Back story:
My son has a slightly bent GT Chucker that he loves.
He’s done a LOT of work for me recently and I want to surprise him with a replacement frame.

I think he basically needs a FS 4X or freeride bike, but these are a little out of my budget (£200 frame or perhaps £400 for a full bike MAX).

I could get a nice 4X hardtail frame for that (second hand obv) but I was wondering if any one knows of any trail bikes that would fit the bill?

OK, 26″ with a low stand over, probably 14/16″ frame size, but needs to be looong as he’s about 6’3″.
Only really looking for 100mm rear travel, but with a [possibility of running slightly longer forks if need be (perhaps 100-120mm).
And most importantly, it needs to be able to take a lot of abuse.

They made a few of these style bikes 10 years ago, but they’re going to be knackered by now, so I’m looking at 3-5 year old bikes, but they’re either XC machines or long travel DH bikes.

Suck it up and get another hardtail?
What have I missed?

What would STW do?

See if you can find out an original Banshee Spitfire (pre 2013). They had a somewhat unreliable bushing rather than bearing suspension system so they’re not worth much secondhand but if you replace the bushings and axles and look after it it’ll be fine. They’re 127mm travel at the back, designed for a 130-160mm fork. Fairly slack and low geometry.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/banshee-Spitfire-2010.html

I was thinking of suggesting the Orange Blood, then I read this…

OK, 26″ with a low stand over, probably 14/16″ frame size, but needs to be looong as he’s about 6’3″.

I think your requirements are a bit too moon-on-a-sticky and you’ll probably have more luck looking for a nice steel HT.

NS Surge springs to mind as a tough frame with good geometry, really liked mine.

After even more googling, I don’t think it’s going to have rear suspension.

DMR Bolt in long?

commencal meta 4x (i absolutley loved my meta 4 which was the low strength snappy version)

scott voltage

transition bottlerocket

if hes 6’3 i presume all he does is Dirt Jumps? all these bike will be waaay to small otherwise.

BTW presume you’ve seen mamadirts Yeti 4x in the classifieds, although it is a bit (lot) pricier than you wanted.

Some suggestions there that are perfect frames, but just too pricey 🙁

I’ll be adding them to my daily list of pinkbike and ebay searches though, just in case.

He rides smooth trails, mostly berms and jumps, I don’t think he actually uses the seat, unless he’s chatting.

How long is the GT chucker frame for reference?

Tinternet reckons the GT wheelbase is 1057mm with 100mm forks.

Just took a look at the Yeti 4x, I think I’d get it if I was after one, but for my lad….. 😉

Tinternet reckons the GT wheelbase is 1057mm with 100mm forks.

Do you know the reach or top tube length? Is he happy with the current fit? Just trying to work out what frames might fit the bill.

several old transitions meet the spec, as does the banshee wildcard – I own the latter and after 5 years of abuse from me it’s not showing even remote signs of harm. It’s not light mind – it was from the era when things were massively overbuilt

Bottlerocket or maybe an old Blur 4X?

I could probably find out those numbers, but in all fairness he ended up with the frame rather than chose it, and just kind of had to get use to it.
I’m not even sure if I was to ask him, whether he’d know if it was too short etc.

That’s why I’m looking at his riding and choosing a frame that should match his style and size.

This has so far led me to the 4x bikes rather than full on jump bikes, and they generally come in short or long flavour.

I’m finding that I’d have to get a small or XS trail bike to get the same stand over and I guess this would compromise his fit elsewhere?

Just for clarity, he does actually enjoy riding the 4x track near us 🙂

it might also be worth dropping a shorter shock into a big bike. The earlier V10s can be turned into a modern, low, slack play bike by putting a shorter stroke & length shock in there (so the bike basically ‘tops out’ at 150mm travel instead of 250mm travel)