Hi people

been thinking of buying a hardcore hardtail ….what are they like to ride ??? are they anygood in trail centres ? whats your views

Richie

Not sure why you’d need a hardcore by to ride a trail centre.
And surely it’s how you ride that dictates the sort of bike you should ride?

Anyway the genesis cores look good.
And be wary of those that will impart a harsher ride if you’re planning longer rides.

They are fun. You’ll be able to have a go at stuff that scares you, without worrying whether the bike can take it. Mine has clearance for huge DH tyres and the geometry is great for riding down or punting off stuff. They encourage you to learn new techniques and they can be pretty easy to ride uphill too.

On the other hand they can be harsh to ride for longer rides, you won’t win any races, and you might find one a bit cramped depending on how tall you are. Swings and roundabouts really.

how hardcore?

i’ve a db alpine – hardcore HT lite, prehaps – and find it a good bike to burn about on.

it rides up well enough, with a short cockpit allowing you to get weight forward.

as above, i have big tyres to soak up some of the trail.

ride the fork on the way down. extended periods of flatish xc is a killer – a bit too cramped.

It depends how hardcore, what they are made of and just how over built they are. Generally speaking though they are loads of fun. Ideal tool for short tight dh trails which aren’t overly eroded or rutted. They can be very very harsh and unforgiving though, which can be a problem as the slack geo will encourage you tackle everything and go flat out while your at it.

Tbh a DMR trailstar with 160mm forks is about as hardcore as you need an will still be versatile. Proper hardcore hardtails are actually very unpleasant to climb on as they tend to have geo similar to dh bikes.

If you just mean a hardtail with 5 inch forks, then that’s most of the ones people ride these days and they’re great fun at trail centres. If you mean some burly thing with 160mm forks then it might be a bit weighty for hoiking up the hills, but fun back down again.

Ive just built one up and its actually quite good fun (serious full sus lover here). Gets your back a little on long climbs and bumpy tracks, but with wide bars, big forks and big tyres its more than capable when ragging it down some really rough stuff, the only limit is the rider (or ability to take the shakes anyway).

reet good fun :0)

Genesis Alpitude looks great. 853 steel with Rockshox revs and 20mm bolt through- might take the plunge meself!

My Hardtail is plenty rideable up hills, and super tough on the downs. A steepish head angle allows me to run 150mm forks, and not have it turn like a river barge.

As harsh as any Ali framed bike but not overly so…

Was a bargain at £170 for the frame, and i ride it almost as much as my SX-Trail. With the Alfine hub installed it makes a great winter/singletrack bike.

TBH I think light(30lb ish) DJ bikes with shorter forks get the most out of trail centre descents (But most of the trail centres I’ve ridden are like big pump tracks) they can climb ok, not brilliantly but who goes to a trail centre for the climbing?

HCHT’s are all you need for trail centres.

Had a Pace 303 with Pikes.
Now that was good fun, but 2hrs was about as much as old takisawa’s bones could take.
Perfect geometry.

the_lecht_rocks – Member
HCHT’s are all you need for trail centres.

no, short travel ht/racey bikes are all you need for trail centres.

oli – true 🙂
although it’s great fun riding round the outside of the stormtroopers on your HCHT 🙂

..yes i agree ‘the_lecht_rocks’

The reason for my smaller frame, is that it’s easier to suck the back wheel up over the helmets of fallen, and wallowing DH bikes/riders as i pass on quietly by.

lardy – respect 😈

aaaiiight!

Mine is a small-ish frame with a long-ish top tube and 5 inch suss. Great fun and I often do 30 odd mile xc rides on it. I’ll also be doing the 80 mile south west randonee on it later this year.

Climbs well, and descends like a monster. Good all rounder really.

On-Ones? Mountain Cycles? I thought we were talking about hardcore hartails here, not fruity little xc bikes 😈

That is one ugly bike.

with those two planks of wood around your seat-tube… you are more GNAR than me, for sure.

Not sure about ugly, but it’s certainly different.
I bet it handles like a bag of spanners on any twisty trail eh! 😯

Pinkbike is thata way Mr Gnar >>>

😆

😯
Bonkers that nicolai, but I quite like it 🙂

lardman
Not sure about ugly, but it’s certainly different.
I bet it handles like a bag of spanners on any twisty trail eh!

For the record that’s not my bike but I owned one quite like it. Handled incredibly. Very light for how burly it was.

That nicolai is utterly amazing! All the same though, I’m using a 456 for pretty much everything currently, wondering how strong they are though as I’ve been sizing up a rather larger drop lately that I did on the full sus

What do you mean by rather large? Only one way to find out though 🙂

Whyte 19.

The bike that likes to say ‘yes’.

I’ll also be doing the 80 mile south west randonee

See you there scott!

What do you mean by rather large? Only one way to find out though

That’s what worries me, I imagine that it’d be fine but I’m not sure what it’d take to break a 456! I’d guess it’s maybe 8 foot down by 8 foot out? Only issue is if I don’t properly clear it then it’s flat land and that probably will be very, very bad!

chvck
That’s what worries me, I imagine that it’d be fine but I’m not sure what it’d take to break a 456! I’d guess it’s maybe 8 foot down by 8 foot out? Only issue is if I don’t properly clear it then it’s flat land and that probably will be very, very bad!

If you have a reasonably steep transition and you land it clean then no problem. However if the landing is on the flatside or you case, then I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes. I doubt whether the 456 is designed to take that kind of abuse, either on a regular basis or at all. It’d be interesting to hear what brant has to say on that one.

Surely your wheels will break before the frame?

That Nicolai looks mint.. love em

I think the important word in that sentence is “before”.

I’ve got a tiny (14″?) DJ (think it’s a brand-x frame) bike built up with 130mm bombers and 1×9 gears – with a 400mm seatpost I can climb with it but it’s only really any fun going down / off stuff. Fab handling for steep stuff though and jumps really nicely.

I’d like to swap the frame for something a little more like that MC Rumble (nice bike!)