hi, ive never been on here before, but it seems to me that theres a lot of people with a wealth of experience on board, so im going to ask a question that has probably been discussed a hundred times before, but which ive no doubt all you equipment addicts will be happy enough to talk about again. ive got a hardtail that is slightly too big for me. its a 19" orange evo2 that has 130mm rocksox toras and a lot of decent equipment on board, and i would like to know what aluminium (preferably, but im open to material suggestions) frame i could pick up 2nd hand in the £75-150 price range that i could swap over for mine that would suit me better at 5 foot 10 with a 32 inch inside leg. i use my bike for general fitness, so i need enough room for it to be comfortable for climbing, but i also like to mess about jumping rocks and doing more technical stuff and i just dont feel confident doing that on my big evo, which has a short stem and a centre of gravity that means im struggling to even get it to wheelie! i had an 18" kona caldera out on loan recently with an 80mm stem that suited me quite well, but ive heard that there might be issues swapping kit from a kona to an orange. is that right? im really looking for something thats going to match my 130mm forks with plenty standover room that will make me laugh but that i can still ride up hills without it feeling like a bmx. ive just read so much stuff from so many people that ive got info overload now ha ha. oh, and the reason im not just going to try before i buy is that i live on an island, so im relying on internet info and purchase. cheers.

Hi and welcome to the fold 🙂

First of all it should be pretty easy to transfer your existing parts across to a new frame but there are a few things to look at.
Head tube length – if the new bike has a significantly longer head tube then the steerer on your forks will be too short leading to new forks time.
Seat post diameter – there are many different diameter seat tubes between the manufacturers. Worst case is that you need to purchase a new seat post but these are fairly cheap to replace.
As for which frame – take you pick of loads of longish travel hardtails out in market at the moment. I'm similar size to you and run an 18" frame but others may prefer to go even smaller. Depends how you like your bike to feel 🙂
On-One, Ragley, Orange, Dialed Bikes……..

Do a quick search on here to come up with plenty of ideas.

On one 456 FTW! 18 inch should meet your needs i would think, saddle up for the climb, saddle down for the freefall!

thanks splash-man, i hadnt taken head tube length into the equation at all. that kind of gem is precisely why i wanted to ask the question on here. im thinking maybe the easiest thing is to look out for a 17" orange, maybe another evo or a crush. anybody my size had any good experiences with either? ive read a lot of good reports about the kind of bikes youve mentioned though, espescially from riders who come from the more "enthusiastic" end of the riding spectrum. decisions, decisions 😐

cheers meehaja- everybody seems to love that 456, but nobody my size seems to be able to make up their mind whether to get a 16 or an 18. i think if i were to go for one of those it would have to be an 18 though, for the versatility. How are they for top tube length? not too long a reach for the bars? cheers man.