So I like the 4.0 Jim as a rear tyre (wouldn’t want one as a front) find it pretty predictable. It’s at its worse in sloppy crap where you will struggle for traction. But I have had similar with the Nate in terms of traction . I run a Nate upfront and found it OK so far, but I find it pretty shocking on wet roots or slabs. I will revert back to double Nate for winter riding. As the extra traction is handy. But I do find double Nate draggy. I am a bit of a tyre whore and my OCD of running different tyre manufacturers front and rear drives me crackers. Would love something slightly more grippy on the damp foots we have around the FOD, cranham etc. Appreciate my hamfistedness account for front wheel washouts

Standard 142×12 rear drop outs as well I see. I am Sold. But £2200 for a frame set look a little too strong for me. The alloy frames look like they have been styled by On Ones Codine graphic design team….

can you not tap it and fit a marginally bigger bolt?

My absolute favorite thing about Hope is they sell 200mm Rotors but not the necessary adapters, only 203’s. I quizzed them over this and they told me to buy another manufacturers adapter. I couldn’t find one and modified what i already had. My Tech 3 E4’s rubbed but only ever so slightly after proper setup and 1 ride the problem went away.

They have said its 400g lighter (the five) than the mk2 650b model which was lighter than the previous models apparently. That said my 2015 mk2 650b weighs about the same as my old 26er five. Ride smiles better though

Edit double post

I must confess to being a bit of a tyre whore myself. It’s like some kind of rubber fetish. I know that butcher grid front and purg control rear works perfectly for me across virtually every condition. But yet I still blow money trying other combos (that said I have a new favourite in Magi Mary and Rock Razor)

Maybe I should try the 4.8 minion up front, expensive mistake to make if it’s not what I want though!

just to clarify I only like the 4 Jim on the rear, wouldn’t want one anywhere near the front end in damp stuff. However some of the fat bike racers I know use them for everything. But they are much more talented on a bike than me.

As for Nate I ran 120tpi Nates front and rear, I found them too draggy. I run one upfront as frankly it’s the best tyre I have found in terms of grip, but I find it pretty awful on wet roots, slabs etc. Pretty good in mud. I am hoping maxis bring out the 4.0 minion as that will almost certainly be my next port of call. Just can’t see any scenario where bigger than 4.0 would be better for me other than snow and sand of which I see very rarely. Even at battle on the beach which was my only sand based riding event there was no need for anything bigger.

As you say what works for one probably doesn’t for another.

After crackign one of my carbon rims, i am now running a pair of Arc 27’s. Been great so far, gave them a good thrash around BPW the other day and they are sweet. My local Enduro “team” riders are now running them as well. I am very happy with them so far.

Interesting Northwind, I am complete opposite to you and wouldn’t touch bigger than 4″. I ride my fatty hard, in fact will be racing it in some local enduros at some point over the next few months. I am running 120mm Blutos on 710’s with Nate upfront and JJ 4.0 rear. I give the bike a hammering, downhill trails the lot. (Accepted that’s a hammering in fat bike terms not full on enduro Brrrappping) I ride with some guys who also ride pretty hard all on 4.0’s. I run at 7psi front and rear with a 85kg rider weight. I love the 4.0 jj on the rear, it has just the right amount of grip on the rear whilst being predictable when it finally lets go. That’s now been used in dry and dusty to soaking wet slop fest. The Nate on the other hand, I am really struggling with. I had thought I had found the perfect tyre combo. But recently I have had the front wheel wash out at speed, now that could have and probably would have with any fatty tyre, but I am pretty convinced there should be something better. I looked at the minion fbf but have dismissed it due to its size. If they did it in 4.0 I would be all over it… Are you running your tyres tubeless? If you are running tough trails with 4.0 tyres and tubes at around 7psi you are definitely going to get pinch flats. Obviously no such issue without tubes

Having seen and held one of these frames in that colour. I can confirm that in the flesh its a stunning looking machine. Not sure how it would fit into my current quiver of bikes, so luckily managed to avoid buying one.

Without getting into the new standard debacle. It has stopped me upgrading to a new five. My mk2 650b will be with me for a while now. If I could of swapped my kit over I would be ordering a new frame. Albeit I would probably look at the four.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Couple more tweaks to get it just how I want it. Not riding now for a couple of weeks due to other commitments and its driving me crackers! Was pointed out that whilst I loaned the bike to Slam69 for the fat FOD even that I may of embarrassingly fitted my Jumbo Jim back to front on the rear. Its been performing brilliantly that way and the tread profile doesn’t seem hugely different by direction. Will swap it around so its correct and flush my head down the toilet in shame.

