Hi,
I’ve been looking at a lot of hardtail reviews recently. I am 6’4 and just under 20st and dropping.
I currently have a 2013 Trek Stache 7 and well, I want a new bike/frame. I posted the other day and got some god advice but do I need to take my weight into consideration when buying parts.
I am favouring the Ragley Big Al in XL and Ragley have confirmed my weight won’t be an issue with the frame but I need to understand what a good fork would be, I need lockout as I hate bobbing when climbing.
Do I need to look at certain wheel sets or is it as simple as more spokes to cope with the weight?
I really should just ride my trek but these modern HT’s look like great fun.

I already have some bits I got whilst they were on offer 2 years ago that I was planning to put on my Stache.
XT m8000 shifter, SLX m7000 for the cassette, chain and derailleur
SLX m7100 brakes front and back.

I also have a BX dropper (150mm) that I was given as a present a while back.

Will the above parts work on the more modern HT’s?

Cheers!

Older parts will work fine, I’m still 10 speed on my hardtail as I don’t need any more gears. You should probably steer clear of super lightweight wheels but DT Swiss do some very solid wheels that are still a competitive weight (number of spokes doesn’t necessarily mean stronger). What forks are you currently running as you shouldn’t really get much bob from a fork on a hardtail, its usually the rear suspension that suffers or are you climbing out of the saddle?

You only really get Bob on a hardtail from the fork if you stand up and start heaving about I find. If you desperately want a lockout the only issue with that is that’s a feature mostly on xc type forks – but if you’re big you probably want a chunky fork on the front so it doesn’t feel all noodly.

I wonder if a Fox 36 Rhythm with the grip 1 damper / Yari RC might be a good option as you have a single compression dial on the top then that you could just wind round your it’s stiffest when you effectively want to lock the fork out. It’s a bit of a crude option though.

Alternatively pickup something like a Lyrik rct3 as that has lsc adjustment for its open setting but has an option to quickly form up the fork independently from that.

Wheel wise I’d get something custom built probably – get some dt swiss ex511s with 32 spokes built onto your choice of hubs. The usual mid range options are Hope Pro4 / DT350 / Bitex.

I don’t see why any of your drivetrain bits wouldn’t work on a modern hardtail – isn’t that 11 speed (so not that old anyway)?

I’m 6,2 and 17/18st. Can’t say I’ve ever really worried about my weight being a factor when buying bikes and all of them have been fine, including the stock wheels. Given the choice I usually buy Hope based wheels.

Currently have an On One Whippet + Ragley Trig and both are fine with my bulk. Pace RC627 frame lands today too!

@dc1988

Older parts will work fine, I’m still 10 speed on my hardtail as I don’t need any more gears. You should probably steer clear of super lightweight wheels but DT Swiss do some very solid wheels that are still a competitive weight (number of spokes doesn’t necessarily mean stronger). What forks are you currently running as you shouldn’t really get much bob from a fork on a hardtail, its usually the rear suspension that suffers or are you climbing out of the saddle?

The forks on my Stache are Recon Silver Solo Air TK, 120mm (4.7in) travel, they weren’t the best when the bike was released so 9 years later they are probably Stone Age! It has a lock out switch that sort of works but it still moves. Maybe bobbing was too strong of a term to use.
The tapered steerer and and 51mm offset are modernish but I don’t think I’d get away with running them on a Big Al for the short term seeing as that frame wants 140mm?
The Bontrager Duster TR wheels have held up well but they are non boost.
I tried not to climb out of the saddle.

What about something like this?

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Orbea/Laufey-H10-29-Mountain-Bike-2021/QE5S

I’m a couple of inches shorter and a similar weight. Frame an other components shouldn’t be a problem, but a reasonable set of wheels isn’t a bad idea.

Other things to consider for a heavier rider are:

Tyres: Need more PSI to stop the tyres folding over and feeling wobbly, but too high a pressure and they lose grip and deflect of rocks. I find tyre inserts great for enabling me to run lower pressures, and adding support to prevent tyre squirm. DH casing tyres help, but are heavy and draggy.

Suspension tune: Most tunes are aimed at average weight riders, so you may need to add a few tokens in order to stop it feeling too harsh over smaller bumps.

Brakes: I typically run the next size up rotors than my mates, riding similar trails at similar speeds. 220/200 vs 200/180 etc

I’ve only had two wheel issues which were to do with weight. First was with the stock wheels that came on a 2016 voodoo bizango – rear wheel pringled going off a small drop. Second was on my gravel bike with cheap second hand road wheels running too much PSI going over a speed bump – snapped a spoke.

@joebristol

You only really get Bob on a hardtail from the fork if you stand up and start heaving about I find. If you desperately want a lockout the only issue with that is that’s a feature mostly on xc type forks – but if you’re big you probably want a chunky fork on the front so it doesn’t feel all noodly.

