I’m in the market for a new hardtail. Blatting around the woods with mates, some long distance bikepacking, the odd trail centre amongst the more natural stuff in the Peaks / Wales.

My mk2 Solaris was stolen whilst I was visiting Santa Cruz last year. Probably a conspiracy, but I do love my new(ish) Nomad.

But with it’s 13.4″ BB Height I pedalstrike like a mo-fo, even on stuff that’s not that gnarly, and worry about the ruts more than I should.

Looking at the Santa Cruz Chameleon – that has a lower 12.4″ BB height. It doesn’t have the suspension bob, granted, and I get things from a stability standpoint when descending. But how low is too low to actually have enough clearance when pedalling uphill over rocks/roots?

I’m not sure of the height of the new solaris max (doesn’t state it on their front page) but my old Mk2 wasn’t a pedal strike monkey (and my mate’s Rocket is much more pleasurable to ride around somewhere like Penmachno if you’re on the way up stuff – simply because of clearance). But, damn them, I really want the cage mount on the underside of the down tube for bikepacking, which SC have thought of :\

On the other hand, I do like the feel of steel. I like the idea of the more solid 29er wheels that comes from boost148.

So, other than the Karate Monkey with their gnot-boost, what’s out there with say, 120mm travel, enough braze ons, steel that’s not bleeding heavy, decent geo and enough clearance for me not to fly OTB to take in a faceful of rock every time I hit a technical climb?

Genesis Tarn, 2 sets of bottle mounts on the DT. Clearance for 27.5 x 3.25 front and rear, optimised for 120mm forks.

Loving mine so far

[url=https://flic.kr/p/SiwLcN]Genesis Tarn[/url] by Matt Cotterill, on Flickr

Like it (v pretty! 🙂 )but not sold on plus bikes for a number of reasons.

1) Blighty is just so damn muddy and everyone says they’re great at everything but the mud.
2) Heavier wheels – not a problem for shorter rides but I want a 29er partly because I will be regularly doing 60-70 mile days, sometimes laden with tent and heavier wheels’ll make me feel that.
3) I hear that the sidewalls of plus tyres are currently made of cheese.

Not completely discounting 27+ – but leaning heavily towards a 29er on 2.4s.

Edit: And ooof. Solid forks. My wrists are totally b0rked as it is 😉

You need to look at sagged BB drop – on your nomad say its 160/160 that would lose around 40mm off the BB height when sagged. so now 15mm Lower than the chameleon, whereas a HT at 120 will lose only something like 9mm from the BB heigh at sag. So the chameleon is riding around 6mm higher than the nomad when sagged and it will gain on it from there.

Tarn runs happliy on 29×2.4 also – complete bikes are offered in both 27.5+ and 29″ using the same frame. BB will be slightly higher in 29″ guise due to the bigger tyre diameter.

But how low is too low to actually have enough clearance when pedalling uphill over rocks/roots?

Ground irregularity height varies much more than BB height does between bikes.

My rigid 29er has a very low 11.4″ BB height and 175mm cranks – I got a lot more pedal strikes when it was new than I do now. So I changed, not the bike.

165-170mm cranks might help.

About heavier wheels and loaded riding – low pressure plus wheels will help you roll over stuff and hold speed when loaded more than the added weight (over a 29er wheel) will slow you down. You accelerate slowly when loaded anyway so wheel weight’s not that important. Still, I prefer big 29er rims and tyres. Just a ‘feel’ thing.

But with it’s 13.4″ BB Height I pedalstrike like a mo-fo,

that bb height is massive

even on stuff that’s not that gnarly

technique

technique

Yep, and it’s changed lots so I strike a lot less. But my old Mk2 Solaris it never happened – because it’s not got massive sag because of the 165mm suspension.

Like I said – technical climbs on my mates Rocket are *much* nicer for some reason.