[Closed] 26” frame (hardtail) recommendations

Cotic soul if you have a 120/100mm straight steerer fork

What's your budget? Production Privee Shan, with 26" dropouts, looks lovely and you can switch to 27.5" down the line should you wish.

This weekend I'll be stripping down and cannibalising a Torq team race bike and will have the following to sell:
- Kona Kula Watt carbon frame in Torq team colours
- Fox Terralogic Kashima forks
- Wheelset Suoerstar Superleggera hubs, Stans Alpine rims, Sapim spokes, Racing Ralph snakeskins

You want lightweight? Fully built....about 21lbs.
Raced by a team rider for one season only, stripped down after each race by pro mechanic.
Serviced by ex team mechanic since I owned it.
See link https://bikemagic.com/bikes/josh-ibbetts-kona-kula-watt-carbon.html

Not a stealth ad as I'll use Pinkbike, FB or similar; unlikely to appear on classifieds here.
DM me if interested.

+1 for a Soul. I've a Mark 1 (I think) which is pretty light when built up appropriately. I use mine for trail/XC and it's grand.

Thanks for the replies.

Really like the look of the production privee Shan. Will investigate this further. Especially with the option of two wheel sizes.

Thanks Frank, but not really for me. Cheers tho.

Ash!!

The Shan is a pretty good all rounder, done a few big days out in Scotland/lakes and Wales without bother. It does like going down 🙂 Works fine in either wheel size. It seems a bit more forgiving than the BFe I had before.

Kinesis Decade Virtue/Versa
Pipedream Sirius, you may find a 26” frame
Sanderson Life/Breath
On One 456

Gives you some more steel options, arguably more xc than trail, if taking exact definitions

Or the default alu frame: Chameleon, which is arguably more trail than xc.

If it were me, I’d plump for steel, skinnier the better, enjoy your search 😁

there was a post a couple of weeks ago about this with people offering spare chamelons for sale.

Ignore the wheel size marketing rubbish- pretty much any 650B frame'll work with 26" wheels, there's no need to limit yourself to 26" specific stuff. Here's my old Switchback with 26"-

[img] [/img]

and my old BFe 275 with 26"-

[img] [/img]

No death ensued.

edit- also, newer shape stuff is much nicer to ride than old shape stuff.

pretty much any 650B frame’ll work with 26″ wheels

That's true of most "early" 650b frames… but many more recent ones have a lower BB, and don't play nicely with smaller wheels. Careful…

And similarly many more recent ones also have a BB height that [i]will[/i] play nicely with smaller wheels. Are you on commission? 😆

Take a look at Surly.

The old 1x1 was very versatile and plenty clearance for bigger/fatter tyres

I think its successor is called the Lowside.

Make me an offer before it goes on Ebay!

Or how about a singlespeed? 🙂

Sanderson Life

The Life (26" frame) is still available to buy new, the Breath has been superseded by the Town Crier (650b with a questionable name). The Blitz is also worth a look.

Well, this is like the thread of temptation I don't need.

I bought a 26 in Bfe. It is a lot of fun, but at 6ft2 I find the L size a tiny bit short for me (2017 model I think, so a very slight fraction shorter than current models). My dropper is also massively up from the frame (a 150mm RS Reverb), so I was wondering about fitting a 200mm/210mm dropper to allow me to really get the seat down low. Although short, it is very confidence inspiring when going downhill and did me proud in Swiss Alps for a weekend of riding.

However, looking online that Production Privee frame looks lovely. All reports I have read online are that it is more forgiving than the Bfe. But it does not look cheap...

I've got a large Pipedream Sirius frame I don't need; it's sliding dropouts mean that it should take 650b wheels but unfortunately it's the first edition of the 853 Sirius frames meaning that it only has a straight headtube, which is going to be limiting.

So I spoke to the LBS ref: my Cotic and the suggestion was that perhaps it is a bit short.

So I got a price list together. Shan frame is £600 & bits, plus new reverb (my old one is wrong size), plus BB. All in all looks like this will be expensive, even if I ebay off my old stuff (Cotic frame, reverb etc). I would want to change the fork (just me going nuts, not justifiable 🙁

Is it better to simply offload the lot on ebay and start again with a Whyte 905 (or something similar)?

The Brand X HT-01 frame is cheap as chips...

View this post on Instagram

New shape BFe with 26 wheels. Rode really well. Now is a bit of a hideous mashup as its got a 650B rear wheel but front and forks are still the same. Front has a big 2.4 maxxis shorty on it though so diameters are not tooooo different. I need new forks 🙁

View this post on Instagram

In hideous mashup mode

You said you want light? The shan is lovely but it's about 5 and a half pounds. Not bad for what it is, but not light.

26 is a used buyer's playground really but do you want to be spending that much on a new 26er? It's going to be harder to sell, and sell for less, if you ever want to move it on. Once you're at the point of spending hundreds + buying a new dropper post then there's not that much reason to stick with 26.

Not that there's anything wrong with 26- I have a Cotic and an Orange in 26- but I got both entire bikes for less than you're thinking of dropping on a frame

North wind - I have come to the conclusion that I am better to cut my losses and shift the whole bike, rather than try and upgrade the frame.

Shame as I like the bike and have no problem with 26 in. Time to look at fresh options.

On One Scandal ?
Light, cheap, rated, alu, 100-120mm. XC/light trail geo.

I love mine to bits and I will be broken when/if it dies.
Mine is raw brushed and it looks like new, a superb frame.