I wonder if a Fox 36 Rhythm with the grip 1 damper / Yari RC might be a good option as you have a single compression dial on the top then that you could just wind round your it’s stiffest when you effectively want to lock the fork out. It’s a bit of a crude option though.

Alternatively pickup something like a Lyrik rct3 as that has lsc adjustment for its open setting but has an option to quickly form up the fork independently from that.

Wheel wise I’d get something custom built probably – get some dt swiss ex511s with 32 spokes built onto your choice of hubs. The usual mid range options are Hope Pro4 / DT350 / Bitex.

I don’t see why any of your drivetrain bits wouldn’t work on a modern hardtail – isn’t that 11 speed (so not that old anyway)?

Thanks for the advice, I’ll admit I am clueless when it comes to Forks. I remember the Stache 8 which was the model above mine had some Fox 34’s? That had a dial for C,T,D. That was the bike I test rode but I couldn’t afford the jump up so went with the 7 and the forks were/are nowhere near as good as the Foxes felt. Never got round to upgrading though!
Yeah, the new drivetrain bits are a 1×11 setup although I need a chain ring. The Stache has RaceFace cranks that I like.

I’m 6’3″ and my regular rides are a Scandal and a Piglet. Both of them were ‘as and when’ and ‘grab a bargain’ builds and I’ve snapped quite a few rear spokes on the Scandal as it’s only running 28 spokes. Never had a problem with the 32 spoke wheels on the Piglet. Drivetrain stuff I’ve never had a problem with.

I know some carbon frames have a weight limit that I could never get under unless I became long term bulimic.

@chestrockwell

I’m 6,2 and 17/18st. Can’t say I’ve ever really worried about my weight being a factor when buying bikes and all of them have been fine, including the stock wheels. Given the choice I usually buy Hope based wheels.

Currently have an On One Whippet + Ragley Trig and both are fine with my bulk. Pace RC627 frame lands today too!

That is good to know, thank you. I love the sound of Hope hubs! The On One Scandal is on my maybe list also, looks like a lot of fun. Happy new frame day! Do you swap frames a lot?

Also, agree with the posters above – I typically run 203/180 and a good few more psi. I can’t get on with low pressures at all.

@duncancallum
That is a nice looking bike. Don’t know much about Orbea but do some research.

I’ve a set of 34 Performance E-bike version I need to get around to moving on. Being the ebike version they have thicker walled stanchions so stiffer than a normal 34 but use the airspring from a 32 as the normal 34 spring doesn’t fit. The damper tune is heavier than standard too I believe, they also have sweep adjust Joe mentioned above so can easily be adjusted on the fly while riding.

140mm Travel. They’ve been on a second bike so not had the most use. Recently serviced.

I’d let them go for £250+postage, let me know if interested.

6ft 4” and 20 stone here.

currently riding a 100mm forked specialized rockhopper, as it suits my needs for a mtb at present.
over the years i have owned every single kind od hardtail available. from 150mm forked hardcore things to 80mm xc bikes.
with 40 years of offroad riding experience if i were to buy a bike suitable for me as a big bloke, that bike would be a Rockshox air fork equipped Surly Krampus.

I don’t think the Fox ctd dampers are meant to be very good. I’d prefer a grip or grip 2 damper.

The Yari RC damper isn’t great (motion control) but does have the one compression adjust:

The Lyrik rct3 would be my choice if I had to have a lockout I think. Personally I don’t stand up cranking a lot climbing so one bike has a Lyrik ultimate rc2 and the hardtail has a like ultimate rc2. Both are lovely forks to use.

Can’t comments on pressure in tyres at your size / weight as I’m only 5’9 and 75kgs. I typically run 25 psi on rocky fast stuff and go down to about 23 psi on more natural stuff. On full on slow winter tech slop I sometimes go down to 18 front / 20 rear. Both bikes have a Rimpact in the rear.

That is good to know, thank you. I love the sound of Hope hubs! The On One Scandal is on my maybe list also, looks like a lot of fun. Happy new frame day! Do you swap frames a lot?

No worries mate. Chain Reaction had some very cheap Hope wheels recently so might be worth a look? Scandal seems very well regarded, especially if you can get one when they’re cheap.

Just need to finish work now so I can have a look at the Pace. Don’t change as often as some but usually have a few bikes at the same time so one is usually either ready to upgrade or change. I’ve not had a proper hardtail for probably 4 years so it’s time to build another!

@droplinked

I’m a couple of inches shorter and a similar weight. Frame an other components shouldn’t be a problem, but a reasonable set of wheels isn’t a bad idea.

