Currently sniffing around a Bird Zero Am for fun days and skillz, but is there anything similar cheaper and as much (or more!) fun out there that I’ve missed?

And, 29 or 27.5…? I am favouring the latter…

On One or Dartmoor would be my ‘go-to’ makes whenever this question is posed.

Depends how good you want the brazing to be…

What do you call cheap?

I’d be looking at the BFE if it were me.

Well I’ve found a sale Blue Pig with a Yari for £1400 – that or less?

Dartmoor hornet frame is only about 180. Should be able to build one for under 1400 with a decent spec.

https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOMCTI29NX1/on-one-ti-29er-sram-nx1-mountain-bike

https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBTIFLNX1/titus-fireline-evo-sram-nx1-mountain-bike

Yari RC 120mm and GX, 66 HTA, £1050 Iroko 3 2017

Rev 2018 120mm, GX, Boost frame for 2.6s, 66 HTA, £1400
Iroko 2 2018

Kryton57 – Member
Well I’ve found a sale Blue Pig with a Yari for £1400 – that or less?

Ok.

Nukeproof Scout?

Sonder Transmitter.

Dartmoor Primal Pro is a lot of bike for ~1200 GBP, Author Versus also looks impressive (but has very ugly top tube) and is even cheaper

still a few Orange P7’s about for £1200, even some with droppers, ver ver good bike for the cash.
https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/orange-p7-s-2017-with-dropper-Q1214046.html

Nukeproof Scout.

Mega value for money, really fun and capable bit of kit – there was a guy selling a nearly new basic build on Facebook for about £500.

frame only? Can heartily recommend the ragley piglet 27.5/27.5+

Bugger. Thanks for the recommendations. I was looking for a list of ideas for a purchase in March, and now I want that P7!

They’ve got an Orange Crush S for £1099 too, and in my size (XL), add a dropper and it’s right on my budget…

Sunset MTB had a couple of P7’s for just over £1000 the other day. Got mine from there and think it’s ace.

On one Dee dar?

2017 Whyte 901 was £1299 now £1039…?

Whyte 909s are down to 1699 at Edinburgh bike coop
linky
Ok not cheap but it is a tidy spec with mostly XT and Hope rear hub

I want a minimum 140mm fork – I really want this bike to be a bit *hesitates* “Enduro” as i want to use it a a flip side to my XC race bike, for a laugh but also to encourage and learn a bit of pop, jumps and ragging some berms(!) during the winter months.

Not sure if that makes sense to people. The P7 appeals beacuse of it being steel, the Crush cheaper but I suspect less comfortable for 2-3hrs riding?

HTs are not ‘comfortable’ unless you have the right mindset. You have to accept them and ride them for what they are. Technique, position, standing etc.. Changing the material of the frame won’t change it from a 1 hour bike to a 5 hour bike.
Get the geometry you want, worry about anything else later.

Me, i’d be putting frame material below Bottom Bracket type and Headset type, they’d be more important to me.

I’m not sure frames themselves are necessarily poppy and jumpy, again that’s as much the rider as the frame to an extent. If you get a short chainstay 27.5 it will be more poppy than the long chainstay 29er like a Solaris of course.
Most of this is common sense, you’re not a daft lad by any means.

The Commencal Meta AM HT thing looks an absolute blast and is decent money. The Bird is hard to beat too.

Onza Jackpot – Steel for the win 😉
£1260
https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/81237/Onza_Jackpot_275_2017_Bike

As a bonus it will make you as fast and stylish as these two:
https://www.pinkbike.com/video/472190/

Those orange’s at cycle surgery have gone up £150 today.

Get a P7 realy realy good bike for the cash, plus resale value will be way better than most bike mentioned in the thread.
You can blag another 10% with Sunset probs, you could cycle surgery and see if they will do yesterday’s offer.

Dartmoor hornet

frames you get for little money.

Had a Dartmoor Primal for a short time. Wasn’t the bike for me.

The Dartmoor Hornet is more downhill focused.

Bargain here, plus 160mm Yari forks,
https://www.commencal-store.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=19822485

^^ I’d read the the Commencal was one of the hardest and least comfy rides of all the loony HT’s.

I’ve ridden a few HT’s in this category NS Bikes Eccentric CroMo and Alu, Parkwood 27.5, Ragley Blue Pig, Cotic BFe and one thing I can say for certain is the Chromoly frames always weight more and some are as stiff as Alu frames.

If you get a light Alu frame with good clearance you can run big tyres, 2.4 rear maybe even a 2.6 front and still weight about the same as a similar Chromoly frame with modest/normal tyres. After geometry tyres make the biggest difference IMO! If you go for one of the brutally overbuilt Alu models Meta, Scout or Hornet for example, I’d say large volume tyres are a must!

I’d read the the Commencal was one of the hardest and least comfy rides of all the loony HT’s.

Mine was more forgiving than the 456c* that it replaced and also the Nukeproof that replaced it.

It also cracked and Commencal we’re a shower of bastards to deal with, the new frame looks to have addressed the problem I had (the cheap one linked above is the old design btw) but purely based on how the dealt with me I’d never buy from them again.

*Not much isn’t in fairness!

Kryton57 – Member

^^ I’d read the the Commencal was one of the hardest and least comfy rides of all the loony HT’s. That’s true for most Hardcore Alloy HT’s IMO

Pinnacle Iroko
Bird Zero

Would stay away from on one purely because they are so short.

+1 to ‘**** ever dealing with Commencal again, ever’. They’re a lying shower of shit.

You could pick up a decent older BFe 275 for less than £1000 second hand if you don’t mind waiting for one to turn up. They’re still slack, still strong enough to chuck down stuff and still fun despite the new LLSer one being out.

What about a Genesis High Lat 29er, had one now for around a year great solid bike paid £580 for it with a decent spec, ace winter plugger

I’d go for a steely if you are going down the HT route, more fun and then there’s the whole comfort thing too, so it’s a win win.
Bit weighty though, just don’t let ya mates pick it up, you’ll never live it down!

Orange P7 gets my vote.

why on earth would a steel hardtail be more fun than an otherwise identical alu bike? I suppose if you think lugging extra weight around is fun..?

as above, dartmoor hornet. It is their DH front triangle with a massive rear end welded on. Don’t expect it to be particularly light, but its cheap and the geo is bang up to date..