Its a Hardtail life…

If you want something that leans towards the XC side of doing most things (i.e. it’s lighter and less stiff than the heavyweight hardtails but still has great geometry for descending and having maximum fun, strong enough for proper ragging but just isn’t tough enough to withstand repeated big crashes if you’re into dirtjumping or have a habit of casing big gaps), then I highly recommend one of these:

Just something to note and I clarified this before I did it. The 456 carbon IS warrentied upto 160mm travel fork. (6.3″)

I run mine with a fox 160mm and it rides so well imo. Though it does look and feel really slack so if your not comfortable using such a long travel fork a rs pike sits atleast 1 degree steeper.

Stanton Slackline 853?

the most fun I’ve had in a long time, 150mm fork with a short back end, 50mm stem 760mm bars an absolute hoot……. hardly touched the FS since.

A 17″ Cove Stiffee? I’ve had this for three years and its great fun to ride. I’m selling now though as I fancied a change (I opted for a Ti Holeshot). Haven’t got around to doing an ad’ for it yet, but yours for £530 posted. Let me know if interested (email address in profile) and I’ll provide all details you need.

how much jamest ??

Blue Pig Mk2?

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1215319/

NS Surge

Merlin malt4

So the best hardtail in the world (its a ‘fact’ apparently) cracked for no apparent reason? OK…

I’m a big fan of hardtails but I can’t see where you’d have more fun on one over a full susser. For the money, I’d be looking at the 456 Evo – similar to my old 456 Summer Season which although made from scaffolding pipe was still an absolute blast to ride.

Spending more, a BFe (my old Soul, whilst being a different beast, was awesome so I’d expect the BFe to be as good). I don’t think you really have to spend more than that…

As above, the answer to this question is ALWAYS the Evil Sovereign- get thee to ebay/the classifieds and find one. Mine is nearly 6 years old now. I’ve never kept a bike this long, and will keep it forever. Ridden it to death, it’s very fast, lots of fun, very versatile and I’ve seen Fortunateson go from OK-ish XC rider to chuffing fast in 4 years because of that bike. It loves technical trails, instils massive amounts of confidence and just makes everything better. Also good for mucking about round the dirt jumps and skate park. You can slam the chainstays for arsing about or stretch them out for fast stuff.

I think the only real new alternative is the Stanton Slackline, or possibly a BFe.

As for FS’s cracking, he has taken it downhilling in the Alps, done the Megavalanche on it, the Macavalanche, the Fort William Enduro DH and countless big Scottish mountains. What he means by “general riding” is not STW for “general riding”. For a 5 year old frame that’s not a bad run.

I’m having a fling with a little Ragley Mmmbop at the moment.

The Fox 36 forks have been shortened to 130mm travel as I’ve found any more fork travel is too much for the frame… the bottom bracket gets higher and the seat angle slacker on any hardtail frame with a long fork, and at a certain fork length the ride is compromised (IMHO IMHE etc etc).

It’s an awesome wee bike and I don’t find the reported stiffness a problem. I had Revelation forks on a larger Mmmbop and I found the lack of stiffness with them was a problem (and I burst them inside).

For hooning on a hardtail I think it better to run a stiffer fork at the correct travel for the frame than ram on an overlong fork to “improve how it handles the downhills”, but which compromises how the bike handles.

Sov ran with 36s with travel reduced, hammerschmit and the eagle eyed will spot 650b wheels in this pic.

Great bike…. rarely ride anything else at the moment.

mmmBop’s are indeed awsome. Bit of a gate but I love it. Here’s mine…

Edit: Those sov’s do look good. What’s happened to Evil, they still making them?

Oh, go on then. If we really must have an Evil love-in:

I’ve loved it from the first moment I rode it. So much so that I sold my FS after having it for a few months. It manages a weird mix of always feeling playful, almost to the point of feeling dangerous, and yet confidence inspiring at that same time. It might not be the fastest at all things but it is by far the most fun, most versatile, bike I’ve ever owned.

Those sov’s do look good. What’s happened to Evil, they still making them?

No, Evil is still making bikes but they stopped producing the Sovereign and do not plan do produce new ones at the moment. This actually make them even more precious :-). You can get a second or third hand if you try hard enough I think, but not easy.

@Mbnut : nicely built bike! I love how the white Fox matches the frame color.

Thanks Barkit, it is a joy to ride and I love the fact i can throw in the bigger wheels for some rides.

Love the fact i can change how it feels by playing with the dropouts and i have ran a Rev U turn on it and played with the ride height that way too… have learnt alot about geo and bb height by experimenting… if i ever get rich i’ll being getting some custom Sov clones built i reckon…

I see a bit of love for the MMbop, a mate runs one and loves it but for me it was just too brutally stiff outback… probably the bike that sent me down the road of steel!

I see a bit of love for the MMbop, a mate runs one and loves it but for me it was just too brutally stiff outback… probably the bike that sent me down the road of steel!

It does punish poor line choice 😉 Find I really have to ride the front fork, makes it a lot of fun.

These threads pop up quite often. I own a C456 – frames can be as low as £300 from O-One – pretty amazing for a LTHT that weighs 1.5kg!!

The Cotic Bfe is always popular amongst the steel aficionados, but a little more expensive.

The Prince Albert and evil sovereign, also get great reviews.

You seem to be in the same position as me, whereas it’s not your only bike. That for me was why the amazing price of the C456 pushed it to the top of my list. I have also lent it to a mate when his Yeti 575 needed carbon surgery, and he was gushing about it too! I run mine 2×10 with a 150 Revelation.

The 456c is a cracking frame… this one is a 16” which I bought to build for my son but decided the tt was too long for him as he is only 5’6”… it’s for sale @ £200… sorry for thread hi jack…

Ended up building him a Cove Handjob which is a great little bike, compliant rear end which i wanted for him.

Mr Blobby… you make a fair point… 😀

Buzz… have just emailled a frame builder re a project i’ve been thinking about… this thread could well end up costing me a fortune!!

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Blue pig? Hmm no, drop outs and cable guides aren’t the same.

Now suspecting it’s an older surge, but when did it have that big gusset by the head tube?

Just put my Evil Sovereign MK2 up for sale, brilliant bike!

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-evil-sovereign-nukeproof-headset-m-270-posted