As with everything, every person is different. I have a hardtail and a full suspension. I must say that I prefer my hardtail and will do drops and downhill on my hardtail. I've also done fairly well with the hardtail while riding with full suspension people. One of my favorite times on the bike was getting a lot of slack from hubbies friends for bringing my hardtail to enjoy Porcupine Rim (moab, utah) while they all had fs. I kept them in site most of the time, sure you lose some speed, but the responsiveness on my hardtail is great.

Saying that, keep in mind that I think I love my hardtail because it's steel, when I had an aluminum hardtail, it sure hurt.

I bought my full suspension because of some knee issues, but found that strength training helped. I know that fs does help incredibly for people who suffer from knee and back issues.

Either way, I hope you love your bike!