Hello All

Having finally had a shot on a 29er I am ditching the 26″ hard tail. I am 6ft2 and now in my 40s and despite my aspirations I have realised I will not in fact ever be competing in Red Bull Rampage…

I have narrowed it down to Salsa El Mariachi steel, Stanton Sherpa, and I also have the chance of a Lynskey Ridgeline frame at a good price.

I don’t want an all-out XC mile muncher, yet I don’t want a hardcore hardtail – something in between with reasonable stand over height. Can anyone offer any advice on the choices above? I am happy with a 100mm fork.

Dunno about the other two mentioned but I got a mariachi SS absolutely love it. Its handling is impeccable fast but very stable. A tad on the heavy side but a small price to pay IMO.

Cotic solaris?

bikeneil – Member
Cotic solaris?

+1

I wanted a bike that could climb well, descend better and felt fun/flickable on the trail. I demo’d a Sherpa and bought one soon after. I can’t comment on the other 2 I’m afraid but the Sherpa ticked my boxes.

That’s with a 120mm fork fwiw

Inbred 29er? Has everything these frames have, but at less than half the price.

I have a Titus Fireline that suits that type of bill, but out of the ones you’ve mentioned I’d pick the sherpa. Really does look a nice bike and I like the guys behind the co

A few years ago I was after a steel frame that would run SS when needed.
I had it narrowed it down to the Karate Monkey, Pace RC129, Swift & SIR.9.
The latest El-Mar wasn’t yet available so ended up with the Niner.
It’s a great bike, & in the end a hefty reduction in a sale swung it, but if I was buying again the El-Mar would likely top the list.

Then again, having recently switched to a 29+ front on the Niner I’d be looking at something that could run 29+ both ends. Salsa Beargrease in an ideal (non cash limited), world. 🙂

But that Sherpa…now that looks interesting… 😉

Dunno about the other two mentioned but I got a mariachi SS absolutely love it. Its handling is impeccable fast but very stable. A tad on the heavy side but a small price to pay IMO.

I’ve got a geared El Mar and, while it’s noticeably heavier than the alloy 26er it replaced (unsurprisingly) it rides very well.

Only reason I don’t wholeheartedly recommend one is that there are a few problems with importing – Ison and Salsa parted ways earlier in the year and I don’t know if anyone’s taken them back on, though I gather Salsa are prepared to deal direct with the LBS.

I’ve got a Ridgeline 29 and it runs nicely with a 100mm fork albeit with a slightly tall front end. I’d recommend it more so if I could find the cause of the irksome creak.

I don’t know if they have improved over the past four years but I used to work in a Lynskey dealers and at least half the frames we sold broke.
I had an On One Ti 456 made by Lynskey, and that broke, and as a result of that I became aware of two other Ti 456s that had also broken.

I’ve a Mariachi.

It’s good.

I had a Swift before that.

The swift is definitely the more refined ‘steel’ bike, the salsa is much stiffer, rides closer to an aluminium bike, but a little heavier. If you don’t need the tapered headtube I’d probably get a Swift.

Sherpa would be top of my list if I wasn’t so happy with my Trek Stache.

Not ridden one though so take my word with a pinch of salt.

Just bought a green Sherpa and it’s almost finished being built, hopefully get the forks on next week and will report back on the ride. It looks gorgeous if that helps, paint job is great.

Watching this thread with interest. Started a thread on here Soul or Slackline…after going along to the local dealer I was sold on the idea of a 29er, was keen on Solaris but looking at the options I’m taken by the Sherpa and Salsa too.

Anyway ruled the Salsa out based on 27.2, leaning towards the Shepa as it has a 30.9 seat tube meaning it would be compatable with my current Reverb…sorry to hijack but has anyone ridden both the Solaris and Sherpa for comparison?

I’ve owned both a solaris and El mariachi for a little while. I would say the salsa is more xc geometry and more comfortable with the 27.2 seacoast. Comic is a bit more playful and direct.

When you say a chance of a Ridgeline frame at a good price, do you mean second hand?
If so, I’d avoid the older models with the thinner walled seat tube, I think they take a 30.9mm post.
Later ones were strengthened with a short length of thicker walled tube at the top and take a 27.2mm post.

Just the throw a little more light on the Solaris (yes, I’ve got one!) I thought the review in the news section of Cotic’s site might be worth a read.

