to make your bike more efficient. Just remember to switch it off again when you get back to the trails! 

We find that if you are struggling to make a decision, it can help to break things down into the pros and cons. So how does the hardtail e-MTB stack up versus the full-suspension e-MTB? 

The simple, affordable hardtail will always have a place in mountain bikers’ hearts and garages.

For riders looking to head beyond the tarmac and gravel, full-suspension bikes have become more and more popular (and affordable) than ever before.

If you are just starting out riding, we would recommend our e-MTB hardtail, the Grand Canyon:ON. This bike is designed for people like you. It is the most affordable e-MTB in our range, it comes with a bunch of practical features if you want to use it as a commuter or city bike, and with modern geometry and a good suspension fork, you can have plenty of fun out on the trails. If you are exploring the sport of mountain biking and are not yet sure what sort of rider you would like to be, it is an excellent choice.  

While we work hard to make sure our bikes offer great value for your money, we also understand that buying a bike is still a big purchase. To get the best value from your investment, it helps to sit down and think about who you are and what you want to do with your bike. We think a great exercise is to write down ten rides that you would like to do in the next year.  

When you have those ten rides, consider each one and whether you would have more fun on a hardtail or a full-suspension e-MTB. What surface are you primarily riding on? Do you favour smooth roads or gnarly, rocky trails? Do you want to cruise or charge? Hopefully, this will give you a clear answer as to which bike would best suit the riding you want to do.  

Don’t forget long-term ownership of the bike, too. Are you comfortable servicing suspension every year? Do you have a good mechanic who could change the bearings for you? If these things are barriers, it might be best to buy a hardtail that will still be in optimal condition in five years’ time, rather than a full-suspension bike that requires more frequent servicing.  

To help in deciding between a hardtail and a full-suspension bike, we have a made similar guide for regular mountain bikes that we think might be useful, plus buying guides for both our hardtail and full-suspension ranges that look at some more of the details. We also have a bike comparison tool, if you find yourself struggling to decided between different models.  

If you would like more help choosing the right bike for you, we have guides on MTB geometry, sizing and, much more on our blog. And if you would like to see these bikes in person, you can visit one of our Experience centres where our team members will be glad to talk to you about the different models and set up test rides for you. 

We’ve weighed the options, now it’s time to gear up and make the mountains your playground!