Nothing too whizzy / expensive, but I’m pleased with my new hardtail frame that arrived today. £150 from CRC – I was considering the Orange Clockwork / Crush, Airdrop Bitmap, Sonder Transmitter and the Nukeproof Scout. But I’m a bit partial to a bargain so bought this instead:

£140 now I think so even better.

Nice, what size fork is that based around? Cheap as chips.

Ah did have £10 off with BC membership too – but I had to spend a little more to tip it from £149.99 to £150 to get it.

140mm fork required – I’ve got a 2nd hand 130mm Pike RC on way from eBay that I’ll change the airshaft on for a 140mm debonair one when I get a chance.

Got stuff from my 26er to go on it – stem / handlebars / Guide R’s / slightly retro rsp plummet dropper. Then got sram gx 1×11 and some Dt Swiss e1900 wheels from my Bird Aeris (that I’m building new wheels for) – with magic Mary / dhr2 tyres. Should be solid without being too heavy. The frame has fairly short chainstays so I’m hoping it’ll be playful and poppy, but has a 66 degree headangle and reasonable length (without being really long) so should be quite stable.

Balls now i want one

I bought one too along with a Brand X 150mm dropper from Wiggle.  Got some wheels/tyres from the classifieds, swapping drivetrain, brakes, bar, stem, cranks from my 26″ C456.

Fork will be a 140mm Fox 34 Performance that I have spare.

Just waiting for boost adaptors for the rear hub so I can build it up. Looking forward to riding it.

Had bargain Vitus road frame from crc couple of years ago.  It was very well finished and a great frame

I bought one last week as well. Looks a really nice frame. I’m just in the process of building it up but struck a bit of a hiccup with the chainset. The Sram boost 32t hit the chainstay!

just ordered a 30t ring to try that instead

will update as build progresses, but a bargain frame for £140

What does it weigh?

Not sure although it feels broadly similar in weight to my 2004 Kona Caldera frame which I’m looking to sell. That’s way less overbuilt / only 135qr etc.

Hopjng I’m not going to have the same drama as above with sram boost cranks – also with a 32t ring. Got a Truvativ Stylo eagle crank to go on with gxp B.B.

Couldn’t have been more identical to the OP. I also considered those you mentioned, and when I saw this went for it a couple of weeks ago. All built up now with some fox 34s and using it as a winter hack 😀

Winter hack with Fox 34’s 😂

That looks good. And we all know it’s built in same factory by same goes folk as all sorts of posh brands…

The Sram boost 32t hit the chainstay

Are you sure OnOne didn’t design this one? 😉🤪

lol at the on-one comment! The Vius is listed as max 32t chainring I think for 1x. Although there is front mech cable routing so you probably could run 2x with a band on front mech. No intention to do that myself – 32t x 10-42 will be fine for me. My enduro has 30t x 10-42 on it and I don’t run out of top speed ever.

I’m very tempted to get one of these to build up as a winter hardtail but I’m a bit torn between this and an ns eccentric alu 29 https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ns-bikes-eccentric-alu-evo-29-frame-2018/rp-prod165985.

the ns is a touch slacker and has a lower bb but other than that they are fairly similar figures. Obviously the ns is designed around 29’’ but will take plus size 27.5 too where as the 27.5 will only take 2.4s.

Looks very similar to my old Nukeproof Scout, I wonder if it’s a derivation of that for a chunk less money given the Chainreaction connection?

Does look very smart for the price!

Got stuff from my 26er to go on it…The frame has fairly short chainstays so I’m hoping it’ll be playful and poppy, but has a 66 degree headangle and reasonable length (without being really long) so should be quite stable.

26 in 650B FTW! 🙂

Although I do have 650b wheels to go in it just for clarity…..

I bought an Octane One Prone in September:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/octane-one-prone-27-5-frame-2018/rp-prod155476

Built it up with a mix of stuff from my old 26″ hardtail and Transition Scout: 140 Yaris, Hoptech Enduro 27.5, SLX/XT 1×11.

I love it! It just about fits Spesh 2.6 tyres and I’ve ridden it down the Losinj WC DH track with no issues (apart from the massive jumps but that’s my balls, not the bike) and it’s also great fun on local SE singletrack.

Although I do have 650b wheels to go in it just for clarity…..

Oh… 🙁

😉

Picked one of these up also, nice frame. I need to get forks for it and see the specs say 42mm offset. I can’t find 42mm offset 27.5 forks anywhere is it even worth worrying about?

Not worth worrying about in the slightest. It’s just a frame, it won’t explode or anything if you use something different and I’d bet 10p it wouldn’t even have crossed your mind if you hadn’t read it 🙂

By pure chance I’ve got 42mm offset forks that I won on eBay – just 130 instead of 140mm travel. Not convinced I’ll notice 10mm difference but when I get round to it I’ll swap the airshaft out to put it to 140mm – but it’ll be the new type with the bigger negative spring so that’ll probably make more difference than the travel extension.

