Melanie’s 29er: not flashy, not fancy, just nice…
Given the ongoing flood of fatbikes, e-bikes, and other freakbikes in the cycling press, one of our number recently made us promise to find some “nice, normal hardtails to write about.” While the comment may have been made – at least partially – in jest, it seemed like a good idea.
From Hunter Cycles’ photostream, then, we have what is labeled as “Melanie’s 29er.” As easy as it would have been to go with a flashy, high-dollar frame and build, something about this Hunter’s understated paint job and sensible parts pick seemed more in keeping with our remit.
regardless of hypothetical mud performance
Based in Davenport, California, Rick Hunter “offers TIG-welded and fillet brazed steel frames for everything from racing to hauling cargo, in addition to handmade forks and stems-” and has done so since 1993. A flip through Hunter Cycles’ photostream yields a lot of nice – but not flashy – details and simple colour schemes. As attractive as they are, these are clearly bikes meant to be ridden.
Melanie’s 29er was posted back in 2012- it’s hard not to think that the bike has seen a fair amount of use since then. But it stands (leans?) here as a pristine example of the enduring appeal of a straightforward steel hardtail. More (including options and pricing) at huntercycles.com.
hard to argue with
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looks nice, and you say “normal” but I bet it cost toward £3000 and is out of reach for the common working class MTB’er as seems to be usual these days…
To paraphrase Jeremy Clarkson…
WORK HARDER
BUY A BIKE
I like that a lot!
Looks lovely considering it’s a 29er.
Kryton, there’s probably never been such a good time to be a mountain biker. There are fantastic bikes around for £500 or less these days, and the bike you get for £1500 is of a quality and performance we couldn’t even imagine 20 years ago. Just because we don’t feature them as much as the shiny, more expensive bikes, doesn’t mean we’ve not lost sight of that. It’s just that a hand-crafted, custom bike makes a great thing to write about.
Kryton — no, I don’t know what the Hunter frame costs but I have something similar, a Pipedream Scion (google it) with 1st class kit (1×10 X0, Shimano XT chain & cassette + OneUp 42T big cog, Truvativ cranks + DMR Vaults, SID forks, Gobi saddle, Thompson seatpost, Hope bits here & there, custom wheels on XT hubs & Conti tyres in Pro-Tection rubber), all-up weight is 12kg, it rides a dream, goes up & down hills like a rabbit & total cost was small change under 2 grand. I only wish I was a halfway good enough rider for the bike.