Ah, i was unaware. I thought 15 was standard rear and 15, boost, or 20 was for the front.
Hardtails and you
- Thread starter Sandwich
- Start date
I had my eye on an FM056 for a long time. Geometry is lifted from the scott scale, and they are pretty cheap. Decidedly XC compared to what you are looking for, but I also wouldn't really consider a 150mm fork on a hardtail. better to score an FS bike to balance it out a bit.
You can have mine if you can live with the fact it was built for 26 wheels.
I'll throw in a free headset and sliding drop-outs for SS. Works with 4, 5 or 6" forks.
Min i would want is 130, I just need enough squish so i wont feel like im going to go OTB on every decent. I rode a FS XC at the Pivot demo, i felt like i was going to die on the trails which are NOT XC. The trail and All Mountain bikes were fine. I wouldn't take the HT to the trails a lot but occasionally, and i'd like to feel confident on the bike.
I can live with 26". My DH bike is 26.
I have to clean it and take some pictures first, I might not be able to do that until this weekend. Don't order from China, yet!
Sounds good, What fork and travel did you have on it?I have to clean it and take some pictures first, I might not be able to do that until this weekend. Don't order from China, yet!
5" XFusion Velvet.
awesome. Thanks.
The trick to that is to get a hardtail with a really slack head angle to begin with, then it will not feel as sketch when the fork is into its travel.
Even with a slack head angle, I prefer a lower travel fork for a hardtail. But a slack hardtail at 130 and you should be good.
Long travel forks on hardtails just turn the bike into a stapler. The bike only gets steeper as the suspension cycles, and with a long travel fork those swings get excessive.
My hardtail trail bike is 62 degrees with a 120mm fork, and it's rad.
This was the bike i did not like
Long travel forks on hardtails just turn the bike into a stapler. The bike only gets steeper as the suspension cycles, and with a long travel fork those swings get excessive.
My hardtail trail bike is 62 degrees with a 120mm fork, and it's rad.
http://www.pivotcycles.com/bike/Mach-429SL-Carbon
I don't know what they have it at trail. Riding the same trails with longer travel bikes felt great, those trails with this bike, not so much. I did not feel safe on this bike at all.
next full squish will have to have 170/150 atleast. I loved the feel of the long travel. I haven't been riding as long as yall but i can feel it when i like it haha.
Hardtail related question here... What internal width rims and what size tyres are people running? I want to upgrade my 823s (23mm) to some LB carbon rimz (27mm), but I'm not sure how my 2.35 Minion DHFs will fare. It would seem that 4mm wouldn't be much, but...?
Whatever my new wheels will be, they'll be going on a Slackline with Pikes and Saint, FWIW.
Cheers!
Whatever my new wheels will be, they'll be going on a Slackline with Pikes and Saint, FWIW.
Cheers!
To be fair, that is a XC race bike with a ~70deg head angle. Of course it sucks balls. It's designed to be light and handle like shit.
The jump from this thing and a 170/150 bike is quite important. You should try some other bikes in-between to make up your mind.
Zero experience with LB rims here, but I've often heard people complaining about carbon rims that are too stiff for hardtails and feels really harsh. The LB may be fine in that regard, but its worth checking out.
My bike is 150/130 so i know the middle ground. I also rode the 429 Trail, 5.5, 6, and Switchblade. The ass hat that had the Firebird hogged it even though they weren't supposed too. By the time it got bike, i was to tired to ride anymore.
Interestingly, I just found out that there is an article published today on NSMB exactly about this subject...
https://nsmb.com/articles/stiffer-isnt-solution/
NSMB - the site an editor recently stated, that loading the inner side of the bar is not what you want to do in a flat turn, because he learned that while leaning the bike and standing right next to it, the tires start to slide earlier if you load the lower end of the bar, compared to when loading the upper end...
That's a good point actually, one that was kinda lurking in the background, but now making me reconsider.
Interesting to note that the old (i.e. 26) carbon Easton Havens had 24 spokes. I thought that was a "lazy" way to get the weight down, but in light of this, maybe it's just right.
On that note, has anyone had any experience with lower spoke count carbon rims? Looking more for the hardtail enduro/dh side of things.
