What’s hot in the world of rigid steel bikes these days?

Niner SIR.9 here. I’d never sell it. It’s super light for a steel frame & the ride is sublime. It doesn’t do a lot these days. My 2nd gen Puffin isn’t far off it in terms of being fun to ride, but I think that’s just down to the stupidity of riding a fatty.

I always said that, if I won the lottery, I’d have my SIR.9 replicated in 953 or Ti.

I honestly don’t know what I’d replace either with these days. I’d probably scour the forums etc.

getting hold of salsa/surly stuff seems hard work and expensive!

Deffo go the Sir 9 route then 😉 You can also add in a rigid carbon fork with mounting-points. Keep the rubber thin so the magic shines. I have a bikepacking rig in modestly-butted 4130 cromo flavour, and a touring bike in hand-built Reynolds 531ST flavour. The ride of the bikepacker is cushioned by up to 3 inches of tyre rubber. The custom 531 touring tubeset OTOH is running on 28c tyres and I feel all of that steel-magic all of the time.

I enjoy both rides in different ways, and they both carry a shit-ton of luggage when required. The big rubber goes anywhere in great comfort, and the long slack frame is a lovely land-boat that floats over root and rut. The big rubber is insulation where suspension may have been. At the other end of the scale the Reynolds 531ST on 28c has a beautiful zingy ‘buzz’ feel that is quite sublime. I can only imagine how it might feel with 2.4” of tyre. Swimming with socks on?

It’s also worth weighing it all up and thinking how much of your hard-earned you can/wish to spend on shaving a kilo here and there before adding a litre two of water and sleeping-bag to the mix…

Shand. Just look at it.

Posted this in that other thread – its just too good to miss…high levels of want.

endoverend

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Posted this in that other thread – its just too good to miss…high levels of want.

Have to agree. That’s pretty sexy.

Shand. Just look at it.

Want that.

But maybe the belt-drive S/S

Interesting to see the Fat Chance has a reach of 425mm in XL!

Are we about to see frames getting shorter again I wonder.

Posted this in that other thread – its just too good to miss…high levels of want.

That is lovely. Not sure how you would get hold of it though!

high levels of want

Pah. Zero taste in the colour scheme. Also looks a bit steep for a 120mm fork IMO. But ok for rigid.

IMO rigid bikes used for ‘adventure’ riding benefit from steeper angles. I think that’s why I like my El Mar so much, 70.5 degree HA.

The Shand looks so good in that colour I may respray my El Mar in that colour after it gets its chainstay fixed.

Shand. Just look at it.

Want that.

But maybe the belt-drive S/S

Ah, I think Sir is looking for one of these….

way more fun that I ever imagined it would be.  It’s the bike I use for pretty much everything unless I know I’m going a long way or there is some particularly steep climbs.  It’s put a lot of the fun back into riding but in reality any change is going to do that.

Love just about every Shannd I’ve ever seen but hate the carbon fork on those ones, just looks wrong to my eyes.

but hate the carbon fork on those ones, just looks wrong to my eyes.

Agreed!

kink in the down tube just looks plain wrong too.

Pah. Zero taste in the colour scheme. Also looks a bit steep for a 120mm fork IMO. But ok for rigid.

Heretic. Thats the iconic heritage colour scheme from when they were the hottest thing on the market, many many moons ago. The original is often regarded as one of the most sorted handling bikes ever made relative to its era. Wanted it then – still want it now.

Colour fades are an aquired taste for sure, one I happen to like…from the same era as the similar vertical iconic Klein Attitude/ Adroit colour fades and also Klein’s left/right differential fades which are some of the best paint schemes I’ve ever layer eyes on in the flesh, so lush.

Definitely a classic xc geometry rather than trying to be a modern L.L.S. – they do ship direct from the US. but the plastic would get spanked hard.