https://www.evanscycles.com/scott-scale-710-plus-2017-mountain-bike-EV286102

Sonder Transmitter FTW £300 frame only

I had been looking at the Next Gen Stanton Sherpa but also Giant XTC Advanced – both take 29er or 27.5+ and both available as frame only.

I’ve a (next gen) Stanton Sherpa with (proper) 3″ B+

[/url]Sherpa at the Fungle by Metalheart-UK, on Flickr

Available as frame only (£600), rolling chassis or full build options. Stanton do scraper i45 rims on Pro4 hubs at a reasonable price.

That Merida looks tasty. Can it run conventional 29″?

Solaris can run 2.8″ tyres I think.

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The Orbea Loki 7+ is worth a look. It´s got great angles and is a fun bike to ride. I rode mine loads this year, guiding big days in the big mountains. Totally loved it.

Beast of the East 1 here, love it! Though I was looking at a Vassago Jabberwocky to build an Alfine 650+/29+

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/vassago-jabberwocky-frame-2016-4393-p.asp

The draw of the Lefty was too strong….

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LZkP9b]14494844_10153966557313225_4165495166450457365_n (1)[/url] by Stephen Williams, on Flickr

Or the lovely Swift takes 650+

http://webshop.singularcycles.com/en/Products/Singular-Swift.html

Cheers Steve

I’ve had one of those Merida’s (the mid range 800) for 3 weeks now, and I’m loving it. Great spec for the money and rides well. Wheels and tyres are easy to tubeless, which saved 1.5lb!

Mine (Cannondale BotE1) replaced a Singular Swift fitted with 29×2.4’s running an 8 speed Alfine (converted to commuter now)
I’ve found it up on grip, and I hold lines better on the bendy stuff while going faster.
Climbing on rough stuff is great, the lower ratio I have wth the 1×11 compared to the Alfine is nice on the fire road climbs, I can’t really compare to a similar ratio’ed 2.4. I have dropped some speed on climbs as I’m not pushing a harder gear…and blowing my hoop at the top….

Can’t comment on all day but done 3-4 hrs fine with the WTB Bridger tyres fitted, they roll surprisingly good, my initial test was on a road loop and it shocked me tbh.

Downside is weight (tyres/wheels/tubes) and weak sidewalls if you are turbo aggressive. They are also critical on tyre pressure, I ran a bit too low and had the the sidewall folding but an extra 1psi and it was fine. I’m yet to go tubeless and I’m not riding enough atm.

If you’re the kids of person not bothered about a bit of weight they are a great laugh.

Cheers, Steve

Not a HT owner, but I have + tyres on a Stumpjumper. As Steve mentioned above, pots of grip both cornering and climbing and very comfy. Rolling resistance is a bit higher than a skinny tyre, but the fun and comfort more than makes up for it.

Tyre pressures are critical. My Park Tools track pump’s pressure gauge over reads significantly at low pressures – at least 20%. I bought a cheap standalone pressure gauge like THIS ONE and it makes getting pressures bang on. You’ll need to ditch the schraeder adapter, and instead fit a small diameter length of rubber hose. For reference, I run between 12 and 13 psi at Swinley without any significant tyre roll (that I could feel) and the grip around corners was splendid.

I found this video interesting…Here

Yep that Pace looks mean (same steel as the Stanton but a cheaper price?), there is a nice lot of choice around atm.

Cheers, Steve

The Mondraker Vantage is a huge amount of fun on the downs, I had a test ride on one recently…review on my blog.

For something a bit more ‘all day’, the Mondraker Prime R+ is a nice bike and one I’m considering for the future

You don’t want a baggy frame when running + tyres at the pressures you should be running them

Had one of those meridas for a week now – ace fun! Bags of grip, and you can get away with more seated pedalling compared to my old 26″ hardtail. Whilst you can’t quite get away with as much as a full squash it’s not far off…