After a few years just riding road and ‘gravel’, didn’t miss the MTB at all until I started trail running last winter and got back into proper hill country. Leg injury means I can’t run for the foreseeable but I can ride…

In the meantime, MTB has moved on a bit. Boost, Plus, 1x… looks like a compatibility nightmare. I just want someone to tell me what to buy TBH.

Looking for frame only and reusing any stuff from my parts bin which actually fits in 2019. Steel. No idea if I want 29, 650, or plus. Usual suspects – Solaris Max, Shan GT come in at same price after converting to EUR. Do I need to be looking at On One? Anything else?

Riding natural trails, Basque Country and Pyrenees. Local mud is abrasive and sandy – eats rear pivot and shock bushes hence wanting a HT. Lots of damp shaded trails, roots and slimey rocks, so stable handling needed. I like climbing and easy descents. Walk down anything steep or scary. 180cm and 70kg. Last bike was a Love Hate SS. Tell me what to buy!

Depends on your budget but the Stanton switch 9er would be on my list

Switch9er 631 UK

I did have the Sherpa on the list, hadn’t seen that one. Budget is a few hundred quid on the frame and worry about the rest later!

which parts from your old bike are you looking to use?
Forks will be the biggest outlay apart from the frame so if you need to use your old forks I’d suggest building the bike around that.
What forks do you have? tapered? thru axle? what wheel size?
or will your budget stretch to some new forks? I doubt it since you mention a few hundred quid. & with that budget for a frame 2nd hand is likely to be your best bet.
MORE info is needed.

probably easier to get a full build if your existing stuff is old.

Forks, wheels I’ve taken as a given I’ll need to buy again. I do have some stashed away, but being 1″1/8 and 26″ I might as well move on.
I’m not particularly perceptive, used to regularly get to the bottom of a descent to find the fork or shock was still locked out from the climb.. so a decent, yet not very adjustable fork preferred if such a thing exists.

I know you’ve said Steel but I’m going to recommend a Bird Zero 29 as that’s what I’ve got. With 2.6/2.5″ tyres it is comfortable and very grippy, ideal for rooty stuff. Stable and lots of fun.

Trumpton, did think of that. The various standards are confusing for me these days. Imagine a self build would involve sending a lot of stuff back that didn’t fit!

Haven’t discounted alu , if it comes recommended Steven. Had two alu frames way back which I hated.

I thought you were planning on using parts you already have that are old. Building with new parts should be quite straightforwards.

If you’ve got a few old bits I’d scrap that plan and buy a whole build.

On one are selling the new 29er Scandel with gx Eagle / Rockshox 35 build for £999 at the moment I think. Not sure you’re going to beat that for spec anywhere else and as a 29er it will roll over stuff well and suit your love of climbing and general pedalling. If you decided to ride down a hill instead of walking down it you’d survive with it too!

On one are selling the new 29er Scandel with gx Eagle / Rockshox 35 build for £999 at the moment I think. Not sure you’re going to beat that for spec anywhere else and as a 29er it will roll over stuff well and suit your love of climbing and general pedalling. If you decided to ride down a hill instead of walking down it you’d survive with it too!

It’ll be £1199.99 on Monday as they have just landed so don’t hang about.

I’d get something more winch and plummet, as you’ll be able to ride down more rather than walking and uphill something long with a steep seat angle will climb just as well as a more XC 29er. Zero 29 looks great! SolarisMAX too if the seat angle is steep enough.

so have you only got a ‘few hundred’ quid or not? for semi decent spec new full build you’ll have to look at £500+

Sorry, slight thread hijack.

Brant what’s the chances of getting one of those Scandals with a dropper post and a Pike? If so how much?

Jekkyl, yeah I wasn’t clear. I meant I’ll drop a few hundred on the frame only (ie not Ti money) and buy the rest of the build as needed, no rush.

Sorely tempted by the Scandal at that price. Geo looks more or less the same as the Solaris (Scandal L Vs Solaris M), doubt I’ll build up the Cotic for much less than double the price of the on One.
Am I even going to notice it’s not steel? My last alu frame was ten years ago, a Commencal HT, and I hated it. I suspect things have moved on though.
Any thoughts before I pull the trigger?

Difficult to say. Not all alu (or steel, carbon, ti) frames are created equal! And the new Scandal is … well, new … so no one knows how it rides yet!

It’s worth a punt at that money. If you end up not liking the way the frame rides, you can keep the parts and buy a new/used frame in time. In the meantime, it will do the job!

I’ve only ever had a cheapie double butted 4130 frame and it was when that kind of frame was a lot more common – on a £500 bike (Gary Fisher Mamba). Since then I’ve had full suss most of the time, other than an aluminium hardtail I had about 15 years or so ago and that was so harsh it put me off mountain biking for a number of years.

Over the last year ish I’ve had a Vitus Sentier and it’s very different – you still know it’s a hardtail (I’m not running it with plus tyres – using 2.35/2.3) but it’s nowhere near as harsh. It’s a 27.5er and has very short chainstays – so it’s not probably that comparable to the scandel. I think that’s a 29er so it will smooth stuff out even more.

Update, after a frustrating afternoon trying to ride a gravel bike round one of my old favourite MTB trails, got home and pulled the trigger on the Scandal, orange with GX. I know I wanted steel. But at least I’ll be riding it this side of Xmas, which I wouldn’t be if I was fannying about buying the wrong bits using standards I don’t understand.

Anyone know what wheels come on it? The ones in the pics? And what’s the gearing? 32×10-50?

Congratulations!!!

Cheers!

That looks incredible for the money!

Regarding the steel vs al alloy thing, I found going from 26” steel (Cotic Soul) to 27.5” alloy (Bird Zero AM) the extra smoothness of the bigger wheels seemed to cancel out the extra stiffness of the frame. 29” wheels are even bigger (there’s 1” between 26 and 27.5, 1.5” between 27.5 and 29 – despite what the nomenclature would suggest). And tyres are even higher volume nowadays.

I’d like to try a steel frame with similar geometry to my alloy one but as it involves both spending money and the hassle of swapping all the parts (and getting at least a new headset) then I really can’t be bothered!

The thing that’s concerning me most, having never ridden 29, is how big/tall this thing is going to feel. I went for a L as that’s what the size chart reckoned (I’m 5’10) but I’ve always preferred smaller frames before. Think that’s gonna spook me for a good while before I even notice it isn’t steel.

It will feel hooooge for a while, but you’ll soon get used to it. I go back and forth from a 650b gravel bike with a 1031mm wheelbase and 72.5 degree HA, to a 150/150mm 29er with a 1269mm wheelbase and 66 degree head angle. After the initial shock, you soon adapt.

The last 3 years have been on a GT Grade which I doggedly attempt to ride on trails, so I’m hoping it will also come as a blessed relief.