So, my mate has leant me his medium Cotic BFe after my last bike ate itself, and now I’m hooked on the Hardcore Hardtail idea. He’s willing to sell me this frame, but after a few rides trying to convince myself, I’ve decided that at 6’3″, it’s just too short for me!

So I need a large BFe… Or something else…

What rivals the BFe for bombproofness, responsive rear-endness, and most importantly, price. My budget is minuscule, but I don’t mind having a few year old frame if it means I save a few quid.

What would STWers recommend, or even better, do you have any large Hcore Htails for sale?

For ref, the frame would be paired with my 150mm sectors, so it needs to be a frame that fits that length fork.

mw2000.

Completely biased and with good reason, Evil Sovereign paired with Lyrics dropped to 150mm

Tight budget…. Steel 456 from on one will be hard to beat

Here we go, the weekly post you own hardcore hardtail thread 😉

Me; 6’2″
Bicycle; 18″ Stanton Slackline 631

Average budget and the new 456 Carbon frame is the one you want. It’s got a relatively long reach which should mean you don’t need to buy one that looks lie a gate.

Just get a large Bfe, you know it makes sense

Find me one MTBRob and I’ll buy it!

Tempted by the 456 steel jobby. Does it compete with the BFe then?

There’s a 20″ 456 evo frame on ebay at the moment going for a good price (not mine but I was looking at it)

I’d probably just go with a BFe for cheapness. I liked mine but found it a bit “dead” feeling. Definitely prefer something a bit shorter and livelier but I don’t ride big steep stuff all the time so ymmv. I love my Blender but at your height it’d be way too small, it’s barely big enough for me at 5’9″.

Not ridden a 456 but “on paper” it doesn’t look like it’d be much fun – quite a long wheelbase with long chainstays as well. Probably good for bigger rides where you actually pedal though I guess!

There’s a large Sanderson Blitz on evilBay ATM.

27.2 seat post though, and at some point you will want/need a dropper, so that ales it awkward.

Just buy a BFe.

The 456 has a half inch lower bb, 1deg slacker head angle and a 1.5deg steeper seat angle than the Cotic, which all adds up to the 18in 456 having a half inch longer reach than the largest (19in) Cotic.

Are your Sektors tapered? If so they will fit on the 456 Evo Carbon, but not the 456 Evo2 steel bike.

Got an Evil Sovereign which will never get sold, it’s that good, trouble is you can’t buy them anymore as far as I can tell. Had a Cotic bfe in the not too distant past, lovely bike but missing that difficult to define ‘spark’ that the sov has. If I was buying today, it would be a Stanton Slackline for me…

Brant has just reminded me, my regular riding buddy rides a 456 evo2 and swears by it. It is an absolute bargain of a frame and easily the most comfortable, compliant back end I’ve ever experienced on a hard tail. He’s also loads faster than me (but I think that’s him rather than the bike 😉 )

See that Evil Sovereign up there? One of those. If that’s too expensive then the 456 is a good budget option. I’m a tightwad so went for the latter (Summer Season version)…

My only issue is the standover on the 20″. It’s too tall (should really be like the Evil or DB Alpine – fcck aesthetics Brant, drop the TT and put a bloody brace in! It’s a bit of a pain and limits how much you can throw the bike about, thus relegating the frame from hardcore hardtail to just plain old hardtail in this particular size imo.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cotic-Bfe-19-mountainbike-/121301324518

There’s a large blue BFe frame on ebay right now. A little scruffy, so may go cheap.

I’ve got a BFe and had an original 456 and find the BFe easier to get the front up. Easy front up = fun in my book.

Hmm, thanks for your comments guys.

I looked at that one monkeyninja, and I reckon it’s still got some spiralling to do, and besides, I don’t want a full bike, just the frame. The other one I’ve seen on Eebs is very scruffy with a lot of rust around the BB. I know I said cheap, but I still need something that has at least been looked after!

The 456 looks very good, and I’ve managed to hunt out a bargain.

I’ve committed to a 2012 model that looks like it’s had a good couple of years use, but hasn’t been destroyed in the mean time. I got a steal at £155. If it’s no good, I will report back in a couple of weeks, and will probably be asking the BFe question again!

Thanks again.

MW2000

I am selling a large Evil Sovereign frame in the for sale section…..

I know the BFe is an STW favourite but I never gelled with mine and much prefer the Stanton that I replaced it with. The BFe is a very competent bike and is a great descender but I found it a bit dead and lumpen, good for plowing through stuff though.

I’ve not ridden the On One do can’t really comment. Hope you like it though.

masterwatson2000 I can get you a brand new one if you like? 😉 😆