I love the whole idea.Basically "normal" xc-ish bikes that adapt beautifully.but not specifically 4x/mini dh.

im recalling my mk1 meta 5.5 medium/short stem/tough wheels/holy rollers. mrp…amazing

or a ex work mate of mine was light and skilled on a bike done the same with a small mk 1 trance!!

also a meta 4 job done the same cos the meta 4x was silly expensive (2006)

none really "broken" all ridden to the limits and survived

has anyone had/built one along those lines? show me!!

Has no one got a photo/experience for this thread??? Would have thought there loads of Trance owners, and maybe some ST riders who would have thought there bike fit the bill…

My 4X team used small (15.5") Prince Alberts to race 4X on before the Holeshot frame came out.

In the very early days of Dirt magazine, riders like Steve Geall and Scott Beaumont all rode small hardtails like Kona Muni Mulas, GT Zaskars, etc.

in my eyes a 4X bike is a hardtail not a full sus, they're stronger lighter and faster on almost all 4X tracks.
I do ride a 4X hardtail for 99% of my riding but it doesn't sound like that'd interest you..

Took my rockhopper with some big forks, short stem, big tyres to the DH tracks at Sauze D'Oulx last year. It was great apart from in the braking bumps. Making a frame bag for it and heading back to the Alps again this year, allthough for more 'trail' trails.

If someone built a 4x track that took 2 days to complete I would be on to a winner

I'm a bit confused about this short travel full suss with slack geo and built super tough = 4X?

4x bikes are usually 100mm HT, not particularly slack actually and build pretty light and nimble. Duncan Ferris, a local elite guy here runs Fox F100s and Conti Race Kings on his DMR.

Meta 5s and Trances aren't even a little bit 4x IMO…

Here you go, here's my Zaskar Carbon 4X (saddle up for general riding duties!)

9spd. 100mm travel up front. Bombproof. 25lb.

Mate of mine has an original trance built up with Pikes saint cranks and Atomlab/D321 and BULB wheels its bloody great. Dont think he will mind me putting up this pic.

I do like the Trance… Something with the same sort of build as above (except maybe shorter travel forks just to keep the weight down and the handling up – personal preference) would be ideal for me!

A friend of mine has an extra small Trance 2. Completely stock with Rebas etc – I'm waiting for her to upgrade and I'll be straight in there to make an offer on it. Change the wheels for something a little stronger and it'll be perfect.

as above 4X bikes are almost always hardtails – light & quick handing

I guess a small Ragley mmmBop would ok, maybe a bit long for pure racing but that'd be better for xc duties – so perhaps a nice compromise? But really any small, light, hardtail.

This niche needs a new name to stop the pedants. The Blur 4X was great for razzing round the woods and trail centres and I'm guessing that's kind of what the OP is referring to. Unfortunate that most burly and short travel bikes tend to be the 4X full sussers, so the naming convention kinda sticks.

As for me, I've got a Kona Howler (Kona's 4X bike from a couple of years ago) that I use as my Trail Centre Razzer – good fun.

The bike that's leading the Euro 4x championship is quite slack and long.

Dan Atherton's 4X bike has something crazy like 66deg HA IIRC

Rickos – Love that Kona 😀

Perhaps "Trail Centre Razzer", or "TCR" is the name that should be given to this type of bike from now on, because that sums them up perfectly to me!

Running a 4 bar turner flux with coil pikes, short stem and wide bars, maxxis minion tyres. Not really what was intended for the frame. It's loads of fun but wouldn't call it a 4x bike by any stretch of the imagination.

how about a DAB*?

*dicking around bike

Cheers Zaskar. It's good fun and I've now got a proper chain guide on it and a DHX3 coil shock too. I use it locally for Forest of Dean stuff, trail centres and uplifts too. It's nice and versatile, but I use the Prophet or hardtail for proper XC days out where a granny ring is useful!

Clearly there are some slack angles about in 4X – I thought 69 on 100mm was about the norm though?

Pic of my earlier mentioned flux. Definitely not a 4x bike but since the thread seems to be as much about 100mm frames built up for their not intended purpose then i thought it would be rude not to have a pic. Generally used for just ragging around the woods.

i loved this bike!god knows why a sold it it was a 110mm front and rear DH bike basically! Heavy as tho.

so done the same to a meta….and dropped 3 lbs!

I used to have a dinky little Specialized SX (the white FSR one, about 2005 ish?). I bloody loved it. Like you, mrclean, I don't know why I sold it!

I keep looking for another one but can't seem to find them anywhere any more … Booo 🙁

another of the same…

Looks like my old blue Stumpy fits the bill, sort of..well maybe not but here it is in 100mm rear 120mm front DH guise..

Once I took the triple chainset off I did a few BSX races on this – 15.5" PA:

the idea of this – 50mm stem – 2.35 highrollers – and an LG1 chain device!

bet it would take a beating too!