Best Full-Suspension Mountain Bikes

So you have purchased what you think is the best full-suspension mountain bike and you expect a smooth ride. You hop onto your new purchase only to find the journey is uncomfortable. You feel practically every bump and divot along the trail and by the end of the journey you are sore! You want something that offers a smoother ride, especially for those long and testing trails.

We understand this issue and can help improve the comfort and stability of your bike riding. What is the solution? A high quality full suspension mountain bike of course! You may have been misinformed, or you may have simply purchased a standard suspension mountain bike without realizing the quality of its components. At Bikesist.com we can show you the best full suspension mountain bike in several price categories, enjoy!

Comprehensive table of Best Full-Suspension Bikes

	Product	Features	Rating	Checkout
1	Mongoose Detour	Gears: 21 Frame: Aluminum Brakes: linear pull rear brake and front disc	5 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price
2	Gravity FSX 1.0 Black	Gears: 24 Frame: Aluminum Brakes: Tektro Novello mechanical disc	4.9 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price
3	Polaris Scrambler 26 Full Suspension Bicycle	Gears: 9 Frame: Steel Brakes: Linear Pull Brake	4.7 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price
4	Diamondback Bicycles Diamondback Bikes Atroz 1	Gears: 24 Frame: Aluminum Brakes: Tektro 2 Finger linear pull	4.2 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price
5	BEIOU Carbon Mountain Bike	Gears: 10 Frame: Carbon Brakes: hidden disc brake	4.2 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price
6	Motobecane Nimble FS Full Suspension	Gears: 20 Frame: Aluminum Brakes: powerful disc	4.2 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price
7	Diamondback Bikes Atroz 3	Gear: 20 Frame: Aluminum Brakes: hydraulic disc	4.1 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price


8	Mission 2 by Diamondback Bicycles	Gears: 11 Frame: Aluminum Brakes: RAM Level hydraulic disc	4.2 of 5 Customer reviews	Check Price

Best Full-Suspension Bikes under $500

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1. Mongoose Detour

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Yes, it’s heavy. Yes, it has rear cantilever brakes. But it’s cheap and provides riding experience like his older brothers. Despite the fact that rear wheel is stopped by V-brakes, major part of loads from braking are applied to the front axle, where we have mechanical disk brakes. It’s a perfect bike for beginners due to it’s elaborate design of all elements and extremely low price.

PROS:

Great price
Good rear suspension design
Mechanical disk brakes in front
A lot of gears to choose from

CONS:

High weight
Rear V-brakes

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2. Gravity FSX 1.0

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This bike is significantly more expensive, but not without a reason. It’s lighter, has double mechanical brakes, better shifters. But be careful: only black model has such suspension construction; design of different color models is classified as “bad” in our rating system.

PROS:

Weights less then previous model
Double mechanical disk brakes
Good gears and shifters

CONS:

Price

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Best Full-Suspension Bikes under $1000

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1. Polaris Scrambler 26

Polaris Scrambler 26 Full Suspension Bicycle

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We love this bike! It costs sightly above 500 mark, has double disk brakes, one of the greatest rear suspension designs (if not the best), good shifters and tires. Single downside – it’s heavy. But still its advantages are so significant, that it can easily compete with bikes, which price tag even over $1000.

PROS:

Sweet price
Amazing engineering
Good tires
Smooth shifting

CONS:

Heavy

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2. Diamondback Bicycles Atroz 1

Diamondback Bicycles Diamondback Bikes Atroz 1

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This bike is pretty similar to previous one: almost the same tires, identical brakes and shifter system. Though it has differences in suspension: front shock has shorter travel and design of rear suspension slightly worse. Although it much lighter.

PROS:

Low weight
Double mechanical disk brakes
Good price

CONS:

Rear suspension design could be better

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Best Full-Suspension Mountain Bikes under $1500

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1. BEIOU Carbon Mountain Bike

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What a surprise: single one bike with carbon frame and not in the most expensive category. Also you’ve may seen its suspension design scheme as “Good” example, which speaks for itself. Thanks to frame’s material, this bike is extremely lightweight without harm to stiffness.

PROS:

Light and reliable
Great suspension design
Good price for characteristics

CONS:

Limited seat adjustment

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Best Full-Suspension Bikes under $2000

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1.Motobecane Nimble FS

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Huge tires. It’s first that you see here, and it’s one the most significant advantages of this bike. Besides that, it has, we would say, second best suspension design. Good drivetrain becoming default, so we will not stop here. The main advantage of this bike is long front suspension travel – 5,1 inch.

