It arrived a week or so ago now and has had a couple of decent rides now on my usual loops a few commutes and a few shop runs done.
For the last 4 years I have ridden an Inbred 29er ss with rigid forks.
As I do a few other “equipment heavy” sports I try to run just 1 bike at any one time, Madness i know…..
The tarn is obviously heavier than the Inbred, it rides a bit heavier but the gears offset this a bit. Riding a bit heavier is not always a bad thing, the bike has more inertia and when up to speed nothing will stop it.
Strava tells me that it is about the same speed as the Inbred on a 30 km loop but I find it a lot more fun. The cornering grip is mega (when you get the tyre pressures right) and the speed it carries over rough ground is wonderful.
I finish a ride a lot fresher than with the inbred ( probably because of the gears)
In summary I love this bike.
Its fast everywhere and a hoot to ride.
I might need to change the tyres to enable a tubless set up and I think I will probably ditch the double chainring in the name of weight saving. but my plan is to run it as it is without throwing money at it.
So far, for me, the best allround, do anything bike I have ever had in over 20 years of riding mountain bikes.
happy days.

Interesting. I’ve just acquired a Tarn 10 from the classifieds on here. My previous go-to bike, the one it’s most likely to replace as my everyday ride, is a rigid singlespeed Salsa Selma.

Need to get some pedals for it and can’t decide whether to run flats or SPDs.

Going to take a bit of trial and error to get the tyre pressures right I think.

Will be looking to pimp the Tarn up with dropper post, tubeless, new groupset and possibly some kind of Boosted sus fork when the bog-standard stuff it came with wears out and funds permit.

Any updates on the tarn 10? Fancying one myself, currently ride a voodoo bizango but want another ride to use.

Where’s the pics of it in your garden so we can critique your fence & lawn?

Tarn 10 has, as predicted, been the go-to bike for most of the summer since I got it.

Now sporting WTB Bridger/Trail Boss 3.0 tubeless.

The stock CST BFT tyres were a nightmare to unseat and the new tyres were the hardest to seat of any tubeless I’ve come across – even though they are all WTB and theoretically compatible with each other. Had to retape the rims in the end. Dunno if this is a plus-sized wheels phenomenon.

It takes far less effort to get up to speed now and doesn’t have that runaway steamroller feeling that the original tyres n tubes gave it, especially on descents.

Feels better with flat pedals and a dropper fitted – you can lean into turns and take advantage of the increased grip with a bit more confidence.

The bike itself rides really nicely. Not a jarring ride as you might expect. Even with the aluminium fork, the extra cush from the tyres means you don’t feel like your fillings are being shaken out on descents, even on the solid baked clay of an Isle of Wight summer.

The low-slung and long top tube geometry just felt right from the first second I threw my leg over it – even if it looks a bit wrong, a bit like a wummin’s step-through bike.

Strava tells me that I’m a bit quicker on it downhill and even uphill on some techy climbs, as I’ve trounced PRs from five previous years of logged rides on my Salsa Selma and Salsa Horsethief. Don’t think that’s all to do with fitness, as I’m packing a bit of surplus lard at the moment.

Looking forward to getting suspension forks and upgrading the groupset at some point but happy enough running it rigid and with stock gears/brakes in the meantime.

I’d imagine you’d probably pick up one of last year’s ones at a more realistic price now the new ones are coming out – although the new one apparently has a carbon fork.