I’m not riding as much mtb as I was and I tend to find that I’ll pick my 456 when I do, it’s pretty good but built to a very low budget and isn’t good enough to be my only mtb. My FS (marin wolf ridge) on the odd occasion I want to do jumpy dh stuff but otherwise is a bit too much / not as fun on the non dh.

So I’m thinking chop them both in and get a really nice hard tail + forks as “the one”.

The bike will need to be able to cope with clumsy drops of up to 5ft ish.. (see this vid for the kind of trails) but be fun to ride on the flat too.

I was thinking:

Evil Sov
Ti 456
Chromag Samurai
Dialled Alpine (? poor on flat trails?)
Orange p7
Brodie Holeshot
??

Forks – something 150ish, fox, magura, rs etc

anything particularly good / bad I should know?

thanks

Brodie Holeshot with Rev RLT Ti fork 8)

I’ve never ridden either except in my dreams, but I know in my heart it’s the hardtail of my dreams… in the way that Claudia Schiffer is the women of my dreams. It makes me want to cry that the world is so unfair and I’ll never obtain my dreams… pass the tissues 🙁

People would typically suggest a Cotic BFe, or something from Ragley at this point, no?

Depending on whether you’re tied to the idea of a steel or Ti frame, it may be worth considering things like Chameleons and Stifees too. I have a Chameleon and it’s a lot of fun.

Had kind of ruled out alu frames for the “harshness” – not sure if this is warranted though, the cove and santa cruz are certainly nice. I think the BFe may be too far towards the freeride element (and v.heavy?).

Lots of choice!

not sure who has told you an alpine is no good on the flat, mine is built with RS Revs now lowered to 140

similarly i dont think the bfe is much heavier than anything else…..unless you are going for a light build.

I think the BFe may be too far towards the freeride element (and v.heavy?).

Cotic say about 5.4lb for a BFe frame (here). On this thread Brant pegs the 456 frame weight as about 5.25lb. Plus the BFe’s got exactly the same geometry as a Soul so if the fork isn’t too long it’ll handle fine on less extreme trails.

I’d just assumed that the Alpine might have been a bit too slack, what does yours weigh?

To benchmark my 456 is about 32lbs and the marin around 35lbs – i’d like something under 30lbs if pos

I did this and built a 456 up with parts from a carbon XTC and 06 Enduro.

Sold the Giant/Spesh frames after 3 months as I was happy. Within the year I’d bought a 456TI frame.

Still have a pile of spares plus upgraded the 456TI many times.

At the time of building the 456 weighed 30lbs, with Fox 36’s 🙂

The 456Ti now weighs 24lbs.

I was looking at the Holeshot myself a few weeks ago but decided to sort out the rest of my stuff first on a cheaper frame and look at it later in the year. I had a Ragley itch to scratch so ended up with this for cheap to try Brants geometry.

First ride impressions are that it’s awesome. None of the monkey hanging off the back you get with Cotic and On-one 456 frames with long forks so it still does techy climbs. It’s 26lbs with the Reverb and NO CARBON. Forks are 150mm Rev Team, wheels are ProII on Flow rims with 2.2″ Rubber Queen BC tyres. Not sure it will stay 1 x 9 but it’s an interesting experiment. Considering a Ragley Ti or Holeshot is the same frame weight as the Mmmbop a similar build will be the same weight.
As an all rounder I think it will be great, it was mucky as hell last night so I didn’t notice if it was harsh but it sure is flickable, and it makes some odd noises compared to steel when sticks and stones hit it 😛

Mostly ride an Alfined DB Alpine these days. Love it.

Based on how glorious my Soul is with a 140mm fork, short stem, wide rims, big tyres and a dropper post, I’d highly recommend a BFe with a similar set-up. I’m planning to (smoothly) ride drops up to about 4′ which Cotic were happy with (I’m ~12 stone) but if you going to hit things harder the extra ~1 lbs of the BFe seems worthwhile. I’ll weigh it later today…

Buing a lightweight frmae like a Ti 456 or a Ti Brodie and putting 150mm forks on it seems pointless. If your doing stuff you need 150mm forks for then the frame surely wont last?

150mm forks for 5ft drops seems unecessary

A cotic soul or bfe with 100-120mm forks would be ideal.

got rid of my Spicy and built up an Evil Sovereign, absolutely love it more fun than the FS.

sorry, no idea what my Alpine weighs – i think the STW answer is to claim that as a HT its under 30Lbs (18″, Rs Revs, 819/ProIIs bonty 2.2TLRs, average finishing kit (x9/xt)

its more than my rigid single speed inbred, but less than my ASX

150mm forks on a hardtail designed with geometry to suit 150mm forks is ace, 150mm forks on a hardtail with geometry designed for 100mm forks is… well, use your imagination 😉

acjim – that vid looks like the kind of trails I like 😀

We are offering 10% off all frame orders including the Ti holeshot to STWers. I have a code to use on the web site, can’t remember what it is now, but I’ll let anyone interested know!

kingdom bikes

That Ragley looks nice, I’d only seen the mmmbop and have to say they don’t look “right”. (that’s a blue pig isn’t it?)

re: long forks, my rather ungainly style quite often requires as much sqoosh as possible to prevent nose wheelie > endo > concussion. If i was a smoothy 100mm forks would be fine!

Claudia Schiffer is the women of my dreams… pass the tissues

[snigger]

That Ragley looks nice, I’d only seen the mmmbop and have to say they don’t look “right”. (that’s a blue pig isn’t it?)

Amusingly that’s an Mmmbop… they all seem to look better in 16″ versions, more in proportion. This is a Blue Pig, erm…

Oh, no it’s not, it’s a Ragley Ti… this is a Mk1 Pig..

🙂

Those 16’s look better than my 18 for sure, but I wanted the length. This years top tubes look lower, and there is now a 17.

Buing a lightweight frmae like a Ti 456 or a Ti Brodie and putting 150mm forks on it seems pointless. If your doing stuff you need 150mm forks for then the frame surely wont last?

Its lightweight ‘cos its made from titanium, not ‘cos you should pussy it.

I’ve run mine with 36’s, but mostly use Thor 140mm as they are far lighter – although if I’d a pair of 150mm 32/Revs…

Buing a lightweight frmae like a Ti 456 or a Ti Brodie and putting 150mm forks on it seems pointless. If your doing stuff you need 150mm forks for then the frame surely wont last?

Tend to agree, don’t know if I’m right though.
Looking at that vid a sov/bfe would probably be good fun. I’ve got sov and like most on here think its a good frame. Bit heavy but you’ll have some choice as to how far you go with the build. Always fun on the sort of trails you show. Only really makes me suffer on very rocky descents. Can ride it all day.

I just checked the wee rubber band of truth on the rev’s on my Mmmbop… and yes, I used 145mm of travel last night.

So there you go… 145mm is the right amount of travel for a hardtail

Get a grip 🙄