Slimjim. No worries, I am away over the weekend (next as well) and dropped my bike into slam as they are holding a fat bike event and demo day so I offered them my bike for display as it’s currently the only green one built. I have told them to fit the forks whilst I’m away. So it’s likely to be a week before they are available. Drop me an email if you are interested.

There we go, have ridden it a few times now. It’s fantastic! I am running 100mm bluto RL at the moment and have decided I am going to run 120mm. Was going to just change the air shaft , but have decided to upgrade to rct3 while I’m at it. To be honest by the time I have sold the fork it shouldn’t cost too much more and as its a new frame it would be nice to have new forks. Probably an indulgence not needed but what the hell.

My favourite feature of the bike has to be the bolt through axle, it really stiffens up the back end beautifully. Something I always hated about the on one fatty. Bike feels pretty precise in terms of handling which in my experience is not something you would often say about a suspensiond fat bike.

As for bottle mounts. I get what your saying but I prefer the stealth routing over double bottle mounts. I hate under down tube mounts after riding through the FOD in the winter on my old Kona! Mouthfuls of all sorts of crap! If I ever do big days in the saddle I always take a hydration pack now. I am tempted to look for frame bags though as I am not a fan of big weight on my back.

All in all so far I am really happy with how it’s turned out. Sure their is that placebo of new bike feeling currently. But glad I purchased one and the fact I was the first makes it all the more fuzzy.

He will need to speak with the shop as the credit card company will ask you for feedback from the retailer. If it were me I would go into the shop and talk it through with them. Sure you may not want to upset them but £2400 is enough money (in my opinion) to fall out over. Anyway hopefully it won’t come to that. Explain the situation and show them the correspondence! Explain to them that you need an answer within x number of days else you will be referring the transaction to the credit card company directly. I hope you get a positive outcome, I would be devastated if it were me!

Once I got my money back I would plaster the correspondence over social media so others were aware how shocking evils support has been.

Did you pay for it on credit card? Is there anyway you can persue it through them? Sorry to hear you are being messed around by them. So many horror stories about warranty and support with Evil.

Edit posted the same time as above!

I don’t like the bright coloured nextie rims bit too in your face….says the man with the bright green fat wheeled bike! Plus they don’t really save any weight over the br710’s if I was to go nextie it would be stealth rims

I had a set of On One reetard wheels. They were heavy and I had several issues with slipping freehubs. This was a few years ago now so later versions (if there is such a thing) may be better.

Good question Slim Jim, I dont know the answer to that. Guessing neither do you? My question would be (I am no engineer) that with it being a round tube wherever you place the “Hole” its going to be at some kind of central point. Granted I am no engineer. I followed the whole process of development of the frame. Luckily for me Slam is my LBS. The bike has gone through umpteen prototypes all being ridden harder than most will ever see. None of which were painted and investigated after each ride. I guess that doesn’t really answer your question, but the position of the hole is similar to whyte, Cotic and a few other manufacturers bikes. I am happy to report back any issues to the community here.

russyh, that looks like it’ll be very nice when its finished, I have a OO Fatty Trail frame too, Im sure you’ll like yours

For the record, I own an original OOF frame still and looked at the trail. But I had issues with my original fatty (the frame cracked a common fault – just below the seat tube gusset)It was out of warranty so i bought a new one, it was a great bike. There were several things I didn’t like about it and the trail wasn’t doing it for me. I wanted Stealth reverb routing bolt through rear axle etc. I get your comment is a sly loaded one…Having seen both bikes side by side they are not the same. I suspect you have not?

Jeez, wish I hadn’t posted this now!! To be fair to Hishairyness given some of he harsh posts above, I think he should be allowed a right to reply. For the record…Not that anyone has questioned it. I am a paying customer, whom bought the frame because I liked the numbers, look and ethos behind it. Slam69 is my LBS and have always been great to me as a customer. Furthermore they put allot back into local riding, supporting young talented riders. Whilst also looking out for us normal folk with group rides, events etc. I get that Slam posts on facebook pages and that boils some peoples piss. But its easy to click “block” or ignore…

I had not replied with a finished build picture or ride report as it was obvious there was some kind of personal vendetta and frankly life is too short to get involved with these things. I am just a chap who loves riding his bike and likes spending my time with other friendly people of a similar mindset. I just don’t really understand how some people can be so damning on a keyboard and try to damage a small business?

I’m running a jumbo Jim 4.0 on the back and it’s a great tyre with a nate up front! Used it in both dry dusty trails and absolute slop fest! I find it a fantastic rear tyre and compliments the Nate up front superbly. I find it predictable as a rear tyre but wouldn’t want to run one as a front in anything too sloppy of wet. The only issue I have is my tyre ocd of having different manufacturer tyres front and rear. But this is now my go to tyre selection for the fatty. I had Nate front and rear before but found it quite draggy. Still have the Nate sat in the garage if I find in the winter the jj struggles but from the wet root infested FOD it’s been fantastic on the back end.

