For terrain that challenges with technical climbs and then rewards with fast, rough downhills, the El Roy is a competent and ready hardtail. As a machine, hardtails are great for a few reasons — less maintenance, fewer adjustments, easier to clean. They are fantastic for winter riding because there are no pivot bushings to take the hit in the wet conditions. Ride them often enough and become a smoother rider out of necessity, too. If you dare to be different and want to test the extreme fringes of MTB geometry, then the El Roy is ready to get weird with you.