Morning…
Have been going through the list of stuff I need for my winter bike and I have everything apart from the frame.
I would like a steel bike but finding something a little different from the norm is proving tricky.
Cotic and Stanton seem the best bet so far cut what else is out there that you would recommend? Budget about £500 for the frame and it needs a tapered headtube…
Cheers

I am in the same boat. had on ones, singulars, chumbas and surly in the past, looking for something a bit different now.

I will keep watching this post.

There’s a 2Souls Slim Jim on Pinkbike that’s been causing itchy fingers for me for a while… 44mm rather than tapered but it’ll take a tapered fork.

You live in Hampshire don’t you? Welcome to have a go on my Solaris if you want to try one, bloody love mine.

Swift (not sure of the headtube)
Salsa El-mariachi (not sure if there’s a frame only, but not too hard to find second hand)
On-one Parkwood (not steel)
Niner S.I.R

the 2Souls is impressively expensive ..
Perhaps Cotics are popular for a reason – they work well!

Don’t get a Solaris as a winter bike. You won’t have any reason to ride your summer bike again 🙂

Don’t get a Solaris as a winter bike. You won’t have any reason to ride your summer bike again

+1 to this, more fun than you can shake a fun shaped stick at.

Eranu I mighttake you up on that offer when I’m back on the bike.
Roverpig, yes I will, I’m far to broken to ride a ht all year and I love the fs.
Mrs vader agrees that a ht for the winter round here is sensible due to ground conditions. They will eat pivots and bearings…. Will probably end up converting it to ss anyway
I think the swift and the salsa are 1 1/8 ht so tjey are out. The inners a far to expensive (thanks jungle) and I just don’t like the look ofvthe parkwood.

Charge Cooker?

Make your own? Mines going to cost 450 and I am getting the exact spec that I want. No compromise then.

Maximis, I would love to be able to do that but I don’t have the tools, time or skill to do that, plus Mrs vader would KILL me if I buy any more tools…. 🙁

I think the swift and the salsa are 1 1/8 ht so tjey are out

The Salsa is definately a 44mm headtube (I’ve got one with tapered forks).

Ragley bigwig? love mine

Another vote for the Salsa EM here. Latest version fits a tapered steerer and easy option to run SS/rigid in the winter too.

I’ll vote Solaris!

Especially as mine arrived this morning 😉

After meeting Dan from Stanton bikes a couple of times he is the sort of person I would buy from. The Sherpa looks great in the flesh and the Swithcback is stunning!

Kona Honzo? 44mm headtube and slidey dropouts so can go singlespeed

Roverpig, yes I will, I’m far to broken to ride a ht all year and I love the fs.

Yes, that’s what I thought too, but as summer wears on, my lovely shiny Five is feeling rather neglected 🙂 I’m nearly 50, it’s rocky up here and I’ve ridden enough hardtails to appreciate my full suss. But a bigger wheel and a springy frame gives a lot of the traction and comfort advantages of a rear shock without the extra weight or the loss of efficiency that comes from sticking a hinge in the frame. Maybe it won’t prove to be enough for me long term (only time will tell) but it’s enough to make me wonder.

Karate Monkey Ops.

Seriously tho if I started listing all the injuries we’d be here all day!! That’s why I’ve just sold my chameleon…

[/url]SURREY HILLS 5 by 55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57, on Flickr[/img]

Love my Solaris. Lots of fun. You wont regret it.

For more Solaris love see here:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/calling-all-cotic-solaris-owners

It’s definitely looking like cotic or Stanton… Nothing else is really in price or looks that good…

The answer is stooooooge

It has to have front suspension tazzy….

My medium geared el Mariachi complete build (44mm tube) will be up for sale very soon.

I need a large but thanks….

No problems /delboy mode

Bit like me trying desperately to sell my cx bikeon any cx thread!

Well if anyone knows of a steel 29er frame with ordinary bb, vertical dropouts and 2 sets of bottle bosses please let me know! As far as I can tell it doesn’t exist. It did (Niner MCR) but that gained an eccentric bb 😡

What’s wrong with a ebb?

MCR didn’t gain an ebb – that was the SIR 9. Presume MCR just dropped as SIr does it all?

Genesis High Latitude?

Well if anyone knows of a steel 29er frame with ordinary bb, vertical dropouts and 2 sets of bottle bosses please let me know! As far as I can tell it doesn’t exist. It did (Niner MCR) but that gained an eccentric bb

The El Mar has these.

I was going to say Pace RC129, but are PACE still going???

[url=https://flic.kr/p/dVE6uL]Salsa El Mariachi Singlespeed[/url] by placid casual, on Flickr

The El Mar has these.

The problem with the El Mar is that Ison have run out, unless you want S or L. They can get them but they have to bring them in from the States, which takes a while, even without crashing the lorry on the other side of the Atlantic.

Ah I see!! *Ponders if he should list his now 😀

Alternator drop outs not normal vertical. Yes I know they work most of the time but for someone who is never going to single speed they’re heavy, needlessly complicated and a compromise I’d rather not make.