I am thinking about getting a new hardtail. I’m tall and I’m currently enjoying my Mega 290 as my “big” bike so I reckon a 29er is what I’m after. I’m probably looking for an XC/trail sort of bike so maybe around a 120mm travel fork.

The Mega has a reach of 480mm (with a 50mm stem) and feels to be a pretty good size for me. It’s a struggle though to find hardtail frames that are that long though. For example one possible candidate would be the Cotic Solaris but in XL it’s nearly an inch shorter than the Mega.

Not sure about material. In the past I found my 2005-era Soul more flexy than springy, but on the other hand I find my current hardtail, a fairly old Chameleon, a bit brutal these days.

Any suggestsions?

Stanton Sherpa

pickle – Member
Stanton Sherpa

They’re pretty short – the XL has a reach of 449mm, so less than the Solaris. But thanks for for the suggestion! Other than that the Sherpa looks like the sort of thing I’d be thinking about.

Kona Honzo?
http://konaworld.com/honzo_al.cfm

About the same size as a Solaris I think, the Orange Clockwork looks tidy.

BTR Ranger?

I’ve just picked up a s/h chromag surface to build out…but they also do the Primer and the Rootdown

dunno what your budget is – but theres a bargainalicious rootdown in the classifieds (may be too small for you tho)

I’d forgotten about the Honzo, good call. The Clockwork looks to still be a bit on the short side if I compare it to my Mega, but I’ll have a further look into it if I can. Cheers!

Not sure about the reach on these but I’ve quite fancy:
– Genesis Tarn 29 (120mm)
– Ragley Big Wig (130mm) << The 2017 is a fair bit longer in the TT
– Last FastForward (140mm)
– PP Shan GT (140mm ish)
Or if you are feeling flush:
– Kingdom Vendetta 29+

There isn’t a huge amount of choice in 29er category versus for 27.5 but it’s getting better. There is a particular lack of Alu 29ers such as versions of the Orange Crush or Bird Zero which I’d like to see.

I have got a s/h Giant XTC 29 frame for sale if any good?
XL size and made of alloy so very light.
More XC race but will take a 120mm fork.
Wanting 250 posted O.N.O.
singlespeedtothemax1@hotmail.co.uk
For photos,
Thanks,
Max

I’ve just been going through the same thing my self so camps help with a couple of the ones turnerfan has put forward regards reach.
Shan gt 140mm 450 120mm 460 mm
Fast forward 475mm
Bigwig is around 475mm
Kingdom about 455mm
Tarn 490
BTR Ranger 475mm
Only one of these for you size wise and your mentioned type of riding is the bigwig I’d say.
Fastforward and the BTR are supper slack 64deg head angles
Shan to short really etc.

PP Shan GT has quite a short reach, I’ve got one in a large and reach is 428mm that’s about 25mm shorter than my medium sized full suss frame.

Don’t find the shorter reach an issue though, stem is 10mm longer on the Shan and seat angle is slacker too so feels roomy enough when seated.

Worth trying out the Sherpa if you can as even though the reach is shorter you might find it feels ok, same for the Solaris too.

The Chromag Rootdown BA has a reach of 473mm for a large frame and 492mm for a xlarge frame.

Last fastforward? More travel, but slacker than everything else so you may get away with a shorter fork.

The Tarn is quite interesting, I’m not looking for something as heavy duty as the Mega, and the Ragley seems to be intruding on its territory with the longer fork. The Tarn in its 29er form only seems to come with one spec option though and the frame option includes a rigid fork.

Thanks for the offer Max, but I think that the XTC is a bit short for what I’m after.

bungalistic – Member
Worth trying out the Sherpa if you can as even though the reach is shorter you might find it feels ok, same for the Solaris too.

OK, has anyone in the Edinburgh area got any of the bikes under discussion in XL and is willing for me to try them out? 🙂

The bigwig isnt exactly longer, the tt / reach got longer and so did the seat tube so really its just bigger.

