I’ve a spare Rockshox Revelation sitting in the garage waiting to be plugged into a suitable frame, plus I’ve a yen for a steel 29er hardtail.

Is there anything out there that fits the bill?

Surface

Have a look at this…
http://ragleybikes.com/products/bigwig-29-frame/

There are quite a few. I think the Cotic Solaris takes that much. Singular Buzzard definitely does. Bit Pricer – 2souls quarter horse? There’s the Chromag Somethingorother.

Budget?

Chromag Rootdown or Dekerf built Chromag Surface. Mmmm.

http://www.pedalprogression.com/product/zealous-division-29er-frame/

ZEALOUS DIVISION 29ER FRAME

Niner ROS 9

http://www.konaworld.com/honzo_st_frame.cfm

2Souls QH

Blimey! Didn’t expect the swift replies, thank you everyone.

🙂

Oof, that Honzo frame looks amazing.

Curtis AM9

I just got back from BPW running 140s on my Kona Honzo

Singular Buzzard (may have to be 2nd hand)

Quite like the look of that Kona too – how much and where from?

Mine was second hand.

RRP1800 for full bike

Not sure if you can get the steel one as frame only

Sobre Upgrade 29”– it’s a cheaper option but the geometry looks good.

Got my Mk1 Honzo in medium available for sale – scruffy paint, but otherwise good. £175 posted if anyone’s interested? Email in profile.

Apologies for brazen thread hijack….

last fastforward

Kona Honzo is the obvious if slightly heavy choice.

For reference though, your Revelation can be shortened in 10mm increments all the way down to 100mm. Even at 120mm it would open up a whole world more frame choices (Stanton Sherpa, Cotic Solaris to name but 2 if you must stick with steel).

Also blatant thread hack, selling my 18″ Kona Taro frame at the moment. It’s the ally version of the Honzo (weighs less than 2kg, Honzo is over 3!)… It’s in good nick, I just found that with a 120mm fork on it it felt too steep and low at the front, and with 140mm up front it felt OK but I don’t like the balance that comes of having almost 6″ of suspension travel on the front of a HT myself… Have bought something to suit a much shorter travel fork as a replacement.

Canfield nimble takes 140. One in classifieds too

I’ve got one of these on the way. Specifically designed for 140mm fork.

That Kona Honza has preposterously short chainstays, too, if you want your handling snappy (415mm).

I mean, jesus, they’re 420mm long on a 26″ 4x bike! (Charge Blender)

http://2015.konaworld.com/honzo.cfm

I’m running my Mk1 Solaris with 140mm Revs. Just gone to B+ wheels/tyres, so happy to raise BB a little with the forks. They’re fine with 29″ wheels too.

@mboy – what are you riding now Mark?

Normal Man- I think mboy is building up a Whyte 29er.

legometeorology – That Kona Honza has preposterously short chainstays, too, if you want your handling snappy (415mm).

I mean, jesus, they’re 420mm long on a 26″ 4x bike! (Charge Blender)

http://2015.konaworld.com/honzo.cfm

Sliding dropouts mean you have about 20mm of adjustment I think

Thanks Cokie.

Seeing as I still use 100mm forks on my 29er ht I’m not sure I have anything else to offer this thread, other than being a fan of 29er ht’s. 🙂

That last looks lovely, but 64′ HA.. Really? Most DH bikes don’t have a racked out headangle like that. I have a feeling that might be too much on a 29er.

cokie – Member
That last looks lovely, but 64′ HA.. Really? Most DH bikes don’t have a racked out headangle like that. I have a feeling that might be too much on a 29er.

With a 40mm stem, it’s basically the same geo as the Ion 16 I ride, which is 65° – but when you sag a hardtail, it steepens up a bit, so should end up 65/66. I’ve never seen slackness as anything but a good thing. The short stem and 51 offset forks should help too.

Plus they do it in raw with a clear powercoat so I can see all the welds.

Chromag Rootdown, bloody amazing!

Rootdown 2019

Available from http://shore-lines.co.uk/

[url=https://flic.kr/p/w7nnAM]Thursday shred time? Yes, please! #chromagbikes @chromagbikes #mtb[/url] by Dan and Claire Lees, on Flickr

Guys, once again thank you all for your replies. Hugely appreciated here and I value the advice. My options have now opened up somewhat!

The point about dropping the travel on my Revs is a good one – I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t opt for 120mm travel as the trail sweet spot.

And thank you for the offers of frames so far…however at a gnat’s wing under six foot I’m looking for a large or 19″ frame size.

Also, you could drop the Revs to 120mm and run a long-travel 650b hardtail as a 79er… Loads of options then.

I have beeb running a Chromag Rootdown with 140mm Pikes for the past couple of weeks. Indeed moon on the proverbial stick. A very capable bike and great on the tight and twisty stuff.

Holy cow that Last is slack for a 29″er! It doesn’t appear they do a small though 🙁 Bargain price frame only! Would love to build one of those up

Looking at the geometry on the Last, I’d say the sizes could be called S/M/L instead.

I’m thinking of a Genesis High Lattitude frame, it’s much cheapness and I can chock down my fork to fit.

I’m a bit concerned about sizing, Although I;m a smidge under six foot, the ETT of the 19″ looks a little short to me. Anyone out there with real world experience?

I’m 6″2 on a 19″ High latitude with a 50mm stem and it’s perfect length wise for me. That’s running a rigid fork though which is likely a lot lower than Revs at 120mm.