Tempted to say Flare Max, but the weight might be too much for proper marathon / bikepacking work?

Would certainly cover pretty much all other types of riding?

There’s still a 29in hei hei as well.

Just mentioned it cos it has great geometry for a marathon style bike. And I saw a glowing review for bike packing.

yeah sorry i was trying to clarify that the “Hei hei” is a 29er, the “hei hei trail” is a 650b.

as i think i mentioned, i’m a short arse (5’7) and as mentioned my 29er pals keep falling off i’m thinking 650b. some manfacturers specific 29 for L/XL and 650b for XS/S/M

Cotic Soul 275 has covered my needs. Haven’t bike packed, limited frame bag space but for the amount I intend to do it a rucksack would do the job.

I’m a one bike only kind of guy*

From canal path to trail centre to World Cup DH course. From 6hour endurance XC race to Enduro races to DH races. For me a 150/160 trail bike will ‘do it all’.

*i do have a road bike, but I just use that to hang my full face lid on 😉

Been trying to do this with some success with my Surly Ogre. I just swap fork and tires based on what I’m riding.

For me a quick ish handling 29r hardtail with rack and mudguard mounts with a choice of rigid (touring type) and 100/120mm sus forks would do 90% of my riding without being an outrageous compromise. What I have now does the rough better than that would but would give me a touring / scenic road / exploring gently off road option that I don’t have now.

Problem I have is I never really get rid of bikes… So I could add a bike like that (or a Fargo type thing) but it wouldn’t be only. 😆

I made a decision – it was a silly plan.

The plan was to get rid of everything and put all my money/good left over parts onto a Cotic Flare frame, I’m desperate to have one, test rode one up on the Longmynd a bit back now and it felt great, didn’t ride heavy, descended really well, looks ace, felt really fun and ‘poppy’ and I didn’t really feel it was holding me back on any terrain compared to any of my current/past bikes.

But, they’re £1500 for a frame and shock – that’s a lot of money, regardless of whether it’s good value in the context of modern mountain biking, and this isn’t my only hobby.

So, I’m whittling the collection down to 2.

A couple of months ago I swapped my 26″ soul frame for a Zesty – a move I’m happy with – the Soul frame has now been sold.

I also had a genesis fortitude frame and fork in the shed – now sold, just a few days after building it up from the parts bin (well shoe boxes actually) and borrowing the wheels from another bike. I showed a friend a photo of it – he said it looked great, then asked what I was going to do with it – I kept asking myself that question for 2 days after and realised – probably nothing, so it’s gone.

Then I have an old CX bike in sort of road guise (37mm slicks & full guards) which I’ve ridden maybe 10 times in a year. So it’s for sale also.

Lastly, I have a Scandal 29er built fairly nicely, 2×10 XT, Thomson, Renthal, Hope/Stans. It’s staying.

I think If I’d have gone down the 1 bike route I’d only have wanted another in a few months. I’d really like to have my bikes up together all of the time, not really needing anything doing, and maybe upgrade them a little bit over time.

So, the shed will soon cosist of:
26″ Zesty (140mm dual air revs, fox RP23, Hope/Mavic tubeless, remote dropper, 1×10)
29″ Scandal (100mm reba, Hope/Stans tubeless, choice of Thomson/crank bros lever dropper, 2×10)

I think they should cover most bases, including a bit of road on the 29er.