There’s a significant contingent of the mountain bike community that for some reason think that hardtails are the dinosaurs of our sport, they simply don’t ‘get’ them. They question as to why the hell you’d want to ride one when there are so many great full suspension frames out there. I mean they’re slow right? Well last weekend Emyr Davies well and truly put that myth to bed with an outstanding result at the third round of the 2014 MIJ Downhill series at the Taff Buggy Trails. Riding a BTR Belter hardtail he managed to clock the second fastest time of the day! He was up against some stiff competition too. Mike Jones was the only rider who managed to beat him.
As if that wasn’t proof enough that hardtails can go fast, the next day saw the Welsh Champs take place at the same venue and Paul ‘Burf’ Burford, one half of BTR, also managed to pull out a great result on his Belter hardtail. He came 4th out of 43 riders in the senior category! He was only just over three seconds back from the category winner too, and a very respectable nine seconds back from the overall winner Mike Jones.
So yeah, if you’ve got the skills there’s clearly no reason why you should be going slow on a hardtail. Of course the added bonus of a hardtail is that they’re a whole load cheaper than a full suss, and unlike a full suss they require zero maintenance. I’m sure there are still a load of you who think hardtails are pointless, but we love them! Hardtails definitely rule! Oh, and I almost forgot, both riders were also riding those dinosaur 26″ wheels!
If you want to see the full results from the tow races then just follow the links below, and if you too fancy belting around on a Belter then head over to the BTR website.
