I am considering building up a 29er trail bike that is properly 650B+ compatible.

An option is the Cotic Solaris mk2, but when you compare this to Genesis Tarn, the Tarn seems like a better option for compatibility. Are Cotic may be pushing it a bit stating that the Solaris is 27.5+*? The Tarn can take 45 mm rims at both ends and has Boost spacing.

Has anyone tried the Tarn?

*Although it depends how you define it. Solaris spec is 29mm 27.5+ rims with 2.8″ tyres at the rear

The Tarn in full bike form gets a good review – WMB review Tweet

I think the Solaris will take a 45mm rim both ends if you want. I seem to recall that they did their testing with Scraper rims on the Mk1 and the M2 has a bit more clearance. It’s not Boost though, but thank heavens for that !

Just getting my head around Boost and it’s benefits/ramifications

Saw a Tarn at my LBS recently and it looked like the dogs danglies. If I didn’t already have a chubby bike it would have been at the top of my shopping list.

Ragley big wig is worth considering too

The Tarn does look good

Shame you can’t get the frameset in Orange though

I have just bought a Tarn 10. For what it’s worth this is my view so far.

I wanted a bike for gloopy winter rides that was low maintenance (no suspension) but still fairly comfortable with modern geometry. There are lots of options for 27.5 & 29+ now and that made the choice quite difficult. My budget was about £1k. I looked at Stooges (one size tries to fit all), Marin Pine Mtn (not out till April), etc but decided to put in a little extra for the Tarn.

The bike weighs 32.5lb out the box and feels a bit of a slug. That’s mainly down to the CST BFT tyres and tubes which are nearly as heavy as the bike. So I set to work getting the bike down to a fighting weight. Converted to tubeless with 3″ Nobby Nics, went 1×10 and that fetched the weight down to 29lb which is fairly respectable for a semi-fat bike. The scraper rims are quite light for their size too. I also swapped out the foam grips too as I’m not a fan, but in reality they’re fine.

How does it ride?

Well it’s definitely fun. It’s geometry means it’s a good climber but with the suspension corrected fork is well planted on descents with more traction than a snowmobile. It ploughs through anything in its path, excellent across mud; wet roots and rocks are a breeze too. The wheels feel stiff and responsive, not sure if that is due to the boost hubs or rims. One downside for me with the 110mm front hub was that it no longer fitted my fork mount bike rack on top of the car. So I had to get a Fork Up adapter fabricated as they aren’t available yet in the UK.

The only weird thing to get used to is the slight gyroscopic effect at low speed due to the wide tyre, unsprung suspension affect and the front wheel tends to skim across sticky mud a bit but that’s a wide tyre issue.

What took me a while to get sorted were tire pressures. Due to the tyre size, pressures need to be low down around 10 psi for the average weight of rider. This meant I had to invest in a digital gauge as my track pump only started at 10psi. I experimented around 6 which was too low, 12 felt too stiff. I’m currently running 9.5 in the back and 7.5 up front and that feels about right. Round XC trail centres with compacted stone surfaces it’s fast; very fast. It grips around corners like glue and swallows up most bikes through twisty circuits.

So in conclusion, it needed a bit of tweaking out the box, but it’s my “go to” bike for winter fun and certainly proves a talking point on the trails.
Hope this helps……

Thanks, the Tarn is going on the list. However Boost hub spacing is a pain if not going for a full bike…. 🙁

We have some Tarn in stock in all sizes. Happy to do a deal too. Give us a call at the shop to discuss it. 0161 491 3191.

Andy
bikehaus

Just remember there is a difference in wheel size between the two.

Last night we lined up a full 27.5 x 3.0 wheels next to a 29 x 2.4 and the 29er was still considerably bigger, so a 2.8 would be much smaller.

Hi. Am very interested in the tarn 20. Not managed to see or ride one yet, but am hoping to get a ride in the coming weeks. The decision will be between a Trek Stache, Cannondale Beast of the East, and Norco Torrent. I am aware the Torrent hasn’t hit the UK yet, but has anyone any experience comparing the Cannondale and/or Trek with the Tarn?

Superstar,hope and dt Swiss have boost hubs available so buying frame not too much of an issue.

Oh and the jamis dragon slayer looks pretty awesome, had one on the shop and was impressed.

If you wanted rigid without the silly spacing but with huge tyre clearance then you could bastardise a Longitude ……

What do you guys think of the new Longitude vs the Tarn?

Had the orange one in my hands about an hour ago in LBS, it’s a very nice looking bike. Chronicles seems very summer/low profile, even moreso than some fatbike tyres, but all in all, thought it was a really nice bike. Weight didn’t seem too bad, and it had tubes in so scope for a bit more to be saved (the Chronicles are tubeless ready).

Didn’t seem cheap, but no bike does nowadays

I was casually chatting about a rigid tarn in my lbs and they only just texted me to say they’d just built one up for me to try….!

I want a do it all thing for mooching about everywhere, low maintenance etc rigid I’m only 5’8″ so put off 29+

Rigid tarn above seems heavy though…

If anyone wants a Tarn 20 going cheap. The Independent Bike Co in Weston-s-Mare have a medium which has done 50 miles going for £1300 normally £1800 ish….