Cheers.
36 hole crabon Nextie is pure joy on this orgasm machine. How the fcuk can a bike this simple be so much fun? 
Maximum tossability level: unlocked.
Maximum tossability level: unlocked.
What kind of riding do you do on the NS? There's one for sale on pinkbike. I'm thinking of getting it as muddy condition xc /pumptrack/when I go out with the kids bike. And then in a couple of years, throw some 24" wheels on and pass it on to my son. But I still want something fun to ride, not a super steep xc rocket.
Yeah, thinking of lowering the fork back down to 140 mm which is where I had it on the previous bike.
Pulled the trigger on a lizard bike. 29” wheels Rock Shox Pike (140) Magura MT brakes SRAM X11 drivetrain Bontrager Line Wheels Easton bar and seatpost, old school Point1 50mm stem custom SDG TiFly. Some of the parts came from upgrading my Slash and others were in the parts bin. Overall I’m pretty happy with it if a bit disappointed in the overall weight (29lbs) it weighs the same as my 6” enderpo bike but oh well it makes mellower trails fun again and riding a hardtail is good for the spirit.
Pretty much always ridden a hardtail, people told me I'd be a lot faster on a dually so I bought three and didn't really like any of them. I didn't feel like I was doing the bikes justice and felt like I could get a hardtail closer to what it was capable of so I stayed with what I knew.
Geometry, tube spec and compliant wheels, are, in my opinion the most important parts in making a HT tolerable as an only bike. My current bike is a custom Marino and it is exactly what I expected for the money paid, my brake mount was about 3mm off line meaning I had to waist the bolts to get the rear brake to work and the alignment in the back end isn't perfect, BUT, it is the best hardtail frame I have owned and I'm thinking of getting my old man a road frame with geo that doesn't suck.
My bike is in the 17/18 rides thread.
There are some pretty sweet frames out there now but back when I used to race that was not the case, everything was sub 16" reach and sported 14"+ BB heights so any rough terrain was hit hanging off the back which was less than ideal. Newer geo sees you standing more upright and you can attack in this position so it is less taxing on the back, fork dampers have also come along way and can't really see the need for anything over 130mm. If you don't want a dropper a bike with a 30.9mm or 31.6mm post will be brutal on your pretzel, a Sytace Hi Flex post will help a lot but it is expensive and still only as good as a frame with a cheap alloy 27.2mm post.
My preferences- 2deg slacker than a similar style dually to allow for sag, ~20mm longer in reach so you are less likely to get flicked when deep in the travel and somewhere around an inch lower in the BB is good. I have adult size feet so I stayed with a 142mm back end as they used to end up on top of the chainstays quite often on my last bike and it sucked, low Q factor cranks help a little in places that a dually may struggle.
Today was the first time I'd been on a DH track in about four years and the last time I was there I was on my old Nicolai Ion so it was a bit rough but a whole lot of fun.
Me- 6ft tall, pretty fat so the steep STA is more of a necessity for someone like me or you waste a bunch of energy firing your abs and forearms keeping the front down and under control on climbs. Geo works for me, BB is a shade low and the reach could be 10mm longer or the STA half a degree slacker but other than that it is a pretty well rounded thing.
Geometry, tube spec and compliant wheels, are, in my opinion the most important parts in making a HT tolerable as an only bike. My current bike is a custom Marino and it is exactly what I expected for the money paid, my brake mount was about 3mm off line meaning I had to waist the bolts to get the rear brake to work and the alignment in the back end isn't perfect, BUT, it is the best hardtail frame I have owned and I'm thinking of getting my old man a road frame with geo that doesn't suck.
My bike is in the 17/18 rides thread.
There are some pretty sweet frames out there now but back when I used to race that was not the case, everything was sub 16" reach and sported 14"+ BB heights so any rough terrain was hit hanging off the back which was less than ideal. Newer geo sees you standing more upright and you can attack in this position so it is less taxing on the back, fork dampers have also come along way and can't really see the need for anything over 130mm. If you don't want a dropper a bike with a 30.9mm or 31.6mm post will be brutal on your pretzel, a Sytace Hi Flex post will help a lot but it is expensive and still only as good as a frame with a cheap alloy 27.2mm post.