My default answer is the Honzo but thats cos I love mine.

Last FF would be on my list

You didn’t mention budget, so I’ll suggest the Honzo CR.

NS Bikes Eccentric Cromo is a 29er for 2017 (And available as a frame only), I have one on pre-order with the LBS which will hopefully be here mid march. I would say its deffinitely worth a look, reach is longer than the Production Privee (although remember with a sagged fork on a hardtail the reach will increase anyway). The NS is able to take a 130 – 150mm fork, I am planning on running it with a 130mm as I don’t feel I need 140mm for my local trails, if I remember correctly the reach is in the 470mm region.

Whyte 529/629?

It will all depend on your proportions a bit.

I’m 6ft tall with long arms, even on a large MK2 Solaris, with a 70mm stem I have the seat slammed as far back as it’ll go on a straight seat post. Cotic would recommend I was on a medium. I can’t see XL working for you even with a long stem and layback post.

I have an on one lurcher xl frame I should sell, it’s definitely your size, it was pretty big even for me. I have a large parkwood which I enjoy riding but it’s a little short, but it’s a bit more lively than a very long frame. It might be OKish as you are mostly legs aren’t you?

bigjim – Member
I have an on one lurcher xl frame I should sell, it’s definitely your size, it was pretty big even for me. I have a large parkwood which I enjoy riding but it’s a little short, but it’s a bit more lively than a very long frame. It might be OKish as you are mostly legs aren’t you?

Compared to you, yes – I remember extending the seatpost quite a bit when I demoed your Smuggler.

There is a particular lack of Alu 29ers such as versions of the Orange Crush or Bird Zero which I’d like to see.

+1
29er, 30mm+rims with ability to take a 2.6 with room, 120mm front travel with 20mm bolt through and boosted, lighter/trail ride side of burly, shimmed 27.2 seatpost, boosted frame, good brakes. (And not 3.5k)

The Pinnacle Ramin is worth a look – and great value.
I do like the look of the Genesis High Latitude 29 from last year – just wish it was in alloy not as hefty as it is.
The Kona Honzo looks as – but cheap components and high price/rigidity put me off.
I like the idea of the Sonder Transmitter – run as a beefy 29er – but that would be an expensive way of doing it.
The Orange Clockwork – I just cannot get info on how much clearance for fatter tyres, but it looks ace, with nice balance of kit.
Some of the Scott’s come close as well – worth looking at them.

I can see me getting a 27.5+ semi-chub with 2.6 tyres on.

Bigmantrials – Member
(although remember with a sagged fork on a hardtail the reach will increase anyway)

I’ve seen that mentioned a few times. Handily, Cotic have two sets of Geometry tables for the Solaris – one for a 100mm travel fork at 20% sag, and one for a 120mm travel fork at 20% sag. The difference in reach is 6.4mm for 16mm extra fork length, which suggests that the listed reach (if based on unsagged measurements) for a hardtail with a 120mm fork will only grow by half an inch or so when the fork is sagged.

The Whyte 529/629 look like they have promising geometry and I like the way they look, but the specs are probably basic enough that I’d end up spending money on upgrades. I’ve asked Whyte whether there’s any frame only option for the Aluminium 29er hardtail frame.

The Tarn looks quite nice too, but again the 29er spec isn’t particularly ticking my bike snob boxes. There is a frameset option, with a rigid fork which could make spreading out the cost of a build easier, but wow, the frame and (carbon) fork weigh nearly 9 pounds together. That sounds like quite a lot.

Kona states that the Honzo DL is available as a frame, which is interesting – though its reviews suggest it’s somewhat on the brutally stiff side of things. The carbon one is definitely beyond my vaguely defined budget!

The Eccentric looks a touch small in size and intended for longer travel than I want, the Ramin looks nice but is also a bit short lengthwise.

My Honzo is a tank but once it’s moving nothing stops it.

9lb for frame/fork/headset/seatclamp/ft and rr bolt thru axles.