Started building mine up last night.

The way the front cable guides had been attached to the frame meant there wasn’t enough room for the hose clip. I know the clips are usually pretty rubbish and I managed to squeeze a cable tie in but maybe suggests the quality control at the factory isn’t the best.

Another thing to note is that spare mech hangers are out of stock and CRC couldn’t tell me when they were getting new stock. I’ve found them elsewhere but they’re 26 quid!

The way the front cable guides had been attached to the frame meant there wasn’t enough room for the hose clip. I know the clips are usually pretty rubbish and I managed to squeeze a cable tie in but maybe suggests the quality control at the factory isn’t the best

Where do you think the ones that fail QC end up? 😉

🙂

Sadly my budget wouldn’t stretch to a Zero 🙂

Mines partially built – starting routing some cable outlets last nights but I haven’t done the rear brake hose mounts yet. If the clips don’t fit (would see a pretty stupid flaw in the frame) I’ll just use zip ties like on other bikes I’ve had.

My gxp B.B / crankset places the 32t chainring very close to the chainstay – it’s a boost crank / ring on a boost frame but we’re literally talking maybe 2mm clearance. As far as I can workout the only way to increase clearance is a 30t chainring / 0mm offset chainring / face a couple of mm off the non drive side bb shell and add a spacer of  the same amount on the drive side bb cup.

Given it’s not touching I think I’m good so will see how it works once the chain is on and setup.

The frame does look reasonably similar to the Nukeproofs Scout 275 and as they are both CRC brands they could well be made in the same factory. Maybe the scout gets better quality tubing and slightly more slack geometry?

I was hoping to use some non boost slx cranks that currently have a 34t ring on but I’ve not fitted them yet so can’t comment on ring clearance on my frame.

I think ht2 cranks have more side to side adjustability than gxp- but I think you’re going to struggle with both the non boost element and a 34t. Vitus list the max chainring size as 32t – there’s no way I’m getting a 34t boost spacer chainring on mine with that spacing. Maybe with a 0mm offset 34t it may fit but still tight I reckon.

Yes the grass is a bit shoddy – we’re having an extension and it has builders smashing over it all day.

And yes my tyre brands don’t match / logos and valves aren’t aligned.

And I haven’t quite finished the build – I need to finish the gears and trim the derailleur cable, fit a new front caliper adapter (when it arrives) and clip in the front hose to the fork guide properly. Other than that, plus putting a longer airshaft in the fork (taking it from 130 to 140mm) it’s nearly perfect for me!

Spec is Pike RCs 130mm / Dt Swiss E1900 wheels / Sram GX 11 speed (10-42 cassette) / truvativ stylo gxp crank 32t nw chainring / magic Mary and dhr2 tyres / 50mm stem / 780mm bars / Guide R brakes /  200 & 160mm centreline rotors. Also a retro rsp dropper – when I have some spare cash I’ll probably swap it for a brand x ascend with internal routing.

Finished building mine last night. 34t ring was indeed too big but I found an old 32t and used that, chain is really noisy on it under load, hopefully it’ll settle down.

Rode it to work this morning on a mix of road and easy BW, felt weird being on a hard tail after well over six months of full suss riding and the noisy chain ring was off putting. I’ll ride some more interesting trails on the way home 🙂

Anyone got a weight for the frame?

Not got a weight for the frame – I should have weighed it before building it up. I had 3 goes at weighing the bike quickly this morning – got 25lbs (clearly wrong) then around 28-29lbs. I think that’s more realistic. Noting I’ve got quite heavy wheels and tyres, a medium ish weight fork, a heavy dropper and nothing special stem / handlebar wise. The cranks feels pretty light though and came with an alloy chainring. I’d have preferred a steel one but it’s light!

How is the stealth routing for the dropper Simon? Seemed a little odd going through the down tube, then popping out at the bottom, Under the bb then into the back of the seat tube.

My Aeris just stays externally routed and then goes into the front of the seat tube which seems more logical.

Also on your noisy chainring I’d say my chainring sounds the same. Probably noisiest in the 42 where the chain line is probably the least straight. It’s a new chainring and basically a new chain so thinking it’ll quieten down as they wear together.

To add it looks nice with the 34’s on it – did you buy them from the classifieds here?

The internal dropper routing does look odd but works ok. I’ve carried over the continuous outer gear cable from my old hardatail and just zip tied it to the brake hose under the top tube and then zip tied it to the seat stay.

The Fox 34 was new from CRC back in May when they were just over £200, the Mattoc off my Trance had gone back for a warranty repair and I didn’t think I’d get it sorted before the Boltby Bash so I bought the 34 so I could race on the Trance.

Wish I could have bought one of those bargain 34’s! Paid more than that for a second hand pike!

@subduedsupernova I didn’t weigh the frame before I built it but the full bike comes in at 29lbs/13.15kg

They look great