hardtail mountain bikes

[jonathan]

I don't ride BMX anymore. sorry. I have been doing everything else that's possible with a bicycle lately though.

I ride a "small" custom built Surly Karate Monkey 29er (1x9 gearing, 80mm squish fork, giant tires) even though most would say I should be on a size up for my height. maybe I prefer the smaller frame from years of riding little bikes. I find that I avoid a lot of the really "interesting" trails around here. the terrain has lots of gnarly exposed rock with some steep descents and drops and I hesitate to even go near that stuff. I have taken some of it a few times, but usually because someone led me out there and I could not find my way back home by myself.

so I want a bike that's more confidence-inspiring and I think all the marketing hype around 650B wheels is getting in my head. FS bike is not in the budget, so if I wanted a more capable HT, what have you bmx-gone-mtb guys experienced on 29"/27.5" tire-ed bikes?

[master]

I've been through this same cycle and thought process, the smaller frame is hurting your off road ability. The bmxer in you wants a tight feeling bike but for true MTB rocks and steeps you need a big enough bike to move around on.

As for wheel size, I love 29" on a hardtail. 27.5" is just marketing and is effectively the new 26". Unless you're on your game already, moving from 26" to 27.5" with all else constant won't change much of anything for you.

Find a complete for sure. $1500-$2000 will get you a nice new bike like a Kona Honzo or Explosif. You can probably still find a leftover 2014 of most brands for a discount. A slacker HT angle and lower BB will also help you feel better in the rough stuff.

Good luck!

[jonathan]

I am borrowing a 100mm fork to try on on the Karate Monkey for now. I have a set-back seatpost, 60mm stem, and 32"  riser bars on it, so it's certainly a frankenbike at this point. I had a Vassago Jabberwocky for a little while and I could not stand something about it. I had the 16" frame, which had a 600mm ETT, which is what most 17-18 inch "medium" frames have. the KM has a much shorter ETT. I don't know if it was the longer ETT or the longer CS that I hated about the Jabber, but it rode like ass.

I could potentially put a 120mm fork on the KM but that would be pushing it. its' designed for a 80mm, so 100mm is fine. the HA is relatively steep, nothing I can do about that other than getting a new bike.

I work in the industry so I have only a few bikes that I can get a decent price on- Diamondback, GT, Cannondale, Surly (maybe), and that German Ghost brand, which I have not seen yet. I would have to sell my KM to afford a new bike, so I don't want to sell it and regret it.

[Admiral Ackbar]

been out of the mtb loop for a while now, sadly. but i recently saw this which may be of help to you http://www.peterverdone.com/?p=6409

[jonathan]

thanks, that's good for perspective. I think that author has a little more bike in mind than I ever did. According to him, my bike does not even qualify as a mountain bike.  maybe he's right. 120mm+ and a dropper post sounds excessive to me, but I am coming from the retrogrouch world of single-speed rigid bikes. maybe something in the middle would be nice. I don't have anything close to a need for a 160mm FS bike (nor the budget) but a short-CS 120mm hardtail would be nice.

I might be able to afford one of these if I sold the KM:

http://www.ghost-bikes.com/bikes-2015/bike-detail/kato-pro-6/
or
http://www.diamondback.com/bikes-mountain-hardtail-all-mountain-29-mason
or
http://www.diamondback.com/bikes-mountain-hardtail-xc-trail-27-5-axis-pro

[master]

If you're in the industry, Kona and Transition both have good pro-deals. Worth looking into.

[jonathan]

I would be all over an Explosif if I could but I don't work for a dealer but it could not hurt to ask them.

[Admiral Ackbar]

if you work for a shop that has Q as their distro i thiiiinkkkk you can get kona brodeals

[streetStreet]

rocky mountain

[master]

I would be all over an Explosif if I could but I don't work for a dealer but it could not hurt to ask them.

I worked in the industry at a manufacturer and Kona pro-dealed me a Unit 29er. You can apparently get better deals if you work for an official Kona shop but that's not the case here.

[LeonLikesToRock]

If you want the frame only and want to try something a little bigger, check out On-One.

[G]

I would look for bargain second hand 26" FS bikes. The value of these has dropped out of all proportion with how good they actually are just because of all the wheel size stuff. They still ride just as well as they ever did on the type of terrain you are describing, but the previous owners all decided that they were suddenly garbage for no apparent reason...


G.

[jonathan]

My only concern with any used fs bike is availability of hardware. If the bike is past it's prime, it might be impossible or at least very difficult to find replacement hardware. Maybe a used 26er ht with a slack HA and a long fork would work, but at that point I might as well get something more modern, which means 650. With my (limited) industry discount, there is usually no point in getting a used bike.

[Kinchy]

I'd probably go for gt out of the brands you listed

[MilkyWilky]

My only concern with any used fs bike is availability of hardware. If the bike is past it's prime, it might be impossible or at least very difficult to find replacement hardware. Maybe a used 26er ht with a slack HA and a long fork would work, but at that point I might as well get something more modern, which means 650. With my (limited) industry discount, there is usually no point in getting a used bike.

I wouldn't worry too much about that, so long as you pick a more prevalent brand. As for parts needing replacing, thats the magic of pushing the old horses.

I agree with G though, 26" hardtails get NO love, and some deals on these classics are just waiting to be had. My 1993 Cannondale Killer-V 900 is a beauty of polished aluminium with nearly invisible seams, and early Manitou TPC fork, same old never been trued wheels on never been serviced hubs. I switched the long stem and flat bars for wide bars and a short Thomson, replaced a bunch of old drivetrain and cockpit with new Deore (base model) stuff, and now the thing is a bloody weapon at ~12 kg.