Having been doing a lot less off-road riding in the years since having children, I have finally got back into it, to some extent.
I am currently the owner of a ’03 Kona Stuff hardtail that is now setup as a fairly light singlespeed, having previously been built-up more heftily. I’ve always liked the handling of this frame. It currently gets used for muddy night riding.
I also have a ’06/’07 Kona Dawg with about 5″(?) of rear travel (This is probably considered XC-lite-commuter these days) and old-style Coil Pikes. Even with an air shock it weights a lot. It performs quite well on the rocks of the Lakes and the Pennines.
I would like a new full suspension bike, but the one I have gets very little use as I no longer get to the mountains very often, so I’ll stick with the old one.
Having heard that these new fangled 29ers were all the rage, I’ve had thoughts about getting a 1×10/11 29er trail/XC hardtail which would be good for the quicker XC rides.
What I have since discovered is that many/most mountain bikes are now 27.5ers,(so not possibly a lot different to 26″ wheel bikes)
….What happened to all of the 29ers …and 26ers?
Anyway, I will probably still look for a 29er hardtail. ~120mm fork, not too heavy, probably Alu rather than Carbon as I would want it to last.
Ideas so far:
Canyon Grand Canyon
On-One Parkwood
Preferably used.
Any others?
Cheers