Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 109 total)
  • Who is building up a winter hardtail?
  • thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Im at the extreme. Freeride downduro

    BINGO!

    russyh
    Free Member

    Yep, mine is now in a state of being “happy” with it.

    Bought a 2018 Whyte 901- lightly used from Facebook, rode it a few times and absolutely loved it. However let down by the Fork, amongst other things.  Plus shifter shat itself first ride.

    it now runs a set of boost pikes (albeit I need to drop travel down as it’s currently at 160) a Shimano XT shifter, SLX rear mech.  Fitted a set of XT brakes and ice tech rotors.  Hunt trail wide wheels with a Mary 2.6 upfront.  It is a tank of a bike and is turning into a triggers broom.  But great riding a bike in the sloppy mud and not having to worry about bearings etc.

    hamishthecat
    Full Member

    Yes but almost all from weightweenie bits lying around the shed. Going to be rigid xc 26 singlespeed and will probably get ridden once and never again…

    Beone carbon frame with s/h Exotic carbon forks. Ancient Crossmax SLRs with 16t cog, spaced with two bits of plastic pipe. XX1 carbon cranks (I think the pedal insert is loose in one) with direct mount 36t oval ring (almost certainly too much for me). Old X9 mech as tensioner and 9sp chain. Old 965 XTR brakes. Vector carbon bars, carbon post and uncomfortable lightweight saddle. Just waiting for a new spoke, which only cost £6.40 posted 🤔

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    hardtailonly
    Full Member

    Built one up a couple of years back. Free Inbred frame, set of cheap deore (26) wheels, bargain nukeproof carbon fork, SS kit and other bits & bobs kicking around in the garage. Ran it for a bit as a rigid 69er (with the discarded front wheel that came stock on my gravel bike), and then ‘upgraded’ with a 130mm Epixon fork a few months ago. Sooo much fun, in a simplistic and cheap fashion!

    bruceonabike
    Free Member

    Inbred b6er, exotic rigid fork, Sram gx crankset, Formula Oro brakes, some other bits.

    sirromj
    Full Member

    Wow that rear Mudhugger really destroys the looks of that Pole. I’d do the same though. My winter hardtail is my rigid MTB daily commute bike.

    I built last year. Brand X HT-01 frame for £100. Planet X el quappo i25 wheels. Maxxis semi-slick/race tyres f+r. 1×9. Exotic forks. The rest from previous 26″ commuter.

    ajantom
    Full Member

    Yes, but it’s my summer hardtail too (though I put a rear mudguard for winter).
    Loads of clearance, and a hub gear 😉

    DMR

    tall_martin
    Full Member

    Hardtails are not just for winter 🙂
    null

    halifaxpete
    Full Member

    Yep! Love running a hardtail alongside the full susser. On One DeeDar frame, 1×10 SLX, X fusion sweep forks, Br

    reluctantjumper
    Full Member

    I bought a Voodoo Hoodoo for winter use last year and to see if I wanted a decent hardtail in my life again. The answer was yes so it’s getting a few choice upgrades to make it more winter-resistant. A posh hardtail for summer use may also be planned.

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Hardtails are not just for winter

    Is what I was about to say. Just freshly greased bolts for winter.

    hot_fiat
    Full Member

    Built this after I “accidentally” bought some boost 27.5” wheels from a PSA on here. Whole thing came in under a grand. Proper hooligan bike.

    guandax
    Free Member

    Also building a Hello Dave. All components ready…

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Had a look in the garage – more or less got everything I need for a 27.5 hardtail. Just need a nice frame in medium.

    grannyjone
    Free Member

    I’ve thought about a Winter Hard Tail loads of times. But in the end I can’t possibly see how it’s cost effective ?
    I’ve got a 2017 Stumpjumper Carbon Comp.
    To get a decent hard tail I’d have to spend well over £1000 and probably upgrade it.
    This has got to be higher than paying for someone to service my rear shock and pivot bearings over many Winters!
    All the other maintenance costs will be about the same.

    This year the Summer and Autumn have been very Winter-like anyway. Nearly every ride I’ve been caked in mud since August. So if it is a very bad year like 2017 & 2019 have proven to be would I have to put my “best bike” away nearly all year round because there is mud ?
    I must admit most of the time I feel like the Full Suspension is not providing much advantage over a hard tail in the Winter. I’m going much slower everywhere, as it’s wet and slippy.
    Even on hard packed surfaces (for example Cragg and Lee) I’m slowing down for puddles all the time!
    Then there is the snow and ice, again not really beneficial for an FS.
    There’s the odd dry rocky section where it still comes in use.