PROS:

Large operating range of front shock
Great tire protector
Good suspension design

CONS:

Medium weight

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Best Full-Suspension Bikes under $3000

Notice: we advisedly didn’t include in model’s description and pros/cons list such options as hydraulic brakes or great shifter mechanism, because bikes of this price category have them by default. Instead we focused on bike’s the most distinctive features.

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1. Mission 2 by Diamondback Bicycles

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This bike is will go through all challenges with confidence. Not only because it has all best features that you’ve seen previously (with exception of carbon frame), but also has the greatest length of suspension travel – 6,3 inches! Its construction is also very durable.

PROS:

6,3″ suspension travel
High relability
Well thought-out suspension design

CONS:

Medium weight
Price

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2. Diamondback Bikes Atroz 3

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This bike has partly carbon frame (link and seatstay). This model is best for woman, because it’s lightweight, has 15″ frame option and widely adjustable seat. All units that are responsible for acceleration or braking are undoubtedly good.

PROS:

Lightweight
Suits for woman
Good suspension
Durable

CONS:

Relatively short suspension travel

Don’t need to explain what mountain bikes are made for. Full suspension mountain bikes make the same thing –conquer peaks, but with single difference: they do it better, thanks to added rear suspension, which provides smoother ride.

There is no point to have rear suspension, if it wouldn’t work properly. With poor engineering you just add weight and reduce frame durability. That’s why we paid a lot of attention to this element.

We’ve drawn kinematic scheme for each bike of its suspension design. Few general determinations:

This is line of travel of rear suspension. For each moment of time it’s perpendicular for its radius, which is shown by dotted line.

It’s amortization line. In some cases you may see 2 of them: in rocker system it’s projected to the point of application forces from rear fork.

This small line indicates whether the this angle will decrease (green) or increase (red).

What we are looking for here is when line of forces from rear fork and amortization line create sharp angle. This angle varies from fork’s position, which has 2 extreme positions: when suspension is in resting state and when it’s completely compressed. So perfect mechanism is when angle equals “0” in suspension’s middle position. It would be a lot of calculations, so we established a set of simple rules:

When angle between rear fork’s travel line and line of amortization element is low (from 10° to 20°) and design causes its reducing – this is a great design.
When this angle varies from 0° to 10° in resting state – okay design.
When it’s above 10° from beginning and angle will increase – poor construction. That’s why you won’t see these bikes in our list, but we’ll show you example of such design

Good

Okay

Bad

Besides that, there are few more parameters, which you need to consider when choosing best mountain bike for you:

Material

Carbon – best one. It’s lightweight and extremely firm.
Aluminum – has low weight too, but it’s not so tough and will become even softer with time.
Chromoly – steel alloy with chromium and molybdenum. Has slightly higher weight, compered to previous ones, but similar to carbon in terms of stiffness.

Weight

As long as these bikes already carry a lot of extra weight because of the double suspension system, it’s important to keep weight as low as possible

Brakes

Obvious that mountain bikes are meant to ride in the mountains, so you need to be able to stop efficiently

Hydraulic disk brakes are the best option
Mechanical disk brakes slightly worse, but still decent choice
V-brakes roughly suit for such bikes

Gears

Again, besides necessity of braking in hills, you also need to climb on them. Gears will help you with it, but don’t think you need to find as more gears as possible. Ten or eleven gears is enough in most cases, but with increasing of this number, you also increase chances of mechanism’s failure.

Suspension travel

The more its length, the more comfortable ride you will have

Without further ado, let’s move on to review part, where we’ve chosen best deals on different price ranges:

Under $500 – entry-level bikes for beginners
Under $1000 – good for experienced riders who didn’t try this bikes yet
Under $1500 – best deals for the money in our opinion
Under $2000 – advanced bikes
Under $3000 – best materials and parts from the list

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Frequently Asked Questions about Full Suspension Mountain Bikes

Do I need a full suspension mountain bike?

Full suspension bikes are generally suited towards trail biking and off-road biking. This is due to the improved suspension and comfort. If you regularly go out into the wild and explore new trails, a full suspension mountain bike is certainly for you. Alternatively, if you general ride on roads and smooth surface, a hardtail bike would be better suited.