Not featherweight, but not mental heavy either. Love mine.

OK, I think my ideas about frame weights are possibly skewed by what was happening 10+ years ago. My original hardtail was a £850 Rocky Mountain with a 3.9lb frame, and the early Cotic Souls were about 4.5lb, but that was back in the days of 80-100mm travel forks and before CEN standards so perhaps the comparison is unfair?

I’ve looked at the Whytes just now – have they increased tyre clearance? I remember the only Whyte HT I’ve ridden had tiny clearance…

No idea about tyre clearance, I’m not looking for something that can double as a plus bike so I possibly foolishly assumed that anything with a “trail” label wouldn’t struggle with tyre clearance in this day and age!

I’ve got a unit, which I run with 100mm forks and an external lower cup to slacken the ha and the dfropouts as far forward as I can,

I’m basically turning it into a Honzo, been looking for a Honzo AL frame s/h but they are super rare.
Taro is another option same frame but even they are hard to find

It’s worth noting that the 2017 Honzos are quite a bit more stretched than the earlier frames – the reach of the XL has increased by 25mm.

Edit – duplicate post!

Vitus Sentier (newer one at least) is reasonable in length I think, might be worth a look?

Canfield EPO if you’re lucky enough to find one.

Looking around and the Marin Nail Trail 29 could be another contender.

By the way your not able to run 29er wheels in the sonda as I asked . Well only with skinny tyres ands that’s pointless!

ChrisL – Member

Kona states that the Honzo DL is available as a frame, which is interesting – though its reviews suggest it’s somewhat on the brutally stiff side of things.

I’d probably hate the Honzo, but you ride a Chameleon (*) and thought a Soul was too bendy, so it’s all relative. (would you be as worried about frame stiffness if you hadn’t ridden with me moaning about stiff frames so much?)

(* well OK, no you don’t ride a Chameleon. But it exists)

Northwind – Member
I’d probably hate the Honzo, but you ride a Chameleon (*) and thought a Soul was too bendy, so it’s all relative. (would you be as worried about frame stiffness if you hadn’t ridden with me moaning about stiff frames so much?)

(* well OK, no you don’t ride a Chameleon. But it exists)

Mostly I don’t ride the Chameleon due to laziness (it’s behind other bikes in my shed) but I do remember not liking it much the last time I took it to Drumlarig. It was difficult to keep any pedalling rhythm and I’m pretty sure I felt every single bump and root as I went over it. It was probably the first time I really felt that it was too stiff.

I’m not saying I want something completely in the opposite direction (no mk1 Soda for me!) but if there was something that was somewhere inbetween very stiff and flexy then that would be interesting.

Was the Soul you rode 27.2 or 31.6 seat pin/seat tube?

The move to 31.6 has had a stiffening effect and so could be the halfway house you’re looking for.

Also, I’m confused with the 480mm reach on the mega (with 50mm stem) v. the 457.8mm (presumably no stem?) on the Solaris… are you comparing apples with apples?

metalheart – Member
Was the Soul you rode 27.2 or 31.6 seat pin/seat tube?

I got my Soul in 2005, so it predates the move to 31.6mm seat posts and the CEN adaptions by some significant amount.

The move to 31.6 has had a stiffening effect and so could be the halfway house you’re looking for.

If the Solaris was a bit longer I’d be probably very keen on it, especially as it’s available in a nice colour. 🙂 I’d like to give one a shot but demoing XL bikes can be quite a challenge at times.

Also, I’m confused with the 480mm reach on the mega (with 50mm stem) v. the 457.8mm (presumably no stem?) on the Solaris… are you comparing apples with apples?

Reach (as listed on geometry tables) is the horizontal distance from the top of the head tube to the BB, so isn’t affected by stem length.

Annoyingly, Whyte got back to me to say that the 529/629 frame won’t be available frame only. 🙁

The new Sonder Frontier that’s in the News section of STW is a bit short and is intended for 100mm travel forks, which is a pity as it otherwise sounded quite nice.