I’ve got a XC ht (or 2) and a fs but I fancy selling the long distance geom frames and getting something perky that loves manuals & wheelies etc & loves just playing. Not biased against 27.5 or 29 but I’m too tall for 26″ I was thinking 27.5″ soul but not sure that is just replacing like for like with what I have (Pegasus & Swift) geometry wise.
So what is out there with long top tube, plenty of stand over & short stays?

Just buy one that is too small for you.
Most people that do this end up calling them ‘playful’ 😀

I’m not Hora!

Big fan of my Stanton which gets used for this plus the odd loop at Cannock. Great fun when I’m not trying to kill myself on it. Feels pretty food with some big forks up front too.

Guess the Sherpa will by up you’re road if you want big wheels.

Charge blender

BFe then ?

“Too tall for 26″”….

I’m sorry, what?

These look lovely (and cheap)

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-kingdom-brigante-am275-ti-half-price-750

geometry might be about right too?

http://www.commencal-store.com/meta-ht-sx-c2x12702510

People say I’m 6’4″ (I think I’m 6’3″) and ride a large BFe

Blender!

Edit: or if you really are ‘too tall’ for 26” then the Explosif 650b.

“Too tall for 26″”….
I’m sorry, what?

Ok then, not 26″ as I want a new frame I can buy forks and the latest tyres etc for in 2 years + time. Better?

I’m still too tall though

“Too tall for 26″”….

I’m sorry, what?

Sad isn’t it.

Short stays make manuals easier to start, but you can manual anything!

I’d go c45650bevo

I’d reckon 26″ wheels will be currency for silly little hardtails for a long time yet.. Plenty of them are still 24″ wheeled!

Mrs Johnny has one of these: Zircus Takes up to a 140mm fork, works with gears or singlespeed. It’s her trail bike and my playbike. Now available as a full build under the NS brand for about £550.

If the marginally bigger wheel is a deal breaker, how about one of these: Surge EVO

2 souls quarterhorse?

I’d reckon 26″ wheels will be currency for silly little hardtails for a long time yet..

Agreed. That and 100mm forks. I’m just over 6′ and 26″ would be just the thing for bombholes and jumpy lines. Big forks just make them feel unwieldy and nose-divey to me, the whole point of a little play-in-woods HT is making it easy to get off the ground and move about?

Just watch Kranked 1 and 2 for inspiration on what a 100mm forked HT can do : ) Chameleons and Z1s and Azonic bars, those were the days .. 1×8 for XC ..

New On One Parkwood?

NW Alps Jeyer aka Boz – Member
New On One Parkwood?

Can’t see a budget 29lb 29er being all that playful unless the Op is built like a brick shithouse…

Singular Buzzard or that split seat post Zealous.

I’d go c45650bevo

hmm .. I don’t agree.

I wouldn’t have called my old C456 a playful bike and if anything the new revised geometry has made them slacker and more stable. So even less playful.

My Buzzard weighs over 30lb and is plenty playful (more so than my 24lb C456).

I thought On-One had shortened the chainstays on the 456 evo, which sounds like a good move to me. Have they gone back to longer ones on the 45650b?

Zealous division; chainstays are so short the seat tube is split.

Bird Cycleworks sounds a likely candidate, you can actually get hold of them now. Based in Berkshire and will be happy to arrange a test ride.

isnt that bloke on teh cotic – 26 aint dead vid about 9ft tall? he seems to be ok on a 26er.

kelly mcgarry is about 9ft also and seems to do ok on a dirt jump bike.

buy it cheap because if you have been riding for any length of time and havent got a ‘fun’ bike you probably wont use it anyway.

I ride a c45650bevo

That’d be a mouthful at cycling swingers club

OP – get a 29’er. Feel the pulse of the earth, the forest floor beneath you. Revel in it, let the air rush through the hair on your ears.

Bird Zero

oh, i’ve had 26ers, dunny worry about that and i moved to 29er before 26 became “obsolete” so i know 29ers suit me better but i am 27.5 curious after a go on a mate’s heckler

jesus you are worse than hora

😯

FF29?

Stanton switchback. 66.5 HA, new fancy wheels and run big forks.

I love my slackline…but it’s way too small for you obviously.

C’mon, you can’t dismiss 26″ and still be considering 27.5″. You’re an intellgent man, you know there’s bugger all difference between them.

If there really is a perceivable difference between them then, when you say “something perky that loves manuals & wheelies etc & loves just playing”, that screams BMX to me, ie. smaller wheels = good. Plenty of tall people manage to ride BMX’s so you know the height thing is bull.

Re. obsolescence. Go to your local trail centre and you’ll see that at least 80% of the bikes being ridden are 26″. Only things to worry about regarding obsolescence are frames that won’t take a tapered fork IMHO. Even if all 26″ forks ceased production tomorrow you’d still be able to stick a 27.5″ fork on and never notice the difference.

I’m reasonable tall (6″2″) and when I wanted a bike for mucking around in the woods I went with a Slackline and couldn’t be happier with it. If you want to go 27.5″ then there’s the Switchback.

I don’t know why I wrote all that as you should buy whatever makes you happy, but your (and plenty of other peoples) reasoning for dismissing 26″ always seems slightly misguided to me.

How can you possibly be too big for a bike just because of the wheel size? Load of bollocks. If the contact points are the same distance apart it doesn’t matter what size the wheels are, as far as sizing goes. You just prefer bigger wheels, it’s nothing to do with your height.

Anyway, in true STW style I’m going to reccome

nd a BFe as I have one and it is brilliant for messing around in the woods. If you insist on being tied by the sizen of the wheels. Then how about a Yelly Yelli Screamy, and in true STW style I have never rode a ?Yelli Screamy

I_Ache – Member
How can you possibly be too big for a bike just because of the wheel size? Load of bollocks

Man [magazine mode] it’s all about being “in” the bike rather than being perched precariously “on” the bike[/magazine mode]

Ridiculous but actually pretty accurate of how a 26″ bike feels to me. Only realised this after my first 29er ride about 6 years ago.

C’mon, you can’t dismiss 26″ and still be considering 27.5″. You’re an intellgent man, you know there’s bugger all difference between them.

Also intelligent enough to know if the industry isn’t supporting 26″ products much now it’ll be even less in the future so there’s no point burying ones head in the sand and pretending it’s all a bad dream

matther01 – Member 
Stanton switchback. 66.5 HA, new fancy wheels and run big forks

When I read the OP, I had the same thought.

If you do fancy a Bird Zero heres some discount codes for you:

LAUNCH1000 – 5% off over £1000
LAUNCH1500 – 7.5% off over £1500
LAUNCH2000 – 10% off over £2000

Those birds look great.

26″ wheels, 100mm fork. Low tt and short back end. All you need for jumpy fun. Hope 26″ is not becoming obsolete, what is just about every current 4x racer going to do?

Buying a “playing in the woods” bike will not turn a middle aged man into Josh Bryceland.
Emperors new clothes & all that.