h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry, but hurtling down a mountain on two wheels with no protective shell and inadequate brakes has got to rank somewhere near jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane on the stupidity scale.

But then again, I'm not an adrenaline junkie (not to that extent anyway).

The level of actual danger involved in mountain biking is usually much less than the perceived danger. The least technical riding often presents the greatest threat. This is because a riders natural fear holds them back from going too fast over difficult terrain. The actual danger increases with speed (that is the danger of extreme injury) and speeds go up when the trail is wide and smooth. I have come of my MTB many times but never at a speed in excess of 30 miles an hour and usually much less than this. I have also been the first aider (qualified) at many club rides and races and speed is the main factor. Insurance companies would have hit the mountain bikers hard by now if the risk was greater than that skiers take for example.
Darwin has already had his say by the way.... Evolution has given us risk taking and roaming instincts which have ensured mountain bikings success. Try it, you might like it, and fit people live longer than couch potatoes - any idea how fit you get riding a bike up mountains?

Not as flat as you get jumping out of planes too often.

I like to ride cross-country, rather than hurtling down a mountain (although some hurtling through the woods is required). I do not want to get injured, and the whole point is to get exercise and enjoy nature.

Downhill mountain biking is rather like downhill skiing - If you attempt these things and are an idiot, Darwin would be right - the gene-pool would be purified ever so slightly.

There are those idiots who act like morons on off-road trails, or even on streets - They are a minority but of course ruin the image of cycling for everyone.

There are some places where it is fun to push your personal limits see my website at http://home.clara.net/garethrobinson esp. the steep page! this is not a trail and I am going pretty slowly.
Coed y Brennin (in wales) has loads of amazing singletrack which is one way and MTB only - isn't life just great!

Looks a bit like short parts of some of my local cross-country (no hiking allowed) trails - at least some of the fun/scary bits. A 45% run like that is just about the limit of what I will do with my Marin Team-Ti hardtail (The frame is quite responsive and resistant to rocky runs however, and is good at going UP). One unofficial trail here has a number of successive 10ftish drop-offs during descents through the woods which still scare the willies out of me - I have considered forking out (no pun intended) for a full suspension bike. The local downhill racing trail here is beyond what I will do, without the right equipment.

The trails there look pretty awesome - If I get the chance ever to lug my bike over I'll try it out.

Will I likely die on a hardtail, even a good one?

It's getting feezing cold here and I am thinking of stripping the bike down for the winter and putting on the nordic skis. I have visions of cycling in warmer climes like in Northern Mexico's Sierra Madre (which I miss precisely for this reason - cycling in 20oC weather in the middle of Winter)

Hi Dudemeister,
the trails won't kill anyone on a hardtail, rear suspension makes almost no difference to technical descending. Rear suspension has it's main advantage as soon as speeds go over 10 miles an hour. Then you can take lines at speeds the hardtailers would die at.
A good XC full sus like a K2, Specialised, cannondale won't slow you much on the climbs either, on technical climbs it does improve your grip but again, much less so at slow speeds.
There is a tendency towards FS amongst the Coed y brennin afficianados, if they can afford one as it is pretty rocky there, however they are always a want rather than a need and you can have loads of fun on a hardtail as well. I know I rode rigids and hardtails for 8 years before my first FS (a proflex 856 - great bike!)
Now I have a K2 I bought from Reg who was the K2 team mechanic and a riding friend so I got a good deal. I still have it and in common with most of the people with XC FS bikes I have spoken to I will never go back to a hardtail as my main bike.

Yep.. I am getting more convinced. I forked out for a rather nice custom titanium XC machine, and I love it. I know that what I need now is a full suspension frame. Well I suppose I can always think of it as my 60s Ferrari GTO, and ride a new FS bike in the woods when I decide to hit the killer trails - my propensity for fancy cars is much less than for really cool mountain bikes - fits the budget better too!

Still, once I first climbed over some wicked steep, slippery rocks on my 23lb bike feeling the give and take of the frame - I fell in love!

My local bike shop guys love the GT frames for downhill and XC, one guy there just got an awesome trail blazing monster he built up.

You may end up hanging your TI bike on the wall as a work of art when you get used to the awesome riding you could do on an FS....
I'm not on commision here by the way!
Every time I go off road I find myself looking for rough stuff to blast instead of craving super smooth trails (roads?)
Live to ride.

Dude!