Should I get a full suspension or hardtail mountain bike?

This question again depends on the biking you undertake. For cross country racing, climbing, and road racing, a hardtail bike is undoubtedly the best choice. While improved suspension has benefits, it also slows down your speed. Alternatively, for those who go off-road and prefer trial biking, a full suspension bike is certainly the best choice.

Which Full Suspension Mountain Bike should I Buy?

Now that you understand a little bit more about full suspension mountain bikes we can start giving you advice on which mountain bike is the best. The following are five price categories of full suspension mountain bikes with our top choice for each.

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Conclusion

In this article we’ve tried to use all our experience to help you choose a best cyclocross bike. We do not insist on models that we used in lists, they just represent good examples of bike for each price range, so if you didn’t like anything – nothing wrong with it. All we ask is to keep in mind our recommendations. Good luck!

What is the Best Full-Suspension Mountain Bike for under 500?

Mongoose Detour – best full-suspension mountain bike for under 500

The Detour is undoubtedly one of the best full suspension mountain bikes for less than $500. This bike has V-Brakes on the rear wheel, but this is offset by the high quality mechanical brakes on the front. The frame is made from aluminum and is lightweight. Moreover the design of the frame provides maximum comfort for its rider. In terms of gear changing, the Detour features a 21 speed Shimano rear derailleur system with micro triggers. This means you can change gears with ease. For beginners who simply want a cheap bike to get comfortable with, we feel there is no better choice.

What is the Best Full-Suspension Mountain Bike for under 1000?

Atroz by Diamondback Bicycles – best full-suspension mountain bike under 1000

Moving on to the next category we have the Atroz. This bike is manufactured by Diamondback Bicycles who has a great reputation for quality and innovative designs. For less than $900 you can purchase a full suspension bike that has a superb frame design and excellent features.

It is clear the engineering behind this bike was of exceptional quality. The frame is made from aluminum and features a unique suspension design that is out of this world. We rate the suspension among some of the top suspensions in the world which speaks volumes. The bike features a Shimano Acera 1×9 speed gear system which provides smooth and efficient gear changes. The only downside for the Atroz is the weight. It is a little hefty, but the other features offset this making riding this bike is a sheer joy.

What is theBest Full-Suspension Mountain Bike for under 1500?

BEIOU Carbon Mountain Bike – best full-suspension mountain bike under 1500

As we approach the $1500 mark we move into the realm of carbon frames. In this price bracket, we see fewer aluminum designs. Carbon offers a lighter-stronger bike frame and is exactly what the BEIOU has. While the frame is carbon, the price still doesn’t break the bank as with other models. Furthermore, the frame design and material make it sturdy, and easy to maneuver.

In terms of gears, the BEIOU has a Shimano Deore 10 speed system and you will be able to make gear changes with ease. The braking system is also by Shimano – the 315 hydraulic system. We love the features this bike has, and we also like the sleek and smooth design.

What is theBest Full-Suspension Mountain Bike for under 2000?

Release 1 by Diamondback Bicycles – best full-suspension mountain bike under

We are now getting into the heavy hitters – the big boys. We return once again to Diamondback Bicycles, why? Because they have a track record for producing high quality full suspension bikes. The Release 1 model is simply magnificent. The first thing you will notice are the huge tires which helps with grip and traversing over bumpy terrain. Next you will notice the awesome suspension design, particularly the front wheel connection that features a suspension travel of 5,1”.

For only just over $1500 you get a superb full suspension model. Every aspect of this bike is quality – the drivetrain, suspension, and frame are all well-designed and provide you a brilliant ride.

What is theBest Full-Suspension Mountain Bike for under 3000?

Mission 2 by Diamondback Bicycles – best full-suspension mountain bike under 3000

For this price range, we won’t even bother describing the basic features. To put it simply, the bike has all of the above and then some. The Mission 2 is certainly pricey but for serious trail bikers the investment is worth it. When riding this beast, you can be sure it will pass through any obstacle you throw at it with ease. You will feel ultra-confident when riding the Mission 2 and it can help drive your riding to a new level.

One of the best features is the epic 6,3” suspension travel and clever suspension design. The system provides a stiff ride that is durable. Moreover, the fact that the suspension is FOX 36 Float only adds to its quality as this is one of the best suspension systems for mountain riding.

(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)