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A playful 29er that's fast, too.

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
I'm shopping for another hardtail 29er to go out and have fun on.

I previously had a scott scale (17.2" cs) that was superbly fun. Arguably the fastest bike I've ever ridden. It was a hardtail, though, and I'm an FS guy, so I sold it and got a 650b cdale rush, which I'm very happy with.

Now I've got a kid on the way, so weekend DHing is gonna be done for a while. I'm debating replacing the dh bike with another HT 29er since I enjoyed riding it so much. Now, however, there's a bunch of super-short CS 29ers that are marketed at exactly what I want to do...go out and have fun. Of particular interest is the Kona Taro (16.5), but the honzo is up there too.

Gauging from my previous experience with the scale...what would I give up with the taro? It will likely climb a little bit worse, but if I'm out of the saddle anyways, will it be noticeable? Is the taro a capable XCer, or do I have do "rally" in order to enjoy it?
 

Casey-Ryan

Monkey
Jan 2, 2012
142
1
Gloucester, MA
Here is the problem with the new line of 29ers that are out there right now. Yes they are a more aggressive style when it comes to shorter stays and aggressive head angles so the climbing aspect is going to be more of what your calling a "rally" style where as the frame on the scale was more straight and also a little more slacked in terms of tubing set-up. If you are looking at that particular price point I would serously consider picking up a DB Mason. It is more of the kind of bike you like. The low standover will allow you to go up a frame size giving you a traditional 29er feeling but also allowing you to have those slacked angles to point the bike down hill. Also for the money the bike is spec'd out quite well.