Brian Rourke – a couple of months ago we bumped into a lad on the trail with one of those. It was STUPIDLY LIGHT for a steel hardtail (and lovely made).

Still a hardtail, right?

Haze:

Still a hardtail, right?

Nice wheels….I wonder who makes them?

We will gave to see if my LBS can source br or if frames because the
insurance money will be paid to them and not myself.

Gt – the at will be replaced by the ion, when it comes the am will be given a make over to make it into the trail ripper it was always meant for rather then the dh bike it now resembles. remember it only has 120mm rear sus.

The mega was a great week but I came off and smashed the jaw or my full face so didn't have a proper helmet still a hood experience but I'll be back next year to complete the mega

Your AM only has 120mm? I remember you saying that you were going for the AC with an AM tubeset but that would still be up to 146mm I thought.

Your AM is sounding more interesting by the day.

IF bikes have a few selected retails in the UK and IIRC the ordering process needs to be managed well so it will most likely need to be one of the estabilshed retailers, much like Nicolai. However, unlike Nic, they don't do off the peg frames built to order, they do full custom built to order. I could be wrong about that but if not it means you have to submit a whole lot of measurements before they can build you a frame.

Jamie

Nice wheels….I wonder who makes them?

😀

Have to admit, I'd prefer something a little more subtle!

sunn tzar titanium for me

I'd get a Dekerf Implant Ti. If you want it tweaked for long forks, I'm sure Chris'd be happy to accommodate. I think they're built on request anyway, so it shouldn't make much difference.

Chameleon
120mm sids 15mm maxel
1 x 10 – xtr throughout + E13 CXC
Mavic Crossmax SLR UST
Thomson + Easton carbon for controls
Small Block 8's

Would come in under 24lbs but still take some abuse!

I'd sooner have a Carbon 456 on that spec XC-Steve, Chameleon would be a bit harsh I reckon.

Chameleon would be a bit harsh I reckon.

Time to MTFU.

But full XTR, hope floating rotors, your fancy fork, bling cables, and if you really want, some bling wheels.

EDIT: Oh, and one of those sweet chris king ti headsets….

Ooh if we're showing off our chameleons then why not:

Indy Fab do more bikes than they show on their website.
I remember a lovely looking 'Beatstick' model they made which was a hardcore hardtail.

I've never ridden one, so can't comment on that, but it would certainly be exclusive! Especially in something like half-painted Ti 🙂

Chams aren't that bad really. Anyone used to riding hardtails will find them OK

i'd get a mojo hd then use the change to get a soul with revs and slx

Is a twangy Ti or steel frame really the right tool for a big lad of 26st?

Your prince albert and your alpine were ok

bigrich, I already have a nicolai helius am for all mountain duty, thats the only thing putting me off the sov, it really is too similar in usage to my fs bike. Like I aid, I wouldn't replace the bike if I didn't have to because I was going to sell the stolen bike to build up the full sus. In the end the ht was stolen so I sold my car to build up the full sus in time for the mega.

They arent twangy frames.

Firstly it would have to be a fully custon built machine…summerbikes, or blacksheep cycles..but also worthy would be the De-Kerf solo ss machine. With a custom Wetlook paint finish. Basicly if i saw another out on the trails i would be sorely dissapointed.

Set of hope hoops
120mm screw through fork
Custom cranks or just middleburns.
and if i could get it an intergrated stem and bar, but a riser type not flat…failing that one of those ti Warhead bars.

Can't beleive no one's mentioned the great Whyte 19 Ti 😐

I can't believe that someone hasn't posted 10 pictures of Ti Sevens on this thread yet.

well then, some feather weight CF 29er for racing, a jumpy bike, and a steel HT, like a soul.

make the 9k work; the ideal number of bikes is n+1, remember

I'm going for a dh bike, and lt ht, i already have a jump bike 5-6inch am bike and road bike, and when i have reached my target weight will start entering races at which point i think i will buy a lighter bike.

I've just had a new Sov, medium and with the build comes in at a shade under 28lbs.
King/819's tubeless XR4 Bonty's
SLX brakes/crank/XT groupset
150 Revs dual air uturn.
Easton CNT's
Thomson stem/post.

Took it up to Scotland last weekend, and it rode just great. 😆

One of those whyte team 19's I reckon

SODA +1

2011 fox float 36 140mm

Sorry but 36s only come in 160 or 180mm. Are you intending to reduce the travel internally?
Oh, and I really like the sunn tzar but it's too expensive IMHO.

Well I've decided that I'm going to go for the evil sov, as much as I would like to have a custom to frame I think i'm just to heavy for it.

I have not seen one bad thing written about the sov and the geom looks spot on.

And funnily enough I do know that the 36 don't come in 140mm guise.

If your worried about your weight and it's money no object, it's burly off the peg or custom. Why not talk to someone like Eriksen or Potts to design something built for just for you. They can sort the tubing taking in to account your weight and riding style and the bonus is you end up with a beautifully engineered and built work of art? I like the Sov but if you have money you have to burn…

Off the peg, theres that new Foes as well.

Dave Yates custom build? the bloke has loads of knowledge ,you could do one of his courses and build your own

Tbh I will prob go for an xt cassette, however I won't go for SRAM, mainly because I'm used to and prefer shimano and secondly xx is pretty much 50% more then xtr, and that stops me from trying it.

I thought you said 'money no object'?

If you're going for a decent bike it'd be a shame to dec it out in 'pauper' spec – whole XTR drivetrain at a minimum, but tbh for me next time its a 2×10 setup.

I actually didn't really rate the Evil Sov. I had one of the older ones and always thought it was a bit of a let down when things got technical.

I'm going to build up a Ti Hardtail this winter after I've finished upgrading the shocks on the DH bike. Thinking about a Cove Hummer but so many choices 🙂

Try a demo Whyte 19. Blew me away, that's why our demo Whyte 19 is usually busy.