Hi there.

I'm in the last stages of my quest to buy a decent hardtail. I'm looking to pay around £1000-1200 and will mainly do stuff around Glen T, Blair, Aviemore etc. Oh, and commuting 'cause it's through ctw!

However, I'm 6'6", have an inside leg of 36" and weigh 20st ish. I need a min of 640mm effective top tube and definately want a 29er so I don't get stopped by the Policeman!

I can't find a Gary F anywhere, Spesh won't import me one so I'm looking at On One for a 21" Scandal 29er.

Any observations or guidance would be appreciated.

Happy Saturday

You'll need a 'king strong long seatpost! Get really wide bars for it as well. I'm 6'7" with a 40" standover (rather than inside leg) and weigh about 17.5 stone. There is a lot of seatpost out of the frame but it is a great bike – mine was the first batch and it hasn't done anything other than make me smile for 3.5 years.

Great bike, really enjoy mine. But i second the get a really long seat post. I am only 5'11" and am riding the 18" frame and I need a 400mm seat post. The frame is quite a compact design.

I got a Fisher Mamba 21" last year and love it. 6'3" / 15 stone. Not sure whether this would be big enough for you though. Have changed bars to wider risers (650 mm) and will get wider ones this week with a shorter stem ~50mm. ConsideredA Singular? Good luck with the hunt.

Mate of mine is 6 ft 6 and he rides a 21 Scandal 29er.Great bike,very versatile.

Scandal 29er might be on my list now as it appears to be the only bike available other than customs!

I'm 6ft on an 18" Scandal, best bike I've ever had

If you want to try a Viper frame, & your anywhere near north london/herts on your travels, then your welcome to borrow my mine that's way to big for me, its just sat in my shed anyway, details as follows, the only concern I would have is that it is very light.

Viper The 29er

Size (C-T) 21"

Head Tube Length 105mm

Head Tube Angle 71°

Seat Tube Angle 73°

Seat Post Size 27.2mm

Top Tube (C-C) 645mm

Chain Stay 405mm

Email in profile if its any use.

Cheers.

I am 6'4" with an ~35" standover (33" inside leg for clothing – not sure which you are quoting). I am on a 19.5 Scandal with about 8" of seatpost showing. On-one's sizing charts have proven OK for me in the past.

Evening.

Thank you for your replies, advice and offers of help. Much appreciated. I'm going to order a Scandal 29er online tonight! I reckon that I can b*gger about with stems, bars and seat posts to get a decent fit and the On-One folk are keen to accomodate.

Cheers all.

did you get one?

i like my scandal…
bit smaller than you were looking for.

pictures

mines coming on monday 🙂

I've got a BRG on on order. Hopefully'll arrive next week! 😀

Not sure I'll get on with the rigid forks though. Played a lot of daft oval ball game when I was younger and have cr*p wrists now.

Planning to get a 100mm sus fork with 15mm QR if I can ever find one in my budget!

I have a few 29ers and am a smidge taller than you. Bought an Inbred a few months back and do not enjoy the rigid fork at all plus i've had a few issues with it mated to a Halo Freedom wheel). I have reba's on my FS and HT (Maxle & QR) so i've been looking at another fork for the SS Inbred but there is next to no choice available here at the moment. Nowt on Ebay and the only Reba's in stock are £450ish. Manitou have a few coming into stock (100mm Drake on CRC or the 120mm Bolt Thru Minutes) but they never really float my boat – plus the bolt thru is a faff compared to the ease of the Maxle system. Anything 2nd hand also tends to have a steerer that is too short for us tall folk. I'd happily have a Recon equivalent for around £200 but unfortunately there is just no availability of cheap 29er specific parts as it's still very niche in the greater scheme of things. 15mm will lead you down the Fox road and those aren't cheap either. If you are prepared to pay the cash, i can heartily recommend the Maxle Reba's but you'd probably have to import from the states unless you get incredibly lucky.

Hope you enjoy the 29er experience. 🙂

Thanks for that Mr. T.

Thought I'd solved it with Bomber 44s with 15mm maxle but they've a tapered steerer 1 1/5 to 1 1/8 which is no use for the Scandal head tube. I know On One are looking to do Suntour Epicon or Radion 29" but I've heard they're a bit flexy in the uprights?

Ho-hum 😕 Never mind, choosing's half the fun.