sold my enduro and now possibly looking at building a steel hardtail.

had 456’s before and felt they were ok but nowt special and got fed up of the chainsuck

always liked the look of the Bfe but it was quite expensive but now the frame has come down in price it looks like a good buy.

ive just come off alarge enduro and found that just right size wise so im guessing a large Bfe frame will be ideal.

what are they like as an all day bike (will be used for commuting too)

oh and pics please!!

cheers

steve

I had one when it came out last January, very good frame, but found it a bit too harsh for my back. The large frame i had was heavy as well, which was a bit of a pig for commuting (10 hilly miles each way). Sold it on, but kinda wish I’d kept it for off road use, and built something else up for the commute.

I ran mine with 140mm revs ,and found the front lifted a bit too easily when climbing, but i was running 30mm headset spacers, so lowering the stem probably would have fixed it. Very fun on the trails though. I probably should have gone for a soul!

Only pic i can find of mine, and it’s a bit crap!

Just ordered one, Gritstone black, its got an XTR groupset ready to drop on it, King/819 wheels, Reverb, but deliberating on fork 🙂 choice…..

Why do you want steel? steel frames like Bfe’s are too heavy for what most people use them for IMO

well im a bit of a fat kancker and find most alloy hardtails a bit too hard !!

most people

I’m special.

do they run full gear cable outers too?

plus look at the colour of the one in the piccy above ….. its awesome

BFe’s are indestructible and have great geometry, but they can make many alloy frames look comfortable such is their rigidity and harshness.

The Soul is a much better bet for most people certainly.

im sure Cy once told me that for my weight of 17 stone i would find the soul too flexy

and find most alloy hardtails a bit too hard !!

absolutely clueless reasoning!! 🙄

not really gw, ive tried my mates cove stiffee and the back end on that had no give what so ever and i found it quite tiring to ride all day.

whereas my old 456 was quite forgiving but flexed quite a bit under hard pressure on the cranks which would then lead to massive chainsuck issues in wet weather.

im looking for somthing inbetween and the new frame of the Bfe with thinner tubes on the rear looks like it might fit the bill !!

Comfy factor seems fine to me over a few hours, would hate it all day though. Weighty. I had a set of lyrics on mine; lighter forks and wheels might be ok for prolonged riding, but then you have to ask why you’re not on the soul.

V nice bike – not sure that a large enduro would map onto a large BFe. They seem quite long in the tt, but I don’t know how the enduro sizes up.

I have a new Bfe, its hard, but also twangy, makes you want to jump off everything… Get one. I love mine.

large spesh enduro sl effective tt = 620mm

bfe effective tt = 610mm

so there is a cm in it which i can live with !!!

also got the fox float rl 150mm forks to go on the front of it too.

pics please toys19 !!

what have you specced it up like?

FFS! Stand up then. stiffees aren’t all that stiff.

Out of interest, what rear tyre and pressure was your mates bike running? a couple of psi less rear tyre pressure or a 0.1″ larger rear tyre would make more difference than the difference between a BFe and Stiffee frame.

how do you know that GW??

genuine question not piss taking btw

how do I know what?

a couple of psi less rear tyre pressure or a 0.1″ larger rear tyre would make more difference than the difference between a BFe and Stiffee frame

that

Had a medium, class frame, used it for all sorts. Only really ride xc now so swapped for a large, even better fit. Top notch, first ride out on it tonight and it was quality. A soul would probably suit me better as I’m pretty light, but all my components off my old frame fit the new one so i bought one. Gonna try it on some jumps (with the seat down) next week.

I’ve just ridden a huge number of hardtail frames, am very particular about tyre pressures for each frame/application and have owned massively stiffer frames than a stiffee.
Have you never experimented with tyres and pressures?

once or twice in the 20 years ive been riding yes !! 🙄

im sure Cy once told me that for my weight of 17 stone i would find the soul too flexy

You didn’t say your weight to start with, but with that in mind now, yes the BFe would almost certainly be a better bet…

GW makes a good point about tyres and tyre pressures (albeit rather bluntly), people often make the mistake of forgetting that there is a whole lot of give in a tyre, and running a 2.35 over say a 2.1 on the back of a hardtail will drastically alter the way it feels.

Ah, so you’re only about 25? fair enough then 😉

I agree mboy,

i once ran a 2.1 tyre on the back of my 456,yes it made the bike marginally faster but i suffered with no end of flat tyres as there wasnt much give in the tyre, i swapped out to an identical tyre but a 2.3 and it was loads better, more forgiving and i could push on harder without the fear of flatting all the time.

cheers

steve

GW i wish i was still only 25 !!!! add another 10 years to that and thats me!!

As mentioned previously, the best bike upgrade I ever made was a good pair of wheels with Stans Arch rims run tubeless with good compatible strong tyres. For the first time in my 20 odd years of riding mountain bikes I can run 30-35psi in my rear tyre without fear of flatting, and its like having an FS! Wish I had done this before buying an FS and selling my Soul, only to sell the FS a year later and buy another Soul. Ah well, we all live and learn!

I didn’t find my BFe stiff or harsh, if anything it flexes more than a Trailstar. Quite heavy though but a great bike to ride if you like pointing your bike downhill!