    It must be said the Hard Tail would also be useful as a secondary bike in case the FS is broke, so might be worth getting one.
    But I’m thinking of getting an E Bike instead. And I really don’t want more than two bikes.

    marcg868
    Free Member

    Not really built but bought a Marin Bobcat Trail 5 last November for winter duties. Most of my riding over winter is canals and country roads so it’s ideal. And it has suitable tyres on. Like to keep fast rolling tyres on my main bike and decent all rounders on my Hardtail.
    Dug my full suss out early this year (End of February) as it was absolutely bone dry locally then never became more than slightly damp till end of July. Now it’s a complete slop fest, even the canal has gigantic puddles everywhere on the section from Blackburn to Church. From Church to Hampton it’s a slimy mess.

    Roll on spring.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I’ve thought about a Winter Hard Tail loads of times. But in the end I can’t possibly see how it’s cost effective ?
    I’ve got a 2017 Stumpjumper Carbon Comp.
    To get a decent hard tail I’d have to spend well over £1000 and probably upgrade it.

    Youre doing it wrong.

    My winter mountain bike for the past couple of years has been a rigid charge cooker singlespeed. Its cost me:
    £120 for the bike
    £0 new chainset from the spares box when i broke the megaexo one.
    £20 chain and sprocket, chainring from the spares box.
    £15 hub bearings. Got a new job and a new bike now so ive sold it and for 2 years riding its barely cost me anything.

    Ignore the capitalist voice in your head saying that life isnt complete wirhout 110x15mm forks and an XD cassette. Winter bikes are about making do and mending, a place to use up all those 0.75% chains and that cassette you were convinced was too heavy or the wrong ratios and those unfashionable standards components like bars that are only 720mm wide, seatpost that doesnt drop, saddle thats not comfy over 3 hours but fine for being trashed onngritty night rides.

    Even that dialled holeshot Ive built is entirely from spares that were too nice to give away but barely worth anything as bikes have moved on.

    26″ wheel with Hope bulb/xc hubs
    Straightline chain device
    Zee 11-36 10 speed
    Straight steerer RS Sektors (spaced down to 100mm)
    Pedals off my GFs old bike
    Brakes came off a bike ive just sold with the oem brakes
    Bar and stem unfashionable narrow/long

    The only cost was £5.50 for 50 stainless M8 cap head screws, i needed one for the bottom of the fork! Even if i split all the bits on ebay i reckon it would struggle to make £200, but its worth way more than the sum of its parts (and if i fancied a trail bike could probably find a frame for peanuts).

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Aye, sounds right TINAS.

    My Parkwood has brakes i’d never even consider on another bike, the Shimano 315s with rusty levers, but i just don’t care… In the same way i don’t care that the forks are a bit squelshy on compression that i’d never allow on the T-130. But the HT is a different beast, it’s the drag it out, use it, clean it, put it back kind of bike.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    I think that depends on the reasons for a ‘winter hardtail’.

    In my case it’s simply a platform for the Mudhugger guards. They’re pretty much a permanent fixture on the bike. I’m not remotely bothered about preserving some notional ‘best bike’, just keeping my butt as dry as possible 🙂

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    mending, a place to use up all those 0.75% chains and that cassette you were convinced was too heavy or the wrong ratios and those unfashionable standards components like bars that are only 720mm wide, seatpost that doesnt drop, saddle thats not comfy over 3 hours but fine for being trashed onngritty night rides

    Screw that. Life’s to short to ride shit bikes!

    tonto
    Free Member

    Carver 96er, Rohloff and some old fashioned skinny mud tyres. Same setup year after year.

    steve_b77
    Free Member

    Who is building up a winter hardtail?

    I did once, in the dim & distant past, but to be honest I just don’t get it. I mean it’s not like you’re gonna destroy a bike and it’s associated components in a few months of cold wet mud as opposed to the warm wet mud that hangs about in summer, bar of course those 2 weeks in April when everything is dry due to being frozen and the 3 weeks in “summer” when it doesn’t rain every day.

    Bottom brackets are dirt cheap, chains too, brake pads – even expensive ones from Uberbike are a whole £9 a pair, tyres, well you just have them to suit the conditions and frame bearings, unless you ride something with utter shite installed from the factory or you jet-wash the shit out of your bike after every ride will last a winter or two.

