For some reason, I feel like building a hardtail, and being a Five owner, brand loyalty is steering me toward a P7.
I require something fun for trail centre and XC larks.

So, owners, convince me… 🙂

And any sizing recommendations?

Cheers

I had one and couldn't get on with it, it just didn't feel right for me but plenty of people on here love them.

I did like them but i think they are getting a bit over priced for what you get.I am now toying with a BluePig.

i rode one a while ago.
flimsy expensive steel frame, in comparison to a 456/dialled/blu pig.

Cheers fellas
Blue pig – yeah, like that, too…

For what it's worth I've got a 456 and love it.

out of all the steel frames of this kind of guise i have had, the 'that green' 456 i had was the best.

what size do you think you need? ride a demo bike…

I have a P7 (my third) and I love it. It's not the lightest bike around but when riding it feels lighter. It's good on the downhills, it's good going up, it loves singletrack. You can singlespeed it in a nice way. You can tour in it, you can pretty much do anything pedal related on it.

here's mine relaxing…

P7's are brilliant!

I'm 5ft 6 and have a small, perfect fit. As Mackem says they love singletrack, it loves being thrown around. Great bike.

I have ridden my mates which has a fox f140 . It was very lively feeling and enouraged ragging. I agree that it has a compliant feel which is why I recon it feels lively rather than rigid and dead. Depends what you like so try it first.

rigid and dead is good…….when you are a bit….hefty. 😉

I've had a P7 2008 brand new, sold frame and transferred all over onto a 456, prefer the 456.

My P7 is circa 93-94 one of the early ones with disc mounts , the nearest thing to it now is probably the Prestige , running 100mm Rebas and a mix of fairly hefty kit on it but I love it (got rid of an xc I-drive for it). I realised that I didn't need 2 sussers and this just felt right when I tested it.

It's almost the cost of a Soul, despite being made of cheaper tubes, and heavier than a Blue Pig despite being much less strong. People try to excuse the weight by blaming the CEN testing but the 456 can carry a longer fork and weighs less while costing less than a third as much. And they ride really very similiarly to a P7. The Soul rides much better IMO but that's personal taste of course. The Alptitude is cheaper, stronger and lighter. And of course a P7 is exactly as british as all of those so you can't even wave the union jack.

The complete builds seem like decent value but it strikes me that you'd have to be completely nuts to buy one as a frame only option… The old ones are mint though

I think the bottom line is they know perfectly well they can put out an average, overweight, lazily designed bike and charge too much for it, and people will still buy it- so why try harder? P7 buyers get the frame they deserve.

I was torn between the p7 & Crush, and being a steel fan I was expecting to like the P7. However, when I tested them the P7 felt horrid whereas the Crush felt like a right hooning machine.

I was also very surprised to find the P7 was noticeably heavier, given that the crush has a reputation for being a bit of a heavyweight.

I've gone crush and can't wait.

Not had much experience of othersimilar bikes but i do love mine. It is a tad heavy but it is wonderful on singletrack.

6'2" = 19"
2007 singlespeed
Love it. In fact if the route and my legs allow I prefer it to my Soul. (Personal taste of course.)
Comfy, all day, do (almost) anything bike.

I really like mine, not the lightest frame out there, rides nicely and is very versatile though. Perhaps not the best option if you are the sort of penny-pinching curmudgeon who would rather tot up how much his bike cost on a spreadsheet rather than ride it…

mine is 6 years old so different geometry to current ones, but i love it. Have had 2 steel Marin's and a 631 tubed GT prior to this and prefer this to them all. I'm 5'6 and have a 17" frame, but i do admit i tend to prefer a slightly more streched riding position. V versatile, i have ridden it as a commuter, a road bike (did 30 miles on the road last night) and off road in the peak district, local trails, Grizedale and even the black run at Llandegla (100mm air forks, flat bars and v brakes!!!). However as i've not ridden a more modern one (cotic, on-one e.tc.) cannot make a comparison. Don't want to try any others tho. I love it.

I've got a five and one of the 2007 clockworks, which I use for local XC. Why not look at the R8 as a real contrast to your five?

I really want to test ride a small if anyone has one around Edinburgh. They look good geometry-wise but I hear horror stories of finishing / QC. Will remain open-mind 'til I see anything for my own mince-pies, though.

I really love my P7 rides amazingly good, its all about the setup, i run it at 125mm revs locked down and have a fairly good mix of kit, best bike ive ever had!

Thanks for all the input, here.
General thumbs up all round
ta

And now off to Llandegla – beat that!