[luelling]

I'm thinking of getting the scandium Kona frame...but thoughts had crossed my mind of getting a Scott frame (I would like the limited, but thats outta my range). I want a frame that is light with a more forgiving ride....any thoughts?

 

[robdamanii]

The Kona scandium isn't what I'd call "forgiving". It's pretty stiff and harsh...perfect for a racing frame.

 

[FBTMILF]

One of our coaches works at Scott and has brought some of the lower-end hardtails out to mess around on. I love riding full suspension and wouldn't want to go any other way but those hardtails are so nice. They are light, ride great, and are pretty forgiving i think. Well, I am only 14 so riding a rigid would be forgiving . Anyways, just my thought.

 

[The Toninator]

specialized stumpjumper hardtail is always a good choice - bang/buck.

 

[SuspectDevice]

I'm partial, very partial to the Sinister that I'm riding now, but it's not going to be available until after Interbike. ~3 pounds of 6061 with a magically smooth ride (smoother than either my IF or my Fat). Will be $700 when it's out.

The aluminum Trek frames are a great deal, and ride pretty decently. You should be able to get a new one from a shop for $600.
The higher-end Rocky Mtn hardtails have great geo and also ride well, but I am suspect of their durability.

The cannondales are very smooth riding bikes, but I am not the biggest fan of their geometry.


Kona, Specialized and Scott stuff is very overpriced, IMO You pay a lot to the middle man who actually owns the factory that builds the frames, and then pay more on top of that for a name.

 

[blue]

Kona, Specialized and Scott stuff is very overpriced, IMO You pay a lot to the middle man who actually owns the factory that builds the frames, and then pay more on top of that for a name.

Hells yeah...I can't believe the prices Specialized gets away with for a ghettoass 4.5lb Stumpjumper hardtail frame.

They do, however, hold their value...people try to get rid of 5 year old Spec HTs for 400 bucks...

 

[skinny mike]

while its not cheap by any means, i loved racing on my merlin xlm. the claimed weight is 2.9 pounds for the frame and it rides super smooth. not to mention as long as it is taken care of and not abused a ti frame is going to last a while. i was surprised how stiff the frame felt while sprinting even though it had a very forgiving feel to it when i was in the saddle. im still quite sad that i need to sell it due to financial reasons.

 

[Honus]

I've owned two IF frames and loved them- probably one of the better frames out there. I've also owned two custom Landsharks and they were fantastic frames. I had to sell my 853 Landshark when my son was hospitalized and I haven't yet been able to replace it. I'd be interested in that Sinister frame as I never much cared for the ride of Aluminum frames but FTW has always made a nice bike.

 

[ATOMICFIREBALL]

Riding a TREK 6700 SLR alumunim frame here.. Rides awesome.Light as heck stripped down. "SLR" means Superlightweight Race.. I don't feel any flex in it & has good all-around geometry with a 4" fork. I picked it up from trekbro a few years ago for $200 & it's still riding strong...

I also had a Litespeed Ti frame & it "boinged" alot because it was a UNICOI softail.I would not get a softail like that design ever again !boing boing....

 

[Zutroy]

The Giant frames are a decent ride. I really liked the MCMs and you can find them NOS around fairly cheap. Kona is nice and light, does have a somewhat harsh ride. The sinister frame will probably ride nice, I'm also a fan of the Yeti ARC, as far as HT race frames go.

 

[SuspectDevice]

When we were doing market analysis for the Sinister, I was shocked to see how heavy the ARC is these days. They've abandoned the old Easton tubeset (can't blame them for that, Easton sucks to deal with now, and all the tubing comes from TW now), but some new yokes etc have the weight of the fram up above 4 pounds! Franks says that the ARCs were always heavy because of the loop-stays, but now they are in the same weight range as some of the 4x hardtails out there!

Yeah, I forgot to mention the Giant's. You can buy a complete aluminum XTC for a grand, sell a bunch of the parts and end up with a pretty nice bike. The frame is right at the 3 pound mark, and you can buy one when they have the framesets in stock for about $350!
The ride could be a little smoother, all that hydroformed tubing and manipulation in the chainstay area doesn't really have the best "give" to it.

Straight gauge round tubes for life!

 

[Zutroy]

When we were doing market analysis for the Sinister, I was shocked to see how heavy the ARC is these days. They've abandoned the old Easton tubeset (can't blame them for that, Easton sucks to deal with now, and all the tubing comes from TW now), but some new yokes etc have the weight of the fram up above 4 pounds! Franks says that the ARCs were always heavy because of the loop-stays, but now they are in the same weight range as some of the 4x hardtails out there!

Yeah, I forgot to mention the Giant's. You can buy a complete aluminum XTC for a grand, sell a bunch of the parts and end up with a pretty nice bike. The frame is right at the 3 pound mark, and you can buy one when they have the framesets in stock for about $350!
The ride could be a little smoother, all that hydroformed tubing and manipulation in the chainstay area doesn't really have the best "give" to it.

Straight gauge round tubes for life!

They are heavy, but they have dropped the weight some, medium is 3.5 these days. I personally don't mind the slight bit of extra weight for a decent ride, but then I'm not small either so it's not as much to me as say a little 150# guy.

 

[blue]

It's all aboot the Schwinn Homegrown.

 

[1TrackMind]

Kindof biased to Trek here.......I have one of the older 99 model Alpha frames Trek put out. They are still making these, only now they are slightly lighter.....Ive liked the bike so much that Ive almost fully upgraded everything on it and its 7 years old and still kicking. The best is when i pick up my freinds' hardtails and they feel like lead

 

[*ChrisJ*]

I have a 05 8500 frame I built up. Still needs some work to drop some weight. However the frame is superlight and super stiff. The new ZR9000 is excellent. No complaints here.

 

[James]

The Giant frames are a decent ride. I really liked the MCMs and you can find them NOS around fairly cheap. Kona is nice and light, does have a somewhat harsh ride. The sinister frame will probably ride nice, I'm also a fan of the Yeti ARC, as far as HT race frames go.

The new XTC Composites ride pretty damn well. I'll go so far as to say it's the best hardtail I've personally ridden, and pretty damn light.
There are a lot of great hardtails out there, I think a lot of it will boil down to which one fits you best...

 

[batty_110]

Check out the Trek 8000 & 8500. Under $2500, and the one I rode was SUPER stiff, but didn't pass too many vibrations my way.

 

[BIRDMAN111]

get a lightspeed