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HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
Isn't thats stupid expensive? I mean, I get the massive amount of attention to detail and I appreciate the craftmanship behind it, but 4700 USD for a frame without shock is way above my league...
Whoa, really? I did see their hardtail was $3800AUD, mine was $700 hahaha!
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,562
24,182
media blackout
Isn't thats stupid expensive? I mean, I get the massive amount of attention to detail and I appreciate the craftmanship behind it, but 4700 USD for a frame without shock is way above my league...
they are using a fairly high end mix of tubing... reynolds 853 and columbus zona.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
b-b-but 4700 USD!!!

I haven't bought a bike for four years and he'll do custom geo, it's still the same price as a Chinese made frame here.
I want a mullet 120mm travel frame with a 65deg HA and a 150mm long HT and he said he can do that.
 

trib

not worthy of a Rux.
Jun 22, 2009
1,456
388
I haven't bought a bike for four years and he'll do custom geo, it's still the same price as a Chinese made frame here.
I want a mullet 120mm travel frame with a 65deg HA and a 150mm long HT and he said he can do that.
yeah isn’t the reason the cost is so high is because it’s made in Australia rather than its “boutiqueness”? Amazing how much things cost when you need to pay a fair wage to a professional.
That’s not to start a comment war about whether Taiwanese welders are professionals, just that country labour laws impact price was more than the individual making them.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
yeah isn’t the reason the cost is so high is because it’s made in Australia rather than its “boutiqueness”? Amazing how much things cost when you need to pay a fair wage to a professional.
That’s not to start a comment war about whether Taiwanese welders are professionals, just that country labour laws impact price was more than the individual making them.
The last Australian bloke that made a frame for me wasn't a pro, I've never had an Asian frame as shit as that one, hahaha!

The Germans that made my last frame made it from 853 and it rode like a heavy Aluminium bike, it sucked! Taiwan rocks at making good affordable bikes, well except for whoeverade the Corsair frames.

There was another company that made AM dual sus frames here but they only did a batch of 26" frames and that was it, it was a shame as I thought they looked great, Deubel was the brand.

I think I will put down a deposit on a Tor, the hardtail is hurting my right cankle and knee.
Now, what can I sell? Cheap Z1 anybody?
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
There was another company that made AM dual sus frames here but they only did a batch of 26" frames and that was it, it was a shame as I thought they looked great, Deubel was the brand.
Never heard of them, so I googled. I just saw they were like the Australian equivalent of Orange, they even had the same mumbo jumbo BS about how their single pivot was better than anybody else's single pivot!!!

1651843768695.png
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,562
24,182
media blackout
Taiwan rocks at making good affordable bikes, well except for whoeverade the Corsair frames.
i suspect there were some questionable design and/or material choices when it came to corsair. i wouldn't necessarily blame the factory for the issues from what i recall about how they fail. remember: just because something is built to spec doesn't mean the spec is good.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
Falling rate single pivot elevated rear triangle (not reinforced with linkage) design rules! In 1993. Make it out of steel so idiots in 2023 will think it's cool!
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
The only reason I could see using steel on a full suspension bike would be because it was cheap or at least easily customized.

"I want a heavy/flexy/expensive bike" -No One Ever (maybe a hipster)
 
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Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
oh sweet, falling rate with a coil. people *like* this kind of setup?
Oh... so you haven't heard about all the magical compliance properties of steel frame tubing?
You basically have to design every steel frame falling rate as the magic is soooo good it progressively reduces all those nasty forces going into the shock. Even hardtails.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
The only reason I could see using steel on a full suspension bike would be because it was cheap or at least easily customized.

"I want a heavy/flexy/expensive bike" -No One Ever (maybe a hipster)
Yeah that's me.
Dual sus bikes I've had have been a BB7, a Corsair Maelstrom and a Nicolai Ion. A digressive 120mm air sprung dually would be fine for me.
PB reviewed Starling's trail bike with a coil and didn't hate it, and weight is a non issue to me if a bike is reliable.
Did the whole light weight thing years ago but didn't like how the bike felt and I don't race/have Strava/log verticals/have a speedo.

Sounds like I have to buy the frame now as it is universally disliked. No bottle and a digressive spring rate=win win, hahaha!
 

shirk007

Monkey
Apr 14, 2009
499
354
Get one of these.


 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
Get one of these.


That looks awesome but a 110mm headtube would mean that it would be spacerfest for me and one 29“ wheel is my limit. Was hoping that if some skill/fitness came back I'd go back to 650b front and rear.
I was going to start a thread asking about tough low travel/slack 650b or mullet frames but I figured there wouldn't be much out there.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
oh sweet, falling rate with a coil. people *like* this kind of setup?
I can't tell you the number of people I had to talk down from a ledge when I told them a coil wouldn't ride very well on their falling rate bikes, and that even with a progressive coil it would be pretty mediocre and that they were better off with an air shock back when I worked at Cane Creek.

bUt tHe gUy oN tHe iNtErNeT sAiD cOiL rIdEs mOaR bEdDeR

Another fun one was the number of people in the 250-300lb weight category asking about putting a coil on their stumpjumper. Sorry sir, we don't make 1500 lb coils, which is approximately the rate you would need for that bike with it's uber high leverage ratio. I suggest looking to the automotive industry, or possibly the train industry for the necessary coil.
 

velocipedist

Lubrication Sensei
Jul 11, 2006
559
702
Rainbow City Alabama
Hmm maybe I am doing it wrong, but my OG Alu GG smash on 650b ,aka Smash Dogg, coil front and rear is the bees knees.

