Death of the hardtail? We’ll hear nothing of it. This beast is still alive and kicking and it ain’t about to bow down to full sus. We selected four £1,000 machines and put them to the test

WHEN YOU PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD to do the singletrack boogie, the last thing you want is your rear end feeling more dodgy than the morning after an iffy Vindaloo. Never fear, platform shocks are here — designed to eliminate bob and create a stable pedalling platform under load. We put three to the test