    Winter bikes are about making do and mending

    But why? why ride part worn out stuff, when new stuff isn’t even expensive?

    vmgscot
    Full Member

    Just dusted off the old Ti456 for this purpose to try and save the Yeti a little bit.
    Last time I rode it was 2 years ago but enjoying it all over again. It’s 1×10 with homebrew coil converted Fox forks. A lot of my winter biking is lower level woodland trails and this seems ideal. I will still wheel out the SB6 for shuttle days at Inners, etc during the winter months.

    qwerty
    Free Member

    A hardtail is for life, not just for winter 🤘

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Screw that. Life’s to short to ride shit bikes!

    Depends if you think rigid singlespeeds are “shit”, when the trails are deep in slop and they’re they only thing still moving I think they’re great!

    But why? why ride part worn out stuff, when new stuff isn’t even expensive?

    Again, depends on where you ride and your priorities. You can run a chain for a lot longer than 0.75%, it just wear away the teeth on the cassette so a new one won’t run anymore. You can still run another 0.75 chain though. Shifting doesn’t really suffer that much either as long as the cables are clean.

    As for new stuff not being expensive. Again depends what you ride and consider expensive. SRAM 11s on my CX bike, happy to run that all winter, a cassette is £35 and a chain £15. It gets trashed but it’s not expensive given the hours I put on it. The equivalent 12s GX on the MTB, there’s no way I’d take that out in the typical 1 ride* and it’s FUBAR conditions we sometimes get in the middle of winter. I mean even on a lunchtime ride to day it came this >-< close to ripping the mech off on a muddy bridleway. I like my lunchtime rides, but not at £80 a pop!

    By all means, ride a nice bike all winter. I’d love to. But realistically my nice bike is a £1200 GX hardtail. Which is probably already 2nd winter bike by a lot of peoples standards. But I’d rather take something else out when it’s properly filthy.

    *THAT Gorrick 100, I still have nightmares, and still find lumps of clay stuck in the crevices under my car!

    ndthornton
    Free Member

    Well – sort of
    Just finished what was meant to be the winter hardtail build and despite it being 80% second hand and 10% bits I already had its still cost upwards of 2K!!! Try not to think about it too much.

    she is nice though…

    Kingdom Vendetta LS with carbon wheels/bars, Pike 160 forks, hope cranks and brakes, SRAM X01 drive and a 180 dropper.

    So much for the winter hack – I surprised myself on Sunday. took her out in the filth and didn’t get upset. Have to remind myself its still a hardtail though and requires a different technique to avoid getting killed.

    null

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    Depends if you think rigid singlespeeds are “shit”, when the trails are deep in slop and they’re they only thing still moving I think they’re great!

    But this isn’t really true.

    I used to run a single speed (albeit with 120mm forks) and really enjoyed it. In reality on the trail, there’s a tiny margin where an SS runs better than a geared bike in the clag before the restrictions of your one and only gear force you to either stall, or wheel spin. Then you’re left without the flexibility of a geared bike and you’re off and walking. This in turn curtails where you can actually ride. Contrary to popular opinion, I’d argue that the best time for a single speed is the summer.

    If your winter bike is built up of a collection of worn out components and things that you’ve discarded but hoarded in lieu of other things you prefer, I get you’d definitely care about it less, which is brilliant from a cleaning and care POV (neglect IMO). I get how that can satisfy ones need for thrift and squeezing the last remnants of perceived value out of old tut, but that does little for your ride experience IMO.

    Instead, I either sell stuff whilst it has some residual value, throw it out or stockpile it for kids bikes as they grow. I don’t have a pile of 0.75% chains*. I mean, whats the point? The GX ones I run are 20 quid and last a year.

    To me a winter hardtail is just an iteration of a ‘winter bike’. Mud guards, appropriate chain lube, even more appropriate maintenance regime and kit chosen to be up to the additional wear. Its kinda the point I was making with my first post. My hard tail is my winter bike because it has mudguards, a steel chain ring and sintered pads and an up-rated maintenance regime. That’s it.

