They aren’t *that* different in Geo but they ride VERY differently
In what way? I had a SolarisMax then changed it for a Switch9er, Solaris felt like a better all rounder, slightly more comfortable, while the Switch9er feels more like a traditional hardtail, quite playful and a little harsh.
I have finally built a Chromag Doctahawk, that is low, long and slack! 62 head angle and 525 reach. Will post a pic tomorrow when I get it out the house.
In what way?
Well... for me it feels like it has a bit more trail damping, and if you commit weight forward an amazing amount of grip. I've also taken it down some descents that felt a lot more sketchy/bouncy on the Solaris.
However it is not like for like. Solaris is 140mm/Bardino 160. S: 27.5 chubby (2.8/2.6), B: 29 (2.6/2.4) on similar width rims. Bardino has Rimpacts front and back.
Maybe it's because the Solaris is a M and the Bardino a ML (slack HA/steeper SA), but it feels a 'bigger' bike and needs a good shove to get it moving. When it does move tho it feels unstoppable.
I'll be rebuilding the Solaris with a 120 or 130mm fork. Keep the chubbies.
Sorry 😉 anyone got an idiots guide to posting from google photo's?
My lockdown purchase, thanks to whoever on here pointed out the Vendetta deal at the start of lockdown
A little less anodising on it now
I don’t think it counts as long, meeelh not short, but it is slack and low!
@alex, what difference did you notice? My riding mate has a Bardino and I'm on a SMax and I find the longer reach the main difference (I prefer it).
[img] 
[/img]
@alex - oh just saw you've already answered my questions:)
... FWIW mate has a ML Bardino 35/150mm and i'm on a L SMax 36/140mm.
Waiting on a Switch9er now, will be interesting to see how that compares.
That Northern Metal 🤤
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/hj2prVfw/26475279-BA62-4-E52-BAB7-8-FDCA5745-FF0.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/hj2prVfw/26475279-BA62-4-E52-BAB7-8-FDCA5745-FF0.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Bird Zero AM
Slackish (does a 65 ha count?), defo long, and low with plenty of standover height.
Old photo though...
Deffo long and low, not super slack but it is one of the finest genuine 'all rounder' MTBs I've ridden.
Here’s mine. It’s a bit of an oddball.
Some lovely looking bikes here! I’m building a hardtail hopefully. Looks like I’ve chosen the wrong time to do it though as I can’t even find a frame right now!
Not much slacker or longer than the Chromag Doctahawk
Sorry being dumb but whats a LLS hardtail?
Long low and slack head angle My Big Dog is actually longer than a SolarisMax by dint of a slacker head angle. Must be measured at sag. Rides perfectly normally. I prefer it with a 35 stem. Better downhill and pretty much the same up.
Sorry being dumb but whats a LLS hardtail?
L- Long reach/ wheelbase
L-Low BB
S- Slack head angle.
Some of the bikes here seem to be missing in some of the features though.
Here's my 27.5er Bamboo frame on its way through the final build stages at the moment...
Looks nicer with the epoxy coatings, and way less pink than when it was sanded:
64deg HA, 45mm BB drop, 435mm chainstays, 500mm reach, 625mm stack, 80deg STA, 450mm Seattube, 142x12 dropouts, 44mm headtube, 73mm BB, 31.6 ST, with routing for internal dropper.
Designed around 160mm 555mm a2c fork.
Probably about 2weeks till its a usable bike.
(a couple more rounds of low visco epoxy and tidying up)
Only 6months in the making so far! :).
Bamboo frame Pinkbike album
Scar
Thats fantastic.
Long time lurker, first time poster.
My new (to me) Dialled Alpine 3 that I snapped up on fleabay last week.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50427240217_a52772be5c_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50427240217_a52772be5c_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jQ5MEa ]Untitled[/url]
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50427240212_8bc0cc628a_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50427240212_8bc0cc628a_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jQ5ME5 ]Untitled[/url]
tsr2, i think you need a bigger frame 🙂
Seat post won’t be that high, I was faffing around with it when taking the pics 👍
phew 🙂
What makes you choose super slack HT over a full suspension?
I love a good hardtail but bikes like the hello Dave are deep into quite extreme trail / park bike territory. Or have you all got decent tail or enduro bikes as well.
What makes you choose super slack HT over a full suspension?
For me, its the ride experience.
I love a HT in general too (most commonly risen bike is actually rigid) it's just because these are in the super slack territory I ask
I feel I can get that buzz of being right on the edge of control without it being quite as high speed\consequence IMO.
I've got a full sus and hardtail, and honestly I have more fun on the hardtail and ride it 95% of the time.
And it's not that much slower when you really start pushing it.
P.s. it's great when you out-ride you're mates who are on FS on your HT 🙂
I prefer the feeling of riding a hardtail, the feeling you get being connected to the backend. If you can pump properly there is a lot of speed to be gained when riding one. If anyone tells you that it’s best to take the smoother line on a hardtail they are lying, gnarly lines are fun.
It's my experience that whilst super slack head angles are associated with steep tech stability, that benefit comes through on a hardtail as much as it does on an FS. If the rest of the frame is sorted, climbing ability is unaffected and tech climbing competence can actually be boosted.
You end up with a frighteningly competent hardtail for just riding about on. For sure it wont feel 'responsive' like some of the spastic bambis of the the past, but assuming because its slack its trying to replicate FS performance is kinda missing the point - IMO, this is a paradigm shift in case-use for hardtails when compared against their predecessors, but this realisation seems to be a pretty slow to take since HTs are starting to become a more scarce breed and one doesn't really get it without riding one for a bit.
I think that it’s a myth that long, low and slack bikes are only good for going downhill fast.
I switched to a decent hard tail because for day to day life it can do everything. It tows the kid’s trailer so I don’t need my road bike, it rides up and down and along pretty well so I don’t need and XC bike and/or a Gravel bike, makes pump tracks fun so I don’t need a BMX (to be used once or twice a year) and it makes descending great fun as well.
I haven’t got the longest or slackest hard tail (Reach-445mm, HA-63.5*, RC-440mm, SA-74.5* and 29 wheels, but it gets the job done and is super fun around the Westcountry and FOD where I do 90% of my riding. If I want to go big in the Alpes (fingers crossed) then I’d just hire something for a week for now. Unless it was off piste or somewhere like Tignes which doesn’t have the braking bumps of Morzine and Les Gets.
For the next year or so all my time and budget is being spent raising 2 year old twins so having a quiver isn’t really an option nowadays.
PS - bike riding is all about fun unless you’re racing
Added a dropper today ... only a 125mm as the 11yr old needs to be able to ride it so it's almost on min insertion.
A brace of em here. Mine is on the right. 150mm fork, +1 headset so 64.5 HA. 2.6 tyres. She is a rowdy one for sure.
[img] 
[/img]
Had a great day out on the Long Mynd from Marshbrook. Climbed and descended really well.
For comparison - my old Sov from 2010ish. Not LLS but always loved a hardtail.
My DeeDar, a few years old so not as LLS as the latest crop, starting off with XT 1x11 it now has XTR, 160 Pikes and since the photo a Pro 4/Arc 30 wheel set with tan wall minions - 2.5 DHF/2.4 DHR II and a set of gum Deathgrips. A few purple accents were promoted by the Muc Off valves and include reservoir caps and more caps on the E4/X2 brakes and grip collars.
I’m contemplating a brown saddle to go with the tanwalls and grips for full on hipster points. Colour coordination is a disease I tell you
