I'm toying with the idea of buying a new 29er hardtail after building a Karate Monkey for my SS and loving the way that big wheels work.

I've seen this: Haro Mary and it looks pretty damn good (especially for the money) but does anyone here ride one? Are they any good? and if not, is there anything else I should consider?

Ta TR

Difficult to suggest anything comparable for that money. Worth looking around to see if there are any deals going on Gary Fishers, they're good bikes. Haro do a couple of 650B bikes as well, which is a good intermediate step. They're not a lot of money for a good steel h/tail. Haro have been around for donkey's, started in BMX, always more popular in the States, but good value, IMHO.

I bought a 2008 unit 2-9 in the sales for £380. It really is a great bike, some of the components are pants, but the geometry is superb and it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Another vote for the Gary Fisher Rig, mines been brilliant.

haro looks great for the money . Rig is fantastic wish i hadnt sold mine 🙁 might have so sell the surly cx to fund another lol

It depends what you want it for. A second vote for the GF 29ers here. At TwentyFour12 last week the winning team were XCracer.com GF 29ers who all rode 29ers, more powerfully second place was a team of "just" me and my mates from our regular Brighton Tuesday night ride and 3 of us were on GF 29ers too. 3rd were the Trek 69er collective, riding GF 29er drived 69ers (of coursem had they had 2 big wheels they may have knocked us, Morvélo, off 2nd spot on the podium!). A pretty damn good demonstration of 29er speed.

Yes, it was an endurance event but the even is renowned for having one of the more technical courses and 29ers didn't feature so prominently in the Mayhem results where the course was less technical and possibly just crazy light bikes would have been a bigger advantage.

We all use our 29ers for Tuesday night singletrack thrashing, not just for race day only too.

If you've got the cash the Gary Fisher Paragon is a great super fast bike straight out the box. The XCal is great value too – same frame, fork and riding position package for a load less cash., and a great platform for upgrading if you want it to double as a race day rocket too.

I got a haro mary ss (well had been bent in a car accident) ride is aces, nice steel feel, though can be very stiff, but if your going for the xc version the forks will deal with that, i put xt brakes on it as the standard ones are a bit sloppy, but straight out the box fun, and £415 from trinton cycles, i as well pleased,

I have a Spesh Rockhopper 29er which i've been very happy with. It was only £750 when i bought mine and it was the best value for the cash back at Xmas. Kona do a few worth looking at or failing that, as others have said, Gary Fisher are a good bet.

Don't know how much i'll be riding it now though as in 2 weeks my Salsa Big Mama frame and Reba Maxle forks should arrive and i get to play with that. 🙂 29ers rock…..

Mine's an OnOne 29er.
Love it to bits.
YOu can have OnOne build it up or you can do it.
However we only came 10th in class at Bonty24. 😥
Must ride harder! 💡

on one scandal – love mine.

Unit 29 here, same opinion as bigdugsbaws. Components are a bit shite but the frame and geometry are spot on. You'll need to upgrade bits at some stage. But the most ridden, most fun bike I've owned.

Possibly an '09 sale bike?

I'm selling an almost complete scandal 29er at eh mo, just needs groupset and brakes.

of coursem had they had 2 big wheels they may have knocked us, Morvélo, off 2nd spot on the podium

more likely if they'd had the extra 104 gears… 😉

Trustyrusty
what size frame would you be looking at buying mate………

Just an 18in Ton, If it's yours, I think it might be a bit big 😀

I really like the look of the Giant XTC 29ers that are coming out next year, although I suspect they may be jolly expensive if the American prices are guide.

I also really like the look of the Haro. Just swap the brakes and it'd be cracking.