I'm looking at building up a SS 29er. I'm 5"10 so I reckon I need size 16 but wonder what length stem everyone else is running?
I will be doing long-ish XC days of 50+ miles. The weight of the scandal is tempting but worry about the harsh ride of Alu, does the increased tyre volume dampen, make the weight the only big difference between the Inbred and Scandal? Cheers
Size wise, it's hard to say based purely on height. I'm 5ft 11 and ordered an 18", Lookmanohands on here is maybe an inch shorter than me, he's on a 16" which to my mind looks a bit small, but he likes a very chuckable bike. He's also running a 90mm stem iirc, whereas I'm putting an 80mm stem on mine.
Oh, and another factor, I've got a fairly long inside leg length, even with a 410mm Thomson post it would have been on the min insertion line for me on a 16" frame. There's only 18mm in the top tubes, but 50mm difference in the seat tubes. I normally run a 23" Top Tube on my bikes with a 90mm stem, but figured I would be better off with the slightly longer 18" frame and a 10mm shorter stem to give a slightly roomier cockpit.
50+ mile rides on an SS bike though! 😕
The 2 main factors you probably have to consider are the weight (29er Inbred is almost 6lb frame, the Scandal is sub 4lb iirc) and the SS compatability (Scandal no longer has slot dropouts, and to run SS on one you'd have to use a tensioner).
Both can get a fairly big back tyre in there too, and 29er wheels give you a fair bit more cushioning than 26" do anyway, so frame material is probably less critical to comfort than on a 26" hardtail.
Oh, and the Purple Inbred is bloody gorgeous by the way! 😉
I'm five ten and ride an 18" 29er scandal- unless you have a short torso the 16" will be like a clown bike. They are designed to be ridden with a short stem 60-80mm.
I've had the gas pipe 29er inbred as well and TBH the aluminium scandal is a much nicer frame and isn't any harsher than the steel frame. In my experience the steel inbreds both 26 and 29 are not very forgiving on the back end anyway and are heavy old bruisers (great frame for the money though)so personally I'd go with the scandal.
if you local to me (midlands) your welcome to have a test ride on my 29er scandal ss to see how the 18" fits you.
I would go for a 18 inch scandal. The 16 seems too small for 5.11. There not the largest of frames anyway.
My Scandal feels far more nimble than my Inbred plus it's lighter.
Thanks for your thoughts, think I'll probably go with a 18" didn't realise the TT difference between sizes was that small.
The scandal is what I'm probably going to go with. It won't be SS all the time but I would like the horizontal dropouts for the flexibility.
What are the chances of getting an older scandal model with the slot dropouts? Are they rare?
I have had an Inbred and a Scandal and have to say that I prefer the Scandal.
It is not as harsh as you think for alu.
got my 29er slot droppy scandal from ebay for less than £100.00 so definately worth having a look around.