Can I use a hardtail for MTB trail riding? So, I have a tight budget of 600 USD. Now, I just wanted to say that I live in a big city, but I do want to ride trails more often. My intended use with the bike is to ride trails, and perform techniques like bunny hopping, manual, etc in order to ride streets. But after researching, I found that trail bikes are usually full suspensions - much more expensive than my budget. Can I ride trails with hardtails (120mm forks) and whether I should build my own bike or buy new.
First and foremost... Yes, you can definitely ride trails on a hardtail and it will help you get lots of technical skills that a full suspension bike wouldn't give you, unless you jumped class (enduro) on a trail bike. Plus, it will be way more comfortable riding in the city. Secondly, given your budget, i would suggest you didn't make a custom one. Buy a new one. There are lots of good ones on that budget.