Im looking to upgrade the frame on my current rig to something a bit special. And Ive got a few certain criteria that need to be met, and have a couple of ideas in mind. I may have missed a few however so would like peoples input if possible.

My current 'mountain' bike is in fact a hybrid. Its an '08 cannondale Bad boy rohloff. This came with 700c wheels but I rebuilt them with XM719's. At the same time I fitted a lefty to get rid of the tire limiting headshok fork. The lefty eventually died so I fitted a 2010 Magura Thor.

I want a hardtail frame that enables me to retain as much of the current bike as possible, ie the Thor and the rohloff. In addition to that I need clearance for 2.25" Schwalbes, and I would like the option to convert to belt drive in the future if possible. I'd be lying if I said one of the main criteria wasnt to have something niche/rare though.

The riding I do is mainly trail riding, 3 hours at a time max, but that is generally a very hard 3 hours. Im quite light on components, but an not afraid of jumps/drops and riding rough terrain. It may enter the occasional XC race, but that would just be for fun, not to win.

Current short list includes;
Nicolai Argon FR
Commencal VIP Ti
Moots Rigormootis Slider
Linskey Ridgeline SS-LT

The Nic ticks all the boxes perfectly, but Ive never owned a Ti frame and really quite fancy one.

What have a I missed?

How about the waiting time on the Nic? Currently something in the region of three months I believe. Mine took about that to arrive.

I think you'd find the Nic and the other Ti choices to be really very different. I've ridden the Argon FR and I've ridden other Ti bikes, although not the ones you cite here, and they are worlds apart in terms of feel.

The Argon is super stiff but not particularly forgiving in terms of comfort. It reminded me a little of the original Pace RC100 frames although the geometry is different, the 'feel' is quite the same – laser guided precision, super stiff, exquisite welding/engineering etc.

Thing is though, even though I own two Nics myself, I'm not sure I would stump up £1200 for an aluminium hard tail Nic; nice as they are, that would seem like a lot of money for something that wasn't made from exotic material.

my s/h long travel Merida TFS trail for peanuts? 😀

I know what you mean about the Nic being dear for what it is. That is partially what is drawing me to Ti for the same money. It is in the list because a] Ive always wanted a Nic and love the style b] it is probably the cleanest rohloff instalation of the lot c] it may not be made of an exotic material, but the engineering and workmanship is. All the others will still end up with messy cable runs.

As for feel, I doubt the Nic would be any more harsh than my Dale. Bad Boys are built like tanks and weigh a ton for an Alu frame, they are not your normal thin walled lightweight dales. More spring and give would be nice, but I'd prefer stiff/taught to flex and forgiving.

Waiting time is not a problem, this going to be a long term investment sop a couple of months wait is not a problem.

Chameleon?

I'd love a go on an Argon though.

Custom Dave Yates 853 ?…nice

Hadnt even considdered a Chameleon to be honest. Might be a good stop gap.

Lynskey Ridgeline SS is not LT, its based around a 100mm fork and a little steeper HA than the LT – unless you go custom

That was the intention. They will make an LT with sliding dropouts and a breakable seatstay for a belt drive. All boxes ticked – at a price!!