Or is steel that real?

That looks awesome but a 110mm headtube would mean that it would be spacerfest for me and one 29“ wheel is my limit. Was hoping that if some skill/fitness came back I'd go back to 650b front and rear.
I was going to start a thread asking about tough low travel/slack 650b or mullet frames but I figured there wouldn't be much out there.
 

vivisectxi

Monkey
Jan 14, 2021
466
566
yeast van
I can't tell you the number of people I had to talk down from a ledge when I told them a coil wouldn't ride very well on their falling rate bikes, and that even with a progressive coil it would be pretty mediocre and that they were better off with an air shock back when I worked at Cane Creek.
i spent some time on a starling - & even with an air shock stuffed full of volume spacers, it felt like you had to compromise setup - sacrificing either grip or bottom out resistance, but not getting the best of both worlds that a nice linkage actuated bike can offer. that said, the geometry was fairly dialed (great cornering rig), and there's something to the whole compliance thing with the skinny steel tubed swingarm. add a link to the bike (ie, like the above reeb, or a swarf) & i'd be down with a steel dually. and i just love the aesthetics of skinny straight tubes - nice counterpoint to the typical bloated carbon bike.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
The only reason I could see using steel on a full suspension bike would be because it was cheap or at least easily customized.

"I want a heavy/flexy/expensive bike" -No One Ever (maybe a hipster)
Easy to build at home?
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
The only reason I could see using steel on a full suspension bike would be because it was cheap or at least easily customized.

"I want a heavy/flexy/expensive bike" -No One Ever (maybe a hipster)
Flexyness seems to be a desirable trait for English folk. Most of them get their fix by using steel for the frames, or simply by buying an Orange.
 

vivisectxi

Monkey
Jan 14, 2021
466
566
yeast van
^marino is rad. $600 for a custom fs frame. absolutely no problem with a bit of added weight & sub-optimal leverage curves at at that price point. we need more of this in the industry.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
I have a Marino but after they started making copies of BTR frames I won't have another.
For the money it was a great purchase, I think mine was $700AUD landed.

There seems to be a lot of unhappy people at the moment as their bikes haven't been made in the pre covid time frame they expected.
If you get one you really have to eyeball the final design details. I made a slight change at the front of mine, they sent through adjusted geo which I okayed.
For some reason the one I okayed had shorter chainstays and an Is brake mount and that shit ain't on! They sorted it out even though they had started tacking tubes.
They were good to deal with.

EDIT- Just stuck a magnetic angleometer to my headtube, you know, coz steel.
Turns out when mulleted my static HA is 62degrees, maybe the 110mm HT on the Reeb would be tolerable.
 
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buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,699
Champery, Switzerland
Get one of these.


Adam Prosise is a pretty amazing fabricator!

Have you seen his cnc machining work?
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
The problem isn't steel, I see the idea of a niche market for custom and limited production steel fab to be kind of cool, but it's the lazy application of it. Yeah, working with steel is hard and it's easy to just make a simple frame and who the fuck cares about the suspension, amiright? But there are some that do it right, machine the parts, use yokes, whatever they have to do to have a not-screwed-up suspension curve and rear end flex. That kind of goes back to the fact that smaller diameter steel tubing is often stiffer than aluminum, which is great and not everyone gets this, but then using a lazy single-pivot design like a bullit/heckler where the entire rear end can torque the shock due to no linkage or even foes-reinforcement scissor, it's just lazy. They are just looking for suckers.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
The problem isn't steel, I see the idea of a niche market for custom and limited production steel fab to be kind of cool, but it's the lazy application of it. Yeah, working with steel is hard and it's easy to just make a simple frame and who the fuck cares about the suspension, amiright? But there are some that do it right, machine the parts, use yokes, whatever they have to do to have a not-screwed-up suspension curve and rear end flex. That kind of goes back to the fact that smaller diameter steel tubing is often stiffer than aluminum, which is great and not everyone gets this, but then using a lazy single-pivot design like a bullit/heckler where the entire rear end can torque the shock due to no linkage or even foes-reinforcement scissor, it's just lazy. They are just looking for suckers.
Or do it right like our Swiss monkey and bolt a rear end that you know works great on your custom front triangle.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
Xprezo did aluminium front and steel rear triangle. That was interesting. I never saw one in the flesh but maybe some of you in Canada did? How did they ride?
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
I'll be damned, a Foes Ridgeback is pretty much what I want-
1651918743901.png

No ISCG tavs is a bit shit though, every bike should have a bash guard.