Future Shocks : Front suspension is widely accepted; rear suspension is making ever-larger inroads.

Are mountain bikers getting soft?

More and more of them are hitting the trail with front suspension to smooth out the ride, but the main issue is control, not comfort.

With rigid forks and frames, mountain bikes can do a lot of bouncing on rough terrain. That leads to an obvious problem: How do you steer or apply the front brakes when the wheel is in the air?

Suspension solves the problem by keeping the front wheel in better contact with the ground. The theory is simple enough. The bike hits a bump: Without suspension, the wheel catches air; with shocks, the bump is absorbed and the suspension unit rebounds to keep the wheel on the ground.

There were plenty of skeptics when mountain bike suspension entered the market about three years ago. One fear was that too much of a biker’s pedaling power would be absorbed by the compression of the shocks. Also, some cyclists were afraid to sacrifice rigidity of the frame because of its importance in cornering. Then there’s the question of weight. Suspended front forks can add about 2 pounds to the weight of a bike; rear suspension even more.

The skepticism, though, has largely evaporated, particularly on the question of front suspension. Most top mountain bike racers and many weekend riders now use front suspension, and rear suspension is making ever-larger inroads on the mountain bike market. Suspended front forks are even finding a handful of adherents among tradition-conscious road riders.

Suspension “actually works,” says Chuck Densford, owner of Rainbow Bicycle Co., a Laguna Beach shop that has specialized in mountain bikes since 1982. “I like to use the word user-friendly. “

While better control is the main reason to add a suspension unit, comfort is also a big factor. Mountain bikers know that controlling a bike on a descent can be as much a workout for the upper body as for the legs. “At the end of a long day, if you’re using suspension, you’re a lot less tired,” says Feike Banning, also of Rainbow Bicycle Co.

Densford has ridden a mountain bike with suspension for two years now. When he recently went on a long ride on a bike with no suspension, he says he was so sore afterward he had trouble sleeping that night. “I asked myself, ‘How did I ride without it?’ ” Densford says.

While many top-of-the-line mountain bikes (roughly $1,000 and up) are now sold with suspension, it’s possible to add a suspended front fork to an existing bike. There are some 20 companies offering bicycle suspension systems, says Banning; by the end of the year, he expects there will be more than 30.

Reviews in the bicycle magazines claim the so-called “after-market” shocks are getting better as producers work out the bugs with each new model. The good news in these “buy-American” times is that most of the top products are designed and built in the United States.

While there are several different designs, the most popular models among recreational riders are air springs, built into the front forks and usually oil-damped (damping controls compression and rebound).

It’s possible to spend more than $800 on a suspended front fork, but there are several well-regarded choices that range from $250 to $400, from such manufacturers are Rock Shox (considered the pioneer), Specialized, Interloc, Scott and Manitou.

Most of these are adjustable to some degree. The degree of stiffness depends on the rider’s preference and the type of riding, but it’s often a matter of striking a fine balance: too “squishy” a ride absorbs too much pedal power and can lead to “bobbing” from the pedaling pressure; too stiff a ride can cut down on control.

Softer rides are often preferred by downhill “bombers” who want to absorb the major bumps, while a stiffer ride is better for cyclists who do a lot of climbing.

Less accepted than the suspended front forks is rear suspension, which is gaining popularity among serious downhill racers while some other riders remain skeptical. Rear suspension is heavy, for one thing; for another, the technology is still relatively new and some of the bugs remain to be worked out.

Rear suspension cannot be added to an existing bike, but most of the major mountain bike manufacturers now offer full-suspension models. They’re not cheap: a Cannondale costs about $2,000, fully outfitted; a custom model from Boulder can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $5,500.

This early in the game, manufacturers continue to tinker with a variety of ways to smooth out mountain bike rides, and a visit to any well-stocked bicycle shop will reveal a number of different approaches to the challenge. In the end, says Densford, “simplicity will win out. There’s no reason to make a bike overly complicated.”

Densford points out also that building suspension into bicycles isn’t an entirely new concept, despite the explosion of the last few years. He has seen some early bicycles, circa 1890, that incorporated suspension on front and rear wheels; more recently, many of the Schwinn paperboy specials of the ‘50s had springs on the front fork.

But this time, he guesses, the idea will stick: “The time is right.”