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AM hardtail

EVIL JN

Monkey
Jul 24, 2009
491
24
Well I got a 29'er that I run 26 wheels in, bb drop is around -70mm and I have climbed and ridden the same trails with it as my last Mondraker Foxy. Sure it took a ride or two to really adapt but for me it acctually forced me to get better at climbing and plan ahead on the climb. So in the end it has been the same besides the fact that I have started to appreciate the technical aspect of climbing.

But on the way down its just eats train like nothing else, super low bb's just amps the fun factor so much its scary! Sure it might cause a premature death to my Noir cranks but considering they been down a fair few runs at bike parks I cant complain. Only thing that will change on the next one is a little shorter stays and slacker ha.

Raddest bike I've tried by miles and people think I am beyond stupid for riding it this way but I will never buy another suspension trail bike ever! But then again people thought Sam Hill was weird for putting on 750 bars too once upon a not to distant future.....
 

Segunda

Chimp
May 7, 2007
76
3
6'something here , Large Vagrant would advise Medium!
Aside: BTR stuff looks awesome...
 
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4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
448
A bit odd for an established bike co. to Kickstarter a steel hardtail?
 

Sandro

Terrified of Cucumbers
Nov 12, 2006
3,224
2,537
The old world
It's not that unusual anymore for existing companies to fund individual projects through kickstarter. Admittedly, i do find it odd when companies like Pebble still use kickstarter, but Last are a super tiny company (comparable to GG) and they are pretty open about why they went that route: helps them pay for tooling, they only have to produce what they know they can sell of the first batch and it's a good promotional tool as well.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
448
It's not that unusual anymore for existing companies to fund individual projects through kickstarter. Admittedly, i do find it odd when companies like Pebble still use kickstarter, but Last are a super tiny company (comparable to GG) and they are pretty open about why they went that route: helps them pay for tooling, they only have to produce what they know they can sell of the first batch and it's a good promotional tool as well.
Fair enough- i was wondering if it was a changing marketing/business landscape combined with me being a curmudgeon.

One of my relatives has used it to fund trips in the name of business "wink wink" type of thing, which is total BS and has left a bad taste in my mouth over the concept
 

Metamorphic

Monkey
May 12, 2015
274
177
Cackalack
With weather in the southeast starting to suck, I just ordered a steel AM hardtail frame. Can't wait, got a NS Surge Evo. CRC has a good deal, $290 shipped to the US.

What are y'all riding this winter? Post up some build photos!
 

captainspauldin

intrigued by a pole
May 14, 2007
1,263
177
Jersey Shore
With weather in the southeast starting to suck, I just ordered a steel AM hardtail frame. Can't wait, got a NS Surge Evo. CRC has a good deal, $290 shipped to the US.

What are y'all riding this winter? Post up some build photos!
Dang! That's a sweet deal.. I got my kona explosif kickin' around still, kinda wanna get rid of the mini Rux(epicon), but it works great.
 
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jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
It's not that unusual anymore for existing companies to fund individual projects through kickstarter. Admittedly, i do find it odd when companies like Pebble still use kickstarter, but Last are a super tiny company (comparable to GG) and they are pretty open about why they went that route: helps them pay for tooling, they only have to produce what they know they can sell of the first batch and it's a good promotional tool as well.
i'd say it also helps them gauge whether or not a particular item would be financially viable before allocating resources to it.
 

Kurt_80

Monkey
Jan 25, 2016
488
418
Perth, WA.
Bumping this thread....
This is my beast, sorry for the terrible quality. Old phone etc etc.

Stanton Upgrade.jpg


Anyway, that's a Stanton Slackline in 26. Running Pikes, Saint and 823s. The drive train is coming up 8 years old, and I'm looking to change over. Does anyone have any longer term experiences with the new Saint? I've used SRAM clutch derailleurs before, and the thought of Saint with a clutch seems pretty appealing. However, I have read the new stuff (820) is not that great quality. In that case, what would XT be like on a burly hard tail? And jumping ship entirely, would SRAM be any good for this kind of bike? Keeping in mind it's a 135mm QR rear end.

Thanks all.
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
I have run both XT and SRAM on various hardtails. Pick the style of shifting you prefer or whatever you can get a deal on. It's all the same after that.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,029
Ottawa, Canada
I think I may have posted this before, but I'm getting the hardtail bug. My 650b Transition Patrol has replaced my 26" Ibis Mojo HD. I have not sold the Mojo, figuring I'd keep it around for when my son got old enough to ride it or 26" wheels. Now I'm thinking of putting all the Mojo parts on a hardtail frame. I figure I'd ride it for a couple of years, and when my boy is old enough, throw some shorter cranks and 24" rims on it.

I had my sights set on a used frame on Pinkbike, but apparently waited too long. However, Commençal has these on sale at the moment:

it's a 2017 model, has 135x10 dropouts, 68 BSA BB, and is for 650b wheels.

here's the geo chart:

upload_2018-4-4_14-52-57.png


I guess my question is would it work to run 26" wheels on it? For me, this would be for smoother trails, and shoulder season riding when it's really gloppy out.

How about with 24" wheels for a 9 year old? if I ran a really short stem, shorter cranks, and dropped the fork?
 

HAB

Chelsea from Seattle
Apr 28, 2007
11,580
2,006
Seattle
I've said this a bunch before, but I'm still very pro shorter travel forks on hardtails. The geometry just changes too dramatically as the suspension cycles when you get up to 150+mm of travel, since you don't have any corresponding rear suspension to even out the HTA swings. Looks like that's built around a 150-160mm fork, which I think isn't great.

BB drop is fine though, you could run 26s on there no problem.
 

boostindoubles

Nacho Libre
Mar 16, 2004
7,839
6,145
Yakistan
I've said this a bunch before, but I'm still very pro shorter travel forks on hardtails. The geometry just changes too dramatically as the suspension cycles when you get up to 150+mm of travel, since you don't have any corresponding rear suspension to even out the HTA swings. Looks like that's built around a 150-160mm fork, which I think isn't great.

BB drop is fine though, you could run 26s on there no problem.
Imma agree with this, 140mm is the sweet spot on hardtails, imo.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
I've said this a bunch before, but I'm still very pro shorter travel forks on hardtails. The geometry just changes too dramatically as the suspension cycles when you get up to 150+mm of travel, since you don't have any corresponding rear suspension to even out the HTA swings. Looks like that's built around a 150-160mm fork, which I think isn't great.

BB drop is fine though, you could run 26s on there no problem.
This is correct. Only in certain situations is 150mm ideal. For all-around riding, I like 120, some folks like 140. 160 is bike park only, and even then, it feels really weird/bad at slow speeds.