From Australian Mag Enduro:
The Verdict

As you can probably tell, we’ve loved every minute of our time aboard the Solaris. Plain and simple, it’s a super fun mountain bike that will perfectly suit the more aggressive trail rider. Its long, low, and slack geometry make it an absolute weapon through the turns, and combined with high-volume tyres, it skips and bounces its way over rocks with the speed of a 140mm travel dually.

It has terrific versatility in terms of setup. While we preferred the shorter fork setup for carving up singletrack, the 120mm travel does enhance the bike’s confidence in higher altitude environments. Ideally, we’d fit a TALAS fork up front in order to adjust the travel on the fly.

While the Solaris is definitely sits toward the more playful end of the mountain bike spectrum, we were also quite happy chugging along on 50/100km XCM racecourses. Serious racers will still baulk at the 2.1kg frame weight, but when you take into account the comfort offered by the steel frame and the fact that most dual suspension XC frames weigh more than the Solaris, it’s actually not that silly of an idea to be considered as a marathon race bike. Still, this is a machine that gags for speed and getting rowdy on the sort of technical trails that a hardtail really shouldn’t be on.

A lot of input guys thanks.

I have been trawling the net for weeks for information on these frames. I know it has been around longer than the other two I mentioned (Lynskey always updating model nos.) but the number of people singing the praises of the Mariachi is quite staggering. Latest models will take a tapered fork, and I’m not fussed about the 27.2 seat tube now that Thomson have come to the rescue with the world’s most expensive dropper post.

It’s actually a Stanton Slackline 853 I own at the moment. Lovely bike, but really too much bike for me, if you know what I mean. The forks set at 150mm terrify me on descents – coming from a fully rigid background I just cannot get to grips with them and never feel quite safe like I used to with rigid forks. I am quite sure this is all my fault though and nothing to do with the bike! And although I only had a quick shot on a 29er my first thought was bloody hell this is quick! I have to get one!

I hear the Cotic lovers… The Solaris frame also appears to be a good bit lighter than the Salsa. This may in fact be ideal on paper but alas it is a bike I simply do not like the look of it. I will have another look at these and try to swallow my aesthetic ideals.

The Lynksey I have my eye on is new 2014 model at a discount. It appears this may be a bit more of an ‘upright’ machine than the others mentioned which puts me off a little.

In reality I just want to go down hills without the worry of a high top tube between my legs I suppose. I really should become better at reading bike geometries in mathematical form.

Worth looking at the Kinesis Sync, unless the discount on the Lynskey is huge. Much more like a ti Solaris, but a bit more compact.

I don’t normally post on this forum but thought I would add my thoughts!

I’ve owned an El Mariachi for over 2 years and can confirm much of what the others have said here. I had a Cotic Soul before and the El M is far more comfortable.

It is more xc orientated but I have run it with a 1.5 degree Works Components angle headset and what a difference it makes. With the extended front centre it turned it from a fast but stable xc into a full on trail bike. I’ve kept up with and mullered my mates on their so called ‘big bikes’ no trouble and the low bottom bracket helps it really carve the turns. Add a 120mm bolt thru fork run with plenty of sag and you are laughing.

The 27.2 seat post only adds to the comfort as the smaller diameter post really does help with the lower back. I run mine tubeless with Hans Dampf tyres for the extra grip and large air chamber comfort. I’m happy with the extra weight as the trail benefits out weigh (‘scuse the pun) this.

The only real issue is whether to go for the medium or large!

I hope this helps!!

Ref the Cotic review:

Its long, low, and slack geometry

Really?

I’ve read it rides well, but it’s definitely not slack?

Until recently I had both a Solaris and Elma. I couldn’t justify both… I sold the Solaris.
Elma is more versatile with its dropouts
Elma is more comfortable
Elma is a more Involving ride on the kind of woodsy singletrack I ride
The Solaris is phenomenally good for a hardtail on the kind of rough and rocky terrain that I’d typically take the FS to ride
It struck me that if I lived somewhere rocky, the Solaris would be my perfect hardtail, but I don’t
Elma ultimately felt a bit more cultured, the Solaris was a (very good) blunt instrument

I love my el mar, ive ridden nothing else for 18 months, full susser hanging up. I ride it geared and suss forks in summer and rigid single speed in the winter, ss weighs 24lbs.
Tried a 29er anthem the other day and couldn’t wait to get back on the el mar.

Another El Mariachi lover here.

Virtually used nothing else since I built it. Rigid with cable discs, old school 9 speed stuff. I’ve done a couple of big Bikepacking trips on it too. One of the few bikes I can spend all day riding on and still feel comfortable.