mint – fast, fun and plenty comfy with 2.4 Maxxis tyres fitted.
That describes my 2009 P7. With 2.4 tyres and 130mm squishers on I’m left at the borderline limit of wondering how much of a part the ’feel of steel is playing’ 😉
Similarly with the Mk1 Longitude and 2.2 rubber. But I think I can just about ‘feel the steel’.
OTOH, long-departed 1997 M-Trax 150 custom-butted cromo (another mid-range rigid steel MTB of yore) felt much zingy-er than both, even on 2” tyres. 1990s RSP-produced steel bikes under the name M-Trax were hugely under-rated, IMO.
My (1990?) British Eagle Touristique (Reynolds 531 Super-Tourist tubeset on 28c Schwalbe Super Marathons) feels zingy-est. It’s my King of Zing, and yet still plenty stiff when loaded. Would possibly make an epic gravelly bike but as of now I keep it in road-touring clothes
Regarding the whole thread – variance in tyres, pressures, forks and rider-weight do tend to mess up the whole ‘what is the best?’ metric. ‘What steel bike have you most enjoyed riding and why?’ makes more sense as a question
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