Help me choose a used frame for a new build. I’ve got a Soul and a Mojo 140 with a 150 front end. I’m 51 with knackered hips so fancy something to fill the middle ground between the two.

I have a 140 AM Thor fork that is begging to be built onto a frame that would be light, fun and trail ready, so what suggestions would the hive mind make? I suppose I’m looking for a 120/130 trail frame that is the XC side of things rather than burly. (Blur? Yeti? ST4?) It needs to build up lightish but suited to rides around Kirklees/Calderdale. Budget is about £400 for a used frame so far, and I’m happy with retro 26″

Nicolai Helius CC if you can find one. Whilst not exactly common they do pop up here from time to time. Sold mine for little over £400 early this year. Adjustable travel between 100mm and 134mm and takes a 140 fork. 1 1/8 only though which you haven’t specified in your post. Brilliant frames.

Yeah, steerer is 1 1/8 and 180 mm. I’ll have a look at those. Keep em coming folks!

https://fbcdn-photos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-0/10255492_10152400604457139_1857189134122884763_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=3470c29dad9595224be97f697df37f97&oe=552D3605&__gda__=1428935955_6baa0aee1afe779af0234ac733e64fc8%5B/Img%5D

St4. Paid 300 for mine. Running air lyriks dropped to 140mm. Rides great. Weighs in at about 30lbs.

Hmm 140mm forks hardly sounds classic XC, and 140mm fork on the like of a std Blur definitely doesn’t sound right. Blur LT maybe, but is that an XC bike?

Cannondale Prophet isn’t thought of as your classic XC bike, but are pretty light and bombproof, cheap as chips, will take you 140mm forks & any fork steerer you feel like buy afterwards. THere an XC and FR adjustable geo setting on the swinging arm but I just rode mine in FR all the time! Loved mine but then I fell for 29er wheels, so it had to go..

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pevQsJ]Cannondale Prophet[/url] by z1ppy2, on Flickr

My Transition Bandit frame is for sale for a smidge over your £400 budget.

Pitch?

Blur IMHO but I have one so am biased

I spent yesterday converting the IBIS to 1×10 and have ordered some spacers to take the 160 slants down to 150. I may even try it at 140. In current guise it weighs 28 1/2 lb and is therefore sitting right where I wanted the new bike to be. To get a lighter shorter travel bike would probably be a bit spurious, and unlikely to be within easy budget reach. For the first time in many years I am now at the point where I have come to the momentous decision that I don’t actually need another bike. Today I will put the Thor on the Soul and see what that rides like. The travel adjust will suit it perfectly, and as I don’t do the sort of riding that needs a fast XC bike, I’ll probaly spend the rest of the budget on coke and hookers. Or a Paramo Jacket and some beer.

2012 or 2013 Trek Fuel EX.

Or a Bandit.

Or maybe a Zesty.

Or flog the Soul and get a 29er HT.

I have come to the momentous decision that I don’t actually need another bike.

Don’t worry, you’ll snap out of that once the hangover wears off.

I have come to the momentous decision that I don’t actually need another bike

I was surprised no one has said this already.

There’s nothing wrong with that Mojo for riding general XC stuff. Save your money, spend it on something else – new wheels, skills course, race entry…. etc..

Help me choose a used frame for a new build. I’ve got a Soul and a Mojo 140 with a 150 front end. I’m 51 with knackered hips so fancy something to fill the middle ground between the two.

That middle ground seems a very narrow space! I can’t think of many bikes that will go uphill better than a Mojo without being worse downhill than the Soul, especially with a limited budget.

Yep, I reckon that’s the conclusion I came to. I just ordered the Paramo jacket. 😀

After converting the Mojo drivetrain I did a quick reality check. Both bikes have reverbs, Hope hubs on Stans, XT drivetrain and brakes, carbon bars, and favourite saddles. I can’t justify any more upgrades, so I’m gonna go and ride them. I’ll try the Soul with the Thor fork, but I love the way it rides with the Reba 120s.

I’ve just bought that bandit up there so my st4 will be for sale if your interested.

What was I thinking? I finished servicing the Thor and put it on the Soul in place of the 120 Reba. Just taken it for a quick local loop/play and toyed with the various compression settings and air spring. Set at 25% sag it still felt plush when pushed, but it held up nicely on the flat. Got the rebound to its sweet spot after a bit of faffing. On some bumpy and In places rocky singletrack it was great. It handled what drops I could find very well, but the best bit was a fsat pedally downwards sloping rocky track. There are some little drops, and a few bumps in the track just begging to be popped. Where the Reba was poised and a bit poppy, the extra height with the Thor made the bike much more playful, lifting the front much more easily even in my hands. Insane. Why didn’t I put the Thor on earlier? The travel adjust makes so much difference to climbing as well.

Thors are very underrated forks.

Tell me about it! I’ve had them for a few years, i got them for my son’s mmmbop, and he fell out with them. I dug them out a month or so ago and stripped and serviced them. Somehow I managed to get them back into working order but was sceptical about how good they’d be. I’m looking forward to testing them out in the local quarry, then somewhere like Gisburn.

Yep, I reckon that’s the conclusion I came to. I just ordered the Paramo jacket.

Which one? I have a 10 year old Velez which is great and just got wife one of their fancy new designs for Xmas – very impressed!

I’ve had 140s on my Soul for ages and I much prefer how it handles like that – sadly they’re only Fox 32s so not as stiff as the Thors nor with the travel drop for climbing. But between that and my Spitfire I have two such excellent MTBs I’m totally sorted until something breaks – GAS free as they say…

I’ve ordered a Halcon. I need to replace an elderly Goretex jacket for walking, and the Halcon will also double up as a shooting jacket. I love my old velez, and also have a vista for winter commuting. Most versatile combo is my mountain vent base layer and a Fuera smock….great on the MTBs. Bit of a paramo fan.