I have a 2014 Camber Evo which is great – I upgraded it (pikes, reverb) and by all accounts it is pretty great. It’s a bit on the hefty side since I added the extra stuff, at 14kg.

I sort of fancy a hardtail, for muddy days, local rides (Ashton Court etc near Bristol – my bike makes that even more boring). And because I want to know more about repairing/maintaining bikes, so surely building one is a good way to do that?

My checklist for a putative new hardtail is:

[list]
[*]Better up the hills than my Camber[/*]
[*]Slacker than my Camber[/*]
[*]More fun on easy stuff than my Camber[/*]
[*]Still decent on technical stuff[/*]
[*]Easier to get in the air than my Camber (I am shit at jumping, but a bit less shit on other people’s smaller-wheeled bikes)[/*]
[/list]

I can spend about £2k – £3k (top whack) I reckon. Looking at the Stanton Slackline and the Bird Zero AM, although I would possibly prefer 120mm if the head angle wasn’t too steep.

Can I get what I want? Or have I painted myself into a one-bike corner by having a bike that is a bit too much an all-rounder?

Budget sounds a bit excessive there, by a factor of ten or so, but yes building one up is a great idea, and very straightforward.

Haha thanks, the budget is for everything, not just a frame…

Don’t bother spending anything like that amount of dollah.

Yes, building a bike helps massively with understanding how everything works, so well worth it.

I would get a nice P7 for that money, done a sweet custom build for a customer with everything you could want for somewhere in your budget.

that price for a hardtail is a hell of a lot of money

Unless you arre trying to build it silly light or race it then its excessive

You could learn just as much buying second hand and repairing it 😉

Building a bike is not how i would choose to learn as you may well end up with a bike that is shit – no offence meant but its like learning to swim by diving in the deep end from a diving board

Just buy a used Slackline and see if you like it. Hardtails are not for everyone. Your knees and ankles will hate you. If you get on with it then go from there. Upgrades or fresh start or whatever.

If you want to spend that much then go ahead. People on here sometimes forget that some people have enough money to waste on things they want. You don’t need to spend that much but need and want are two very different things.
I built myself a santacruz chameleon which ended up costing around £3000 plus some bits I already had. Spec below

Santacruz chamelon
Fox 34 factory forks
Mavic 821 rims on hope pro2 Evo hubs
Race face sixC Carbon cranks
Race face sixC Carbon bars
Reverb seat post
Sdg circuit carbon saddle
Magic Mary / hans dampf
Hope e4 brakes and 203mm floating rotors
Hope f20 pedals
Xtr mech and shifter
Odi Troy Lee lockons

It weighs about 26lbs and rides amazingly but is built to handle anything.

Something like that would probably be perfect for what you described

Photos here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-chameleon-is-finally-finished

Building your own bike gets you exactly what you want and is a great way to learn. You are also very likely to fix it yourself because you built it.

Raid superstar for finishing bits (May 25% off) Parkwood frames are good price atm

Mondraker carbon hardtail £3000. Pig fugly though: http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Mondraker-Podium-Carbon-Mountain-Bike-2016-Hardtail-MTB_82684.htm?

Definitely possible to spend that sort of cash on a hardtail. Even more if you build it up from separate bits. Probably worth it though, if you can afford it.

I love building my own bikes. I think apart from my Stumpjumper being a little too small, I never really bonded with it like I did with my self built hardtails.

Hoping the Bird Aeris build will be better 🙂