Fun 29er Frame? Steel?
Discussion
I'm currently selling off my 26" Hardtail in order to fund a road bike, I know this goes against the N+1 rule but needs must...
This will leave me with a FS 27.5" and a Giant XTC1 29er.
My 26" (Pace RC302) is/was a fun bike, the 27.5" FS bike is a bit much for my local trail center (although still fun in places) and the 29er will happily munch the miles, the 27.5" is new so I'm using it a lot but think I will start to miss the Pace eventually.
I'm never going to win races, so was wondering if I could find a middle ground between my 26" and 29" bikes - Obviously 27.5 is the middle but I have most things suited to 29/26" for the build - I'm quite liking a look of Steel Frames at the moment, something from Cotic/Stanton would be nice..
Thoughts?
This will leave me with a FS 27.5" and a Giant XTC1 29er.
My 26" (Pace RC302) is/was a fun bike, the 27.5" FS bike is a bit much for my local trail center (although still fun in places) and the 29er will happily munch the miles, the 27.5" is new so I'm using it a lot but think I will start to miss the Pace eventually.
I'm never going to win races, so was wondering if I could find a middle ground between my 26" and 29" bikes - Obviously 27.5 is the middle but I have most things suited to 29/26" for the build - I'm quite liking a look of Steel Frames at the moment, something from Cotic/Stanton would be nice..
Thoughts?
Just done the exact same thing. After reading about a lot, I decided to look at Alu aswell. I've had lots of steel bikes but was open to others and the big wheels can help mask supposed harshness of some alu frames.
Solaris - great, not cheap though. Quite 'safe' handling.
Genesis Latitude frame - fantastic value, great colour, Genesis are lovely. Only downer for me was 27.2 post only.
SC Highball Alu - Like Solaris, lots of money but guaranteed to be well made.
Kinesis FF29 - very nearly bought this - fantastic reviews, looks great, very light and fast.
On-one Parkwood - cheap, slack, fun, bit porky for me though.
In the end I've gone a bought none of those - I've a used Trek Stache frameset on the way. It should be quite similar to the FF29 but has bolt through rear, dropper post routing etc.
Solaris - great, not cheap though. Quite 'safe' handling.
Genesis Latitude frame - fantastic value, great colour, Genesis are lovely. Only downer for me was 27.2 post only.
SC Highball Alu - Like Solaris, lots of money but guaranteed to be well made.
Kinesis FF29 - very nearly bought this - fantastic reviews, looks great, very light and fast.
On-one Parkwood - cheap, slack, fun, bit porky for me though.
In the end I've gone a bought none of those - I've a used Trek Stache frameset on the way. It should be quite similar to the FF29 but has bolt through rear, dropper post routing etc.
My first choice would be something Cotic in your situation. I think they are wonderful.
Next Genesis or Stanton. I don't know much about the Stantons, but the builds I've seen have been lovely.
I have a Kona 29er, which is a lot of fun, for the most part. Not as fun as a Cotic 29er running X-fusion forks and 1x10 though. I've had a quick poke around Kona's steel Explosif frame and that was very nice. 650b though rather than 29.
Next Genesis or Stanton. I don't know much about the Stantons, but the builds I've seen have been lovely.
I have a Kona 29er, which is a lot of fun, for the most part. Not as fun as a Cotic 29er running X-fusion forks and 1x10 though. I've had a quick poke around Kona's steel Explosif frame and that was very nice. 650b though rather than 29.
I've had a Cotic Solaris 29er and it was pretty good but I was blown away by my last steel 29er, a Salsa El Mariachi.
The Salsa was a much better ride for me, good for anything from normal trail riding through to XC racing. I wish I'd never got rid of mine in fact I'm tempted to look into getting a new Ti El Mariachi when funds allow.
The Salsa was a much better ride for me, good for anything from normal trail riding through to XC racing. I wish I'd never got rid of mine in fact I'm tempted to look into getting a new Ti El Mariachi when funds allow.
Thanks for the Suggestions, some nice Frames I hadn't even thought of previously...
I started having a look around, and although its a 27.5" and will end up costing me more than planned (New Forks and Wheels), I like the look of the Bird Zero frameset.. It looks like it'll fulfill the Fun element, and I expect it will do me OK for racing on...
I started having a look around, and although its a 27.5" and will end up costing me more than planned (New Forks and Wheels), I like the look of the Bird Zero frameset.. It looks like it'll fulfill the Fun element, and I expect it will do me OK for racing on...
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