Does anyone make a decent steel hardtail above 21inch apart from the overpriced offering from Kona? 20inch is not big enough and 400mm seat pins bend.So I need a frame in an adult size!

Does it have to be a 26" bike?

If not, Surly, Salsa or Niner have 29er options but none are what you'd call cheap….

On One will do you an Inbred in a 21" for £153 – i've just got one as a singlespeed project and it fits pretty well and i'm 6'7" with very long limbs (i have 2 other alu 29ers in 22" & 23"). I got tired of always riding 26" wheeled bikes with 400mm seatposts at max length – 29ers also feel far more stable for me and i don't feel like i'm going over the handlebars on the steep downhills.

How tall are you, and which seat posts bend?
I'm 6'4" with long pins and ride the biggest frame Sanderson do, with Thomson or Roox S4 posts a long way out. I'm relatively light at under 14st though.

6'5" here. Ride a 20" ti456 with thomson post. 14stone(ish) with kit i imagine. Never had any problems with my post bending.

I am 6ft 4 a 20inch frame is barely big enough with a 400mm pin and the last one has bent. I also snapped a pin on a 21inch frame .I weigh 15 1/2 stone It needs to be 26inch as I will be using some new 26inch wheels and don't really want yet another type of bike that's not compatible with kit I already own

Ton to the thread……

I am selling an Orange Prestige ( 2008 ) Frame – 21" soon on the Classifieds ;o) I am 6ft 2" with a 34" inside leg and I feel this frame is too big for me – should have got the 19" !! Ended up getting an 18" On-One 456SS with 400mm Seatpost which is a much better fit .

Singular was started by a guy who wanted bigger framed bikes, iirc. Most of his stuff is 29er but they do have a 26" frame although with sloping top tube geometries these days they really don't tend to go so big. Even their 29er in XL is *only* 21.5"

As Ton doesn't appear to be around can i just say that at 6'5" and over 21 stone (say it quickly and it doesn't seem as bad 😳 ) i used to bend seat posts all the time on my 21" Rockhopper, no surprise there.

I was getting a bit dispirited as it was taking me a while to lose the lbs so needed an answer while the weight came off and didn't want to invest in a new frame (although now ride 21" 29er's inc a Swift). I was advised that Thomson make the strongest seatposts so invested in a 2nd hand one. I've now had 2 on two different bikes and can say that i wouldn't buy a normal post now, the latest one has lasted me 12 months on my hardtail frame which is used for every ride.

They ARE worth the money IMO and are alot cheaper than a new frame 😉

I am 6ft 4 a 20inch frame is barely big enough with a 400mm pin and the last one has bent. I also snapped a pin on a 21inch frame .I weigh 15 1/2 stone It needs to be 26inch as I will be using some new 26inch wheels and don't really want yet another type of bike that's not compatible with kit I already own

Mate, just accept you are tall. Its like my wife not buying the right size shoe, because she 'used' to be a size 3 1/2.

Flog the 26" stuff.

Not steel but my one remaining 26" bike is a 22" Kona Hoss Deluxe which i have singlespeeded at the moment. There is one (frame only) on ebay (a little bit tatty though) which could probably be had pretty cheap i'd guess. I use mine as a play bike and spent the weekend on it with my 11yr old nephew jumping off anything we could find and down all the local steps (although a 24" drop is knarly enough for me)

I'm 16st (without kit) and always ran my seatposts waaay out on my old 26" bikes and never bent one – i've always wondered how people do bend them unless they are very heavy or in a crash/badly landed jump.

At least try and find yourself a 29er to have a go on before you make the decision, you can always sell the wheels you have.

I also just built up a 21" Inbred 29er and those are steel (heavy though) but it seems like a nice fun bike so far.

Mate, just accept you are tall. Its like my wife not buying the right size shoe, because she 'used' to be a size 3 1/2.

Flog the 26" stuff.
Why??
26" is fine, and im 6'5" approx 17st. Did have problems in the past with seatposts. Managed to bend / break control tec, x lite, kalloy posts in the past. The only ones i've not bent are an original syncros one and a thompson one. Using a race face one on the hack bike, but its a big frame. 29" wheels seem to limit your choices by quite a bit, plus im not convinced that they offer any advantages over 26", not interested in nicheness tbh.

Doh, double post!

Toss internet connection at work, shame i work for telecoms. lol

Rocky Mountain Blizzard – I have a 21" RM Hammer in the shed, comedy length head tube but a really nice ride.

6ft 4" and ride a 20" inbred fits fine. Next bike will be a 29er when funds allow, probably a scandal if they still make em then.

My problems are very long legs and size 14 feet I just wish there were more large frames around than that bloody pricey Kona