My preferences- 2deg slacker than a similar style dually to allow for sag, ~20mm longer in reach so you are less likely to get flicked when deep in the travel and somewhere around an inch lower in the BB is good. I have adult size feet so I stayed with a 142mm back end as they used to end up on top of the chainstays quite often on my last bike and it sucked, low Q factor cranks help a little in places that a dually may struggle.
Today was the first time I'd been on a DH track in about four years and the last time I was there I was on my old Nicolai Ion so it was a bit rough but a whole lot of fun.
Me- 6ft tall, pretty fat so the steep STA is more of a necessity for someone like me or you waste a bunch of energy firing your abs and forearms keeping the front down and under control on climbs. Geo works for me, BB is a shade low and the reach could be 10mm longer or the STA half a degree slacker but other than that it is a pretty well rounded thing.
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anyone owned a cotic bike?
I have my eyes on a 27.5 BFE
I have my eyes on a 27.5 BFE
A buddy of mine had the 26". He bought the frame that was recommended for him but found it too small. He liked the ride, just not the fit. (if that makes sense.)
If it is the new model to me it looks just okay, if you are a taller rider or a fatty like me there are, in my opinion, better options out there.
Looks like you'd have to run a bunch of spacers to get the handlebar to an acceptable height, a 120mm HT on a Large slack bike seems pretty stupid. Mine has a 150mm HT, the fork's A2C is 530mm and I still have a 10mm spacer and a 25mm riser bar to get the front end to feel right, part of the reason I went with the Durolux is because it is a bit taller than other forks at the same travel.
In my very biased opinion, if it is the older geo frame I wouldn't even use it as a door stop.
If you are looking at anything designed/made by someone in the UK it pays to look for reviews out of that region, seems to be a lot of bro stoke for anything local, even if it's shit. With that said I'd still give my left nut for a BTR, those things are a well thought out bit of gear.
EDIT- If you put a 150mm fork on the new Cotic your STA won't be much above 70deg when climbing so the front will probably get pretty light, not a huge concern for a lighter rider though. I think the older ones ended up at 68 or something stupid, not a huge fan of sagged geo specs.
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It would be the new model
What would you recommend for a hardtail frame with 130-150mm (preferably 140) fork and 27.5 wheels?
If I was buying something Taiwanese off the shelf in 650b I'd probably go a Commencal in an XL, ditch the normal upper headset for an Intend Stiffmaster and appropriate spacer as the HT is still quite short. I'm 6ft and would go an XL size, I would however ask about max chainring size before purchasing. Decent geo, good price, post mount brake, traditional 44mm press fit headtube, CR-MO, can fit a 2.5 Minion, 142mm back end, seat stays transfer load to top tube instead of in to your dropper post.
https://www.commencalusa.com/meta-ht-am-crmo-650b-shiny-red-2018-c2x23712353
Just remember though I am just an opinionated person on the internet, just because it is right for me doesn't mean it's right for you.
https://www.commencalusa.com/meta-ht-am-crmo-650b-shiny-red-2018-c2x23712353
Just remember though I am just an opinionated person on the internet, just because it is right for me doesn't mean it's right for you.
Can't recommend the Ranger enough, if you're the sort of nut who wants a do it all hardtail.
I want one real bad, but 1350 usd is pricey for frame only for me 
That does look pretty good, geo must have had a bit of an update from the last one.
The new Chromags look nice too excluding the non dropped top tube. A few years ago I asked if they were going to do anything longer, lower and slacker they said no, their build quality looked amazing but the geo sucked.
I picked up a Ragley Blue pig frame for $420 (retail is $650?)shipped from CRC, but there's other places to get that frame from too. It's meant to run a 140-160 fork (I'm setting it up at 150), fits up to 2.8" tires (I'm @2.6),Chro-moly, 31.6 post, and "modern geo" I guess? Lol!its similar to my Spartan, but 10mm longer reach.I want one real bad, but 1350 usd is pricey for frame only for me
I'm not pushing this bike on people cause I don't even have it built up yet. But I thought it was worth mentioning for those looking.