The greatest 26inch hardtail ever made

I dunno. There’s 26er hardtails and 26er hardtails which you can actually buy and might be in your size.

Maybe you need a stealth wanted ad?

But personally I’d be looking for a more modern geo frame I could make work with 26er bits. NS Eccentric is not a bad idea: I had a 29er one I ran as 27.5 for a bit and it was a good bike.

Not being a serial bike swapper, my favourite 26er is the only one I kept; kona kula watt but this is the Torq racing team build – one of the ten or so actually raced for only one season and professionally serviced by team mechanic after it’s few competitive outings.

I loved my old SC Chameleon. It was like a sort of oversized BMX. A right old laugh. Its still probably the best do-it-all hardtail

My old P7 is the one bike I’ll never get rid of. I’ve had it for 14 years and done god knows how many thousands of miles. It has seen many different guises. Its now semi-retired and used for general pub/commuter duties and pootling down local bridleways. It probably gets used more than my ‘proper’ bikes

Ooh, what about the original poo brown Specialized Pitch, they were awesome
Because it wasn’t a HT 😉

Ha – I’m an idiot.  A mate of mine had one, rode it like he stole it everywhere.

I’m going to set an eBay search up, I suddenly want one.

another Ti 456 vote. I bought one of the original Lynskey frames back in 2008.

Great bike and I spent best part of ten years rattling it around Wales.

Stanton Slackline is still on my lust list.

I’ve got a 631 frame sat in my garage. It road well with a slackset in it but an 18″ was on the small side for me at 5’10” and once you’re used to riding LLS 29ers it’s hard to go back.

@tthew I think there’s a comp in the classifieds.

Product Privee Shan, Stanton Slackline/Sherpa depending on what you’re gonna do, Coptic Soul/BFe,  something from Ragley.

GT Zaskar was my first thought. The first “hardcore hardtail”.
Mk2 DMR Trailster is in the conversation as well.
If we’re going XC then something from DeKerf has to there.

The 456 were fun handling bikes. The steels were harsh to ride though. The carbon IMO were completely void of feel, just a horrible dead thing, light, but that was it.
My choice would be the last Soul (mk3??). Great fun handling, lovely ride quality, dropper compatible absolutely joyous. You can run them with 140mm forks, but at their best with 120mm

Litespeed Kitsuma ( I may be a bit biased, but my 2001 model is  the best hard tail I’ve owned and I still have it)

I didn’t get on with my Ragley Ti at all, preferred the On One 456 that I had.

Find something with either a 1.5, tapered or oversized head tube so you can fit an Angleset as they’ll all most likely have 69-71* headangles.

I’ve only ridden the Summer Season and carbon versions of the 456 and to be honest I wasn’t impressed. The SS felt like it was made from scaffolding poles and the C456 was just stiff and not fun (and ugly to boot).

Did anyone try a Ragley Bagger or Troof?

I loved my 2010 Cotic Soul but once I was used to longer slacker lower bikes it felt weird on steep or fast and rough stuff.

Cotic Soul Gen 2.

It was my only bike when the kids were wee, I’ve now replaced it with 4 No. different bikes (hardcore hardtail, rigid singlespeed, cx and xc full sus) but none I love as much as I loved my Soul. I’m not sure if there is a modern equivalent that is really it’s replacement.

It was a truly amazing all-rounder.

Favourites I’ve owned were Cotic BFe or Charge Blender. Had a couple of Trailstars and loved them too but even back then they were pretty steep/high BB.

I built up my Mk1 Cotic Soul with a Pike 140mm fork and an NX 1×12 group.

Still as good as ever on the flat and uphill. Bloody frightening on downhills after a few years of getting used to more modern geometry.

I’m currently loving my second Blender as a pumptrack/dadcountry bike.

@_tom_ I just treat mine like a BMX, it’s a different style of riding is all.

I ran an orange clockwork 120 ( a 27.5″ frame) with 26″ wheels.

It was the longest reach frame I could find which would fit my 26″ bits.

It had a -2 head set and 150mm.forks instead of 120 forks. It started with a 67 head angle, think it ended up around 65 degrees.

Mostly it got used for local stuff with a 2x chainset. I took it up Snowdon when my full suss was broken. The low BB from running the 26″ wheels in the 27.5″ frame lead to a lot of chain ring strikes.

It was a lot less twitchy than the cove stiffee it replaced

So…quite tall then?

I’m 6″4 with long legs. I’ve had a bike fit since those bikes.

Apparently 1996-2022 I had my saddles an inch too high. It was fine like that until I hit middle age and my knees started to complain on super long rides.

So the saddle height of someone 6″6?

It’s a 240mm dropper in this bike,and even with a short seat tube, it only juuust fits 😃

Someone on here must have that frame sat in a shed, we can negotiate

Not me. My 26er HT (another Cotic Soul mk1) is still my most used bike. Went out on it yesterday. Going out for a ride on it later today.