They do if you don’t run a bash guard, I fitted one and with the bash it looked fine

I have a 26t oval absolute black that fits on granny tabs. Works really well! However I have gone for a direct mount on my new build….cheeky but it’s for sale in the classified!

Love the colour- the purple goes well too!

What’s all this hate for Slam69? Keep hearing it from riders and online. Anyway, ignore it op. Doesn’t take anything away from that bike

Cheers pal,
I have ignored it. Its easy to forget how “interesting” some people on the internet can be…

Forgive my ignorance but is this the same smokestone bikes who used to make the e-stay frames in the early nineties?
Same brand, Slam69 owners bought the rights I believe.

Not quite right. Graham was part of the orignal partnership of Smokestone bikes. He sold it on and the business the ceased trading a few years later i believe.

As for BB, its standard threaded type but 100mm so a larger choice of fatbike cranks. I used a Hope BB (Already in my old On One) and Raceface Aeffect cranks.

I have one, love it. I have a big head. So struggle to get a helmet that fits which doesn’t look ridiculous. Fits well, doesn’t look stupid. Nicely finished.

He did cobble together a single speed to get himself to a bike shop. I must say I am surprised Lee didn’t have a spare mech hanger with him. Maybe he did and had already used it? He has had a shocker this race. But he will never give up! I have never met a man with such dogged determination! He is a great guy and a real inspiration!

I love how bikes with a tyre slightly wider than normal hard tails are now shit. An “Enduro” racing lad told me it was stupid the other day. Pointed out that its basically a hardtail MTB with bigger tyres. But it seems Fatty’s are the anti-Christ of the Gnar boi’s…..Oh well I will just live with it being shit. Out of all of my bikes my fat bike is the one thats most capable across all disciplines. Jack of all trades master of none, which suits me. Its definitely not my fastest bike, its just a different type of fun. I find most people that dont get it have never tried one. Most have orders in for a YT capra.. 😉

In fact I paid for my new Smokestone frame today. First person to officially “Buy” One

Te internet trolls will be hating it!

I have a loop I rode tonight which is extended red into enduro more than happy to pinch off my strava. We divert the final bit of enduro and encorporate some off piste downhill stuff which works out to be about 12 miles and is a bloody great loop

Took my oof out for its first play in ages (been playing on my 29er and orange five too much lately) forgot how much fun it was. First time with new tyre combo. Swapped from Nate front and rear to Jumbo Jim (thanks Northwind) with Nate up front. Bike felt fantastic, much more nimble. Jim was just about predictable in the wet sloppy stuff with just enough grip to get the back end sliding just enough with loads of grip on the dry bits. Think I finally have my favourite tyre combo. Chuffed.

Fd3chris if you still have your camber evo for sale. Email me please the details pal.

Thanks

Daffy, what Nexties did you buy please? What was the cost per rim? I have just noticed a crack on by the spoke eyes on my old LB

I have both Hope cranks and aeffect cranks on different bikes. Personally if I was buying again I wouldn’t waste my money on the hope cranks. First of all you are stuck with using hope chain rings (unless you buy the spider which makes direct mount pointless) secondly they are fairly hefty compare to cheaper alternatives. I love my Aeffect cranks and would not hesitate to order any of the cinch system crank sets now.

Edit -for the record I am a massive hope fanboy as well.

To be fair, it would be best speaking with Graham. I have just booked a medium frame from the first batch. He has selected the colours on the website as standards. But I believe you can select something different if you so wish. I am likely to go the flo green or electric blue

Production frames are £450 I believe although I’m sure it will depend on what you wan sorting paint wise.

The first proto was 30.9 but the production bike is 31.6. I remember discussing it with Graham

Slimjim have you been on the smokestone website?

http://www.smokestonebikes.co.uk/frames/the-henderson/

12×177 rear hub spacing so I can change end caps on my rear hub I’m told. 100mm Bb so my hope one will bolt in and I can then swap over my xt 12 speed and aeffect cranks. Will need a new headset and a stealth reverb but otherwise my bluto, fatsno br710’s etc will all transfer over. I have seen the final prototypes in the flesh and swung my leg over one. It just feels right. Plus Graham is a great guy who is always happy to help. So I’m already sold with deposit down.

their own brand which look really nice and you can have in any colour.

They are Smokestone “The Henderson”. I have ordered one from the first batch. All of my OOF bits should swap across. I have seen them throughout the prototype process and Graham has put lots of thought into what people want and what makes a good fatty. Hoping to have the bike built for July. Will review it and let you all know how it rides, super excited to be honest!

Unfortunately all my current bits (hubs etc) are purple so I need to select a colour that suits them. That isn’t just boring black! Decisions, decisions