A Crash Course in Mountain Bike Suspension (2026)
Key takeaways
- Garage mechanics have been tinkering with bike suspension since around 1888.
- I bought my first full-suspension mountain bike, a Santa Cruz Superlight, in 2000.
- I have ridden a full-suspension bike for the past three decades and have been testing bikes for WIRED since an ill-planned trip to the Mojave Desert in 2014.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story. The trouble with being an aging mountain biker is that while my skills may marginally improve, the rocks don’t get any softer with every passing year. I’ve come to accept, for example, that I’m never going to clean the Teacup Trail in Sedona when riding from the west side of town over to the fun, mellow trails like Adobe Jack around Soldier Pass. But I stupidly keep trying, broken bones be damned, because what is also true: With every passing year, bike suspension keeps getting better.
Garage mechanics have been tinkering with bike suspension since around 1888. Full suspension—bikes that are equipped with a front fork and a smaller rear shock—went mainstream in the 1990s when brands like Specialized, Trek, and Santa Cruz brought the results of their tinkering out of the garage and into the daylight.
I bought my first full-suspension mountain bike, a Santa Cruz Superlight, in 2000. With 100 mm of travel (the maximum distance suspension compresses while absorbing impact) in the rear shock and 120 mm of travel in the front, it gave me the confidence to ride lines through New Mexico rocks I wouldn’t have dreamed of riding on my Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail, which had front suspension only.