Contrary to popular belief, they don’t stop working the way they were designed the moment a more fashionable size (wheel size, handlebar width, dropout width, fork travel length) or angle (head tube, seat tube) comes along.

I did consider a frame swap to a Solaris, but in reality it’d be a new bike with new wheels and forks and just steal the bars, stem and saddle and maybe groupset+brakes from the Soul, so isn’t really a frame swap at all.

Took my 26er out yesterday, technically a mullet to correct the slightly short rigid fork.

Another vote for the Lynskey-built On One 456Ti, I’ve a 2nd gen (with the additional tube on the disc side) still built up.

Not ridden it since 2021 as I bought a 29er Scandal on a whim in the sales.

According to Strava mine’s covered nearly 9,000 miles.

Proper Triggers Broom too, no idea how many components it’s been through and at one time built down to 21lbs with a 140mm fork, ended up at 24lbs and a lot more durable.

the Lynskey-built On One 456Ti, I’ve a 2nd gen (with the additional tube on the disc side)

I wonder how many of the 1st gen models are still in one piece?

Jamesoz that’s about a mile from where I grew up! Pretty certain iv stopped by that sign before. I had a lovely Charge duster that got sold last year to be replaced by a Scandal. The Scandal is in many ways a better bike but that Charge was a really lovely classic handrail and I slightly regret selling it. Id really love a 26 Soul as I never had one and always wanted.

Jamesoz that’s about a mile from where I grew up!

Small world!

I didn’t bother with the track through the woods near the Bombhole, I imagine it’ll be horrendous.

After riding 29ers, I just did not enjoy riding my Soul as much. It felt twitchy, short and the front wheel seemed to not want to rollover obstacles in comparison to the 29er. The Soul used to make my calfs ache which doesn’t seem to happen on my 29er bikes.

And I was a huge advocate of 26″ wheeled bikes, especially the Soul. But once I adapted to riding more modern bikes with their longer and slacker geometry along with their bigger wheels, there was no way back for me.

About 15 (ish) years ago. I rode one of the old Orange P7 hardtails at a demo day. Utterly loved it. At the time circumstances made me not buy it, but it’s the one bike I really regret not purchasing.

The Chameleon I so nearly bought, but didn’t want the faff of horizontal dropouts with a disc brake on the MK1. Bought a Cove Stiffee instead which was no disappointment until I started riding new LLS bikes. Still have it and currently built up as a pump track bike.

Not the favourite I own though, that’s a Kona Kilauea from 1998 with a Z1 BAM. Just always feels right.

DNR Trailstar is quite the classic. Yeti FRO of course.

The correct answer is any early 1990s Kona.

Well being a massive GT fanboy….

Zaskar LE pre Taiwan. And I’d still have one if some gronk didn’t nick it off me. All XTR too and SIDs.

But once I adapted to riding more modern bikes with their longer and slacker geometry along with their bigger wheels, there was no way back for me.

I rode and raced 26″ MTB for many years and then ended up with just the one bike (Cove Stiffee) as MTB dropped off my radar in favour of road and gravel.
Buying a new bike recently was a complete return to the start of the learning curve – I’d gone from 3x to 1x, 26″ to 29″, 135mm QR to 148 thru…

And in spite of how the Cove was badged as a hardcore hardtail, capable of anything (and it WAS a very capable bike), the 29er is just better in every aspect. Stronger, stiffer, lighter, rolls over obstacles better, descends faster…

I do still have fond memories of my old titanium Saracen Kili Ultra – that things was a proper old-skool XC rocketship although the insanely light rigid Ti forks were noodly as **** on anything technical. It did get a lot of admiring comments at Mountain Mayhem though. 🙂
But maybe not as much notice as a titanium Kona Hei Hei with rigid P2 Ti forks.

Chumba HX1

Dialled love/hate built up single speed. Still got it and it still goes up hills quicker than all my other bikes. Second is my Stanton slackline but that’s a 27.5 and in the naughty shed as it was the cause of last week’s crash. Well the extra wide handlebars and my lack of attention were.

https://flic.kr/p/e6LbAX

https://images.app.goo.gl/EpGqvsaVAEzgVzfz6

Mid 90s GT Zaskar, the Ford Escort of mountain bikes

“I wonder how many of the 1st gen models are still in one piece?”

Mine is (sort of)… although modded as the seatstay did crack at the dropout due to braking forces after a week in the Pyrenees. Went back to Lynskey under warranty, and repaired/completely redone with the ‘flames’ shot blast finish, so came back as new. Took several months, rather than get one from stock but I was happy with that. I put every single part on  a Sanderson Breath in the meantime which felt rubbish tbh.