    *Actually this is only partly true. I keep two plus a newer chain on the bike. Experience has shown that my cassettes and chain rings are good for about three chains, so after they’ve all reached 0.75 I run the them in rotation until the shifting plays up or jumps, then change the transmission wholesale. In practice this is about every 4-5 years, since as you rightly say, after 0.75% there’s still tons of life to be gained with decent performance.

    jonm81
    Full Member

    At some point before Christmas I’ll be turning this lot into a 29er hardtail. It won’t just be a winter hack though.

    null

    Pike RTC3 29er 140mm
    Magura MT5 and MT4 brakes
    Rohloff Speedhub
    Thomson elite dropper
    Whatever other bits are in the sale

    RoterStern
    Free Member

    Yup. This is mine. Finally got a singlespeed mtb again after a year riding without one: I took a lot of parts from my old SS bike that broke in half and added more modern parts (like the bars as my old ones were the old standard diameter.
    So :
    On One Scandal
    Niner Carbon fork
    Enve carbon bars
    RSReverb dropper
    Old XT cranks
    SLX brakes
    Rolhoff rear chain tensioner
    Very old Stans rims on Hope hubs wheelset.
    https://i.postimg.cc/rs2BncWC/8223163-A-079-A-45-A2-AFC5-41-C02755-D392.jpg

    sirromj
    Full Member

    That Brand X HT-01 frame (135 QR rear) is £75 on CRC right now. Absolute bargain!

    jezzep
    Full Member

    Hey there,

    I kept my 2002 853 chromoly rock lobster for winter. It’s old school 3×9. I could replace it with a new 660b or 29 but hey it’s good to remember the good old days 😉
    The spec isn’t entirely old school mind but a mix of new and old. I’m beginning to get worried mind that parts will get difficult soon but I guess with bike jumbles and such like I’ll always find parts for an old 26 😉

    BR
    JeZ

    mindmap3
    Free Member

    My Vitus Sentier arrived yesterday.

    Swapped out the SRAM SX cranks for some Truvativ Descendant cranks from the spares box (my god those Powerspline BB’s are heavy). Also found a 40mm Chromag stem which went on.

    Bars, and saddle were swapped for some Burgetc jobbies and I’ve bought some composite pedals for it. Set the tyres up as tubeless too.

    Vitus

    Had a quick raz around the village in it last night. It feels much bigger than my Scout despite being a similar size in paper. The Z2’s feel pretty good; glad I went for this over a bike with entry level RS forks. First ride out in it tomorrow.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    As if on cue, or it overheard me talking about it. The SRAM mech on my cross bike is ever so slightly bent so it wont shift through the top three gears cleanly. I thought I’d got away with it!

    Glad its not the GX!

    bikerevivesheffield
    Full Member

    I’ve a 45650b raw 18″ going begging if anyone is looking for a steel 650b HT frame for this! Swapped it for a large on-one Deedar as it was a touch too short 🙂 Building tonight – pics later in the week!

    teadrinker
    Free Member

    I’m building mine up next week hopefully. It’ll be a

    Sour Crumble with Fox, Hope wheels and GX groupset. Can’t wait. In the meantime I have a new Brompton as my current hardtail, I’m quite enjoying it.

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    2 hardtails, 2 rigid, 1 SS, 1 Fattie, 1 gravel (but there are fewer than 7 bikes). None have pimpy transmission or anything, so they all get used all year round. The fattie more in summer, unless it’s frozen or snowy, it doesn’t do brilliantly in slop and flings at least double the amount of filth at you.

    The newer hardtail is slightly out of alignment and needs to go back, so I will be building a hardtail for the winter, but it won’t be a winter hardtail.

    kazafaza
    Free Member

    Marin Nail Trail frame from the classifieds to keep me sane whilst I’m trying to work out what would be the best MTB frame for all my needs and greeds. The Nail will be build with the rigid carbon fork from the Genesis Tarn, occasionally with Manipoo Machette if I can be bothered to raid the shed, B+ wheels as I don’t have a suitable 29er rubber, singlespeed fast.
    First alloy HT since 11′ – hopefully I’ll be back on the Steel or Ti in a couple months time!

    Paul-B
    Full Member

    Stanton Switchback with a 140mm fork set up as a singlespeed. Not built for winter, just built for the craic. Probably not fast, heavily compromised but I really don’t care.

    I love it. Life’s too short to be getting anal about mudguards and maintenance

    colournoise
    Full Member

    Current incarnation of back to basics winter/dog run bike. As simple and maintenance free as possible (without going rigid).

    My old BFe26 frame.
    ‘zocchi 44s at 130mm.
    Singlespeed
    Cable brakes
    No dropper
    Tubeless (Butcher/Purgatory) on Flows

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 109 total)

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