I’m in the market for a hardtail with the following:

– low bb (I mean around 12″ low)
– slack head angle (I love the 66degs on my enduro)
– available in 19 or 20″ with long reach (i’m 6ft5)
– preferably steel
– run with 140mm pikes and a 50mm stem

Anyone know if I can run a Ragley bagger with pikes?

Sure can.

Cheers Brant. Will it make the (already steep) seat angle a bit too wonky? I’ve really fallen for the short back end and slack front on the enduro but being 6ft5 I need a decent amount of room when I’m stood up.

Don’t s’pose you’ve got any pics of a 20″ bagger yet..?

Everyone will say its heavy & expensive, but test ride a 21″ orange P7… Very comfortable for us taller guys!

Will it make the (already steep) seat angle a bit too wonky?

Just run a layback (rather than inline) post and all will be golden.

I have a 19″ (2010 – in the classifieds at the mo) and an old 21″ P7 and they feel too tall.

On the list so far
– Various Ragleys (bagger with 140mm forks top of the list at mo)
– Pace 325.5 (not steel)
– Chromag aperture (no idea of price)
– Evil Sovereign (expensive and tall)

Any others?

My Singular swift XL is very comfy and the BB is fairly low, don’t know how low though.

A Large Cotic Soul or Bfe might work, low BB and short stays.

My Evil Sovereign doesn’t feel tall. Adjustable drop outs give you chainstay lengths to play with. Best HT I’ve ever ridden.

Chunky – do you ride an XL Sovereign? Can’t find any pics of them except a crappy grainy one on mtbr.

Anyone got any experience of the Pace 325.5?

Mine is a large but is very compact though. You’d need an XL and even then the ETT is short.

I’m 6’5″ and also toying with a 20″ Bagger and running it at 140mm with a 50mm stem off my Bluepig, but I’m still being tempted by the Evil Sov.
The only pic I can find of an XL one is;

post#19
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=490986

Brant any pics of a 20″Bagger built up yet?

cotic soul or bfe dont have low bb height if run with 140mm pikes, ive worked them out to be 330mm bb centre height with 2.35″ tyres.

Can’t really see any 140mm travel hardtails having a low (12″) BB height. run 100mm and don’t worry about it being super slack, 69deg is slack enough for any 100mm hardtail

Orange crush has a low bb and long reach.

the bagger with 140mm forks wil give you 66deg head and i’m guessing a 318mm bb height which i quite low. ns surge an genesis alpitude are also low but the surge wont be big enough for you.

318mm isn’t a low BB height

318( now edited)

Chats with my LBS point to Genesis Alpitude but I worry it’s too short and the Pace 325.5 but I can’t get one to try out…Taking a punt on a 600quid frame based on the geometry numbers is a gamble I’m not ready to take.

Any others? Not really fussed about material but 500ish quid or less is the target.

The new Chumba (due end of Feb) HX1 21″? £399 with EBB. http://www.progressive-bikes.co.uk/hx1.html

image is just to give you an idea of what the frame looks like, not an actual 21″ 🙂

Chumba HX1 by srbwilson, on Flickr

456 summer season with a shorter fork?

@ GW
I think you find 318mm unsagged for 140mm is on the lower side of whats on offer in steel HT frames. in fact if you could tell me of any all mountain/xc trail steel frames a with lower bb height i would be grateful because thats what i’m also searching for.
most are around 330mm.

There aren’t many hardtails and only one steel one I’ve found is a Chromag Aperture at about 310mm.

I know its not steel but the Pace 325.5 BB is 307mm.

My preoccupation with angles and dimensions is getting unhealthy, need to get some test rides in.

the chromag aperture would be around 316mm with 140mm forks unsagged. looks very nice as well.

Shame its got a skinny seattube, but otherwise looks pretty mint. Anyone got any idea when it will be available?

Genesis Latitude.
20.5 inch
310mm BB (12.2)
120-140mm forks
at 140 HA will be around 67/68
steel

i prefer a skinny seat tube on an hardtail because a skinny post gives more cushioning for the nether regions and lower back.

Although I’m slightly shorter than you I have pretty much the same requirements, especially as I like short stems and them need a minimum TT length of 620mm

I was hoping to find a hardtail with a -50mm BB as there would still be enough ground clearance and it would give a low centre of gravity and plenty of standover.

Most large frames are too tall for my liking and the lack of standover interferes with steep technical descents and jumps etc.

I’m still making a shortlist, but currently I’m very tempted by the Sunn Tzar, based mainly on it’s length versus height – it’s also made of steel which although is slightly heavy it does flex more than aluminium and should last forever.

I do have a requirement of seat post being >= 30.9 for compatability with my existing adjustable seatposts … I hate 27.2’s, if you want some flex get a suspension seatpost.