Other things to consider for a heavier rider are:

Tyres: Need more PSI to stop the tyres folding over and feeling wobbly, but too high a pressure and they lose grip and deflect of rocks. I find tyre inserts great for enabling me to run lower pressures, and adding support to prevent tyre squirm. DH casing tyres help, but are heavy and draggy.

Suspension tune: Most tunes are aimed at average weight riders, so you may need to add a few tokens in order to stop it feeling too harsh over smaller bumps.

Brakes: I typically run the next size up rotors than my mates, riding similar trails at similar speeds. 220/200 vs 200/180 etc

I’ve only had two wheel issues which were to do with weight. First was with the stock wheels that came on a 2016 voodoo bizango – rear wheel pringled going off a small drop. Second was on my gravel bike with cheap second hand road wheels running too much PSI going over a speed bump – snapped a spoke.

Thanks for the advice, I was planning to size up the rotors. I’ve never played with the air settings on my Stache, I should probably learn how it works huh?!

As Joe says, the Fox CTD forks weren’t good and they soon dropped them but the newer ones are much better but tend to be more expensive than Rockshox. Manitou make some good forks at a more reasonable price but they’re much more rare.

@misteralz

I’m 6’3″ and my regular rides are a Scandal and a Piglet. Both of them were ‘as and when’ and ‘grab a bargain’ builds and I’ve snapped quite a few rear spokes on the Scandal as it’s only running 28 spokes. Never had a problem with the 32 spoke wheels on the Piglet. Drivetrain stuff I’ve never had a problem with.

I know some carbon frames have a weight limit that I could never get under unless I became long term bulimic.

Thanks! Thinking back, I have snapped a spoke or two on my back wheel but they are also 28 spokes.I must say, the Scandal is really growing on me!

@misteralz

Also, agree with the posters above – I typically run 203/180 and a good few more psi. I can’t get on with low pressures at all.

I will run big rotors. I run my tires with a lot of pressure in, likely way too much. Will have to experiment with lower psi.

@bikecurious

I’ve a set of 34 Performance E-bike version I need to get around to moving on. Being the ebike version they have thicker walled stanchions so stiffer than a normal 34 but use the airspring from a 32 as the normal 34 spring doesn’t fit. The damper tune is heavier than standard too I believe, they also have sweep adjust Joe mentioned above so can easily be adjusted on the fly while riding.

140mm Travel. They’ve been on a second bike so not had the most use. Recently serviced.

I’d let them go for £250+postage, let me know if interested.

Thanks, will they be heavier than normal with being designed for eMTB? I have pm’d you.

@ton

6ft 4” and 20 stone here.

currently riding a 100mm forked specialized rockhopper, as it suits my needs for a mtb at present.
over the years i have owned every single kind od hardtail available. from 150mm forked hardcore things to 80mm xc bikes.
with 40 years of offroad riding experience if i were to buy a bike suitable for me as a big bloke, that bike would be a Rockshox air fork equipped Surly Krampus.

I like the Krampus, so very many frames/bikes to choose from. The Head angle and seat angle are almost identical to my Stache 7.

@joebristol

I don’t think the Fox ctd dampers are meant to be very good. I’d prefer a grip or grip 2 damper.

The Yari RC damper isn’t great (motion control) but does have the one compression adjust:

The Lyrik rct3 would be my choice if I had to have a lockout I think. Personally I don’t stand up cranking a lot climbing so one bike has a Lyrik ultimate rc2 and the hardtail has a like ultimate rc2. Both are lovely forks to use.

Can’t comments on pressure in tyres at your size / weight as I’m only 5’9 and 75kgs. I typically run 25 psi on rocky fast stuff and go down to about 23 psi on more natural stuff. On full on slow winter tech slop I sometimes go down to 18 front / 20 rear. Both bikes have a Rimpact in the rear.

Thanks for the advice, it’s still all a bit over my head. Perhaps my understanding of lockouts etc is wrong. I do very little standing whilst climbing, I don’t feel comfortable doing it. A decent fork that I can stiffen when climbing with 140mm of travel (if I go for the Big Al frame). I don’t have loads of money to spend so value for money and used is probably my market.

@dc1988

As Joe says, the Fox CTD forks weren’t good and they soon dropped them but the newer ones are much better but tend to be more expensive than Rockshox. Manitou make some good forks at a more reasonable price but they’re much more rare.

Thanks!

These responses have all been very helpful, thanks everyone!

Z2s have a lockout and are on the reasonably strong end of trail forks, especially when run at 130mm. Also cheap.

If you don’t stand when climbing I don’t think you need to lockout a fork so I’d lose that requirement to open up a bigger choice of forks.

Try to get something with an air spring that you can tune with tokens or other means and with a specific lsc adjustment – a his is to stiffen up the fork against low piston speed hits. I.e. movements from you pedalling etc. This won’t effect the forks ability to absorb big compressions / hitting roots etc where the fork is having to move quickly to get out the way before rebounding.

