What 'fun' 100mm hardtail frame?

I'm feeling an urge to rebuild my XTC hardtail into something a bit less racy & a bit more laid back/fun, perhaps better for jumps/drops which I am a total jey mincer at right now. I don't want to spend a fortune so I'd like to swap everything over directly, hence something that'll be fine with 100mm forks. I'm guessing a 456 is the de facto STW answer but what else is out there? Bonus points for cheapness & ready availability 2nd hand!

Assuming they have any left, you can get a cheap on-one at the moment.

Charge blender, theyre supposed to be a larff

If you want fun and short forks get the 456ss and not just the normal 456 as the head angle will be nicely slack even with little forks.

Sanderson Breath or Life (853 steel instead of Cro-mo)

still XC but mine has taken a beating. 3-4ft drops. you can drop the saddle down a fair bit although i did have to cut my 440mm thomson post in order to do so.

What Alpin says

456 sumer season is designed for what your describing.
i dont know how much weight "dent proof" palin gauge tubing adds, but it certainly keeps the price lower.

Oooh – hadn't spotted the 456ss…. slack & cheap, ticking all the boxes so far. And I s'pose I'll get fitter riding it up hills if it's proper heavy.

Cove HJ – not so cheap new though

i have just had a 456SS delivered to work to replace my Trek Fuel full sus. Will be running 100mm rebas on it and looking forward to getting it built up.

The plain finish looks really cool too!

do you have the alloy XTC?

If so, you could pop 120mm forks on it, that would slacken it up, pop high rise bars on it, and then you got a fun and still nice and light bike.

Nice thinking tinsy – but i reckon a new frame would feel more different so I'd gain more confidence from that than just slapping a new fork on the XTC.

Matthewlhome – that's the build I'd be doing too – I probably won't be ordering for a week or 2 so if you get it built up before that then pls let me know what you think – email's in my profile.

You need to be sure of things like seatpost size, seatclamp size, front mech size, top or bottom pull front mech, headtube length, BB width, and a few other variables if your going to swap all your bits over painlessly. Get this wrong and its adds a lot of money to what sounded like a simple frame swap.

Add to that bars and stem, cos would be supprised if what you have is less than 100mm, the bikes your looking at run shorter stems and high rise bars (usually) MAYBE you could buy them now and try em on your XTC??

Not trying to persuade you in eny direction, BUT you would be supprised how different bars, stem would feel on what you have let alone changing expensive stuff like the forks, could be worth a shot.

Already tweaked the stem & tried some different bars – though you're right that I would need a seat post & clamp as well so the cost does go up a smidge… (wanders off to scan classifieds for longer forks)

DMR Trailstar, MKII not a MKIII, perfect with 100mm forks, and will take all the hammer you can give it!! Still lots about new & second hand, cheap as chips, and loadsa fun.

i second the bit about front mechs etc. i have everything ready to swap but had forgotten about the front mech, and also treated myself to a hope headset so not quite as cheap a swap as originally planned! don' forget the cost of new cables too, as the on-one has full outer cable runs.