The 34 mentioned above isn’t going to be any heavier than the options I mentioned I wouldn’t think – the Lyrik / pike/ 36 / Yari / Bonber Z1 all have a bigger chassis with 35 or 36mm diameter stanchions.

I bought a GT that came with WTB iSt rims as standard and they flexed noticeably at 110kg. I then built a set of wheel low using Dt Swiss FR560 rims which arent that heavy, at least not compared to touring rims anyway, but have been utterly bombproof over several years of riding and never needed any truing.

If you were really concerned about fork stiffness, wiggle/crc has great deals on Fox 38’s right now (£550 – £620)

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fox-suspension-38-float-performance-elite-boost-forks?
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fox-suspension-38-float-factory-grip2-boost-forks

You can shorten the travel down to 150mm.

@joebristol

If you don’t stand when climbing I don’t think you need to lockout a fork so I’d lose that requirement to open up a bigger choice of forks.

Try to get something with an air spring that you can tune with tokens or other means and with a specific lsc adjustment – a his is to stiffen up the fork against low piston speed hits. I.e. movements from you pedalling etc. This won’t effect the forks ability to absorb big compressions / hitting roots etc where the fork is having to move quickly to get out the way before rebounding.

The 34 mentioned above isn’t going to be any heavier than the options I mentioned I wouldn’t think – the Lyrik / pike/ 36 / Yari / Bonber Z1 all have a bigger chassis with 35 or 36mm diameter stanchions.

Thanks again, I’ve messaged @bikecurious about the ebike forks. Is there anything comparable on the market for that sort of money?

@lucasshmucas

I bought a GT that came with WTB iSt rims as standard and they flexed noticeably at 110kg. I then built a set of wheel low using Dt Swiss FR560 rims which arent that heavy, at least not compared to touring rims anyway, but have been utterly bombproof over several years of riding and never needed any truing.

Good to know, thanks. I’ve been looking around online today. Some decently priced wheelsets around. It looks like my non boost Bonty Dusters have held up really well in the time I’ve had them. The back needs some attention but solid enough.
I’m not jumping of anything (yet) but usage may get harder on the wheels if I get better!

@northersouth

If you were really concerned about fork stiffness, wiggle/crc has great deals on Fox 38’s right now (£550 – £620)

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fox-suspension-38-float-performance-elite-boost-forks?
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fox-suspension-38-float-factory-grip2-boost-forks

You can shorten the travel down to 150mm.

Thanks for that, I think I’m over worrying. I don’t have the sort of budget you mention, more like half.
Even at that I’m sure what ever ones I get will be better than the ones on the 9 year old Stache.

Thanks again, I’ve messaged @bikecurious about the ebike forks. Is there anything comparable on the market for that sort of money?

Not brand new and 29er I don’t think. If it were 27.5” there are some bargain Yaris on Chiggle. Bikester have some Yaris for £330 which if that’s the landed price with tax and VAT isn’t a bad deal. Merlin have some for a similar price but only in 51mm offset and you’d need to reduce the travel so that’s another £50 for parts.

What about just getting a new fork for the Stache?

@joebristol

Not brand new and 29er I don’t think. If it were 27.5” there are some bargain Yaris on Chiggle. Bikester have some Yaris for £330 which if that’s the landed price with tax and VAT isn’t a bad deal. Merlin have some for a similar price but only in 51mm offset and you’d need to reduce the travel so that’s another £50 for parts.

I will have a look thanks, I think the Big Al can take up to a 150, Scout anywhere from 130 – 150. Thanks for the help.

@ctk

What about just getting a new fork for the Stache?

That would be an option, I think I could use one of those angled headsets to slacken the front end a bit. The seat post always felt a bit too slack, when climbing steep hills the front end gets quite light.
I know the forks on it are 120mm and 51mm offset.

If you put a bigger fork on the stache (even with a slackset) you’re likely to make the seat angle even slacker and potentially shorten the reach.

The 2 bikes you mention are more modern and (in my eyes) more fun. I’d get the new bike because shiny!

This could be a good option if the steerer tube is long enough:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374204121160?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=njktejkbrnu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=P8vL0CMYTrq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Or
This:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265808637653?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=hnI-EOa8RoG&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=P8vL0CMYTrq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

@joebristol

I want shiny and new, only trying to kid myself lol
Need to see what my stache might be worth.

Those two forks you linked, look great. From what I read about the Big Al, I’d need at least 185mm taking into account the head tube, stem and a spacer or two. Only thing is the travel, they are both more than 140mm. Can they be changed?

Yep – just a change of air shaft. £47 for the debonair C1 airspring last time I looked. Less than an hour job everytime I’ve changed one personally. Proper mechanic probably have it done in 30 mins.