Bike Check: Benji’s Stif Squatch

I got the Stif Squatch frame in to act as a testbed for the sort of stuff that wouldn’t quite suit my other longer-travel full-suspension testbed (read my previous BIke Check: Cotic RocketMAX here). For the Squatch I principally intended it to sport slightly lighter weight XC/traily type things. And forks with less than 160mm travel to them.

• Brand: Stif
• Product: Squatch frame
• Price: £649
• From: Stif

Hmm. Yes. The Squatch has now got a 160mm travel fork on it. Best laid plans and all that.

To cut a long story short, after using it as the testbed for our 140mm travel fork group test, whilst I was digging the chassis feel in general, I was just finding that the Squatch was too low. Low at the front. Especially low in the middle (BB in other words). I also found the seat angle to be too steep. Yes, too steep. Stay with me here, people. My palms and my toes were taking a battering. Too much hand-pressure from the low front end. Too many times booting roots and stumps on trails from the super-low 80mm(!) drop BB. And that’s coming from someone who pretty much never struggles with pedal striking.

I just don’t think you need a BB that low when the bike in general has such a healthy wheelbase and reach. As bikes have got longer, I’ve been digging higher front ends and higher BBs. I’d actually like to start a movement to introduce size-specific BB heights in fact; the bigger the frame size, the higher the BB should be. Am certainly much more taken with that idea than the vogue for size-specific chain stays. WHO’S WITH ME?!

*tumbleweed*

I appreciate the oft trotted-out argument that forks with more than X amount of travel are unsuitable for hardtails due to geometry change at bottom-out yadda yadda yadda. Balls. Not true. The proof is in the riding. Long travel forked hardtails are fine and great. You may need to be careful and knowledgeable in how to set the fork up to stop any undue fore-aft pitching but… that’s what fork adjustments are for. Adjusting things.

Despite what anyone may claim, including the designers of the bike, for me the Squatch is a better handling bike with a 160mm fork up front. Still low enough, still long enough, still steep enough seat angle and with a more capable (and comfortable) slacker front end. Win³

You can read what the geometry is supposed be (with a 130-140mm fork) at the end of this Bike Check.

Enough gabbing about geometry. The frame itself has a genuinely lovely feel to how it rides. Long tubes for a bit of give. Even the rear triangle does do some terrain softening. If you look, it’s not actually a (straight lined) triangle. Which is nice, because triangles don’t flex. Not in the vertical plane at least. The rear ‘triangle’ of the Squatch has a fourth side to it. It’s a quadrilateral then. About 3/4 of the way along the chain stay the stay begins to curve and then it joins a short, straight section that the dropout bolts on to.

Anyway. Long story short. This curved-end chain-stay and drop-out section are what affords the back end a bit of flex movement. The very flattened sections on the seat stays make up what is essentially a leaf spring type of affair.

Short story even shorter. The Stif Squatch is best feeling hardtail I’ve ever ridden. It’s this that explains/excuses the price tag that initially seems rather high for a made-in-Taiwan 4130 cromo frame.

As a testbed frame, it’s been great. No weird standards (although the 30.9mm seat tube is annoying as it won’t accept my ‘stock’ of 31.6mm droppers, hey ho). No internal routing (apart from the final section of dropper post cabling). Decent tyre clearance. There’s no test product that’s been difficult or faffy to install on to the Squatch.

Sorry. This is meant to be a Bike Check isn’t it? Not a review. Let’s get on with Check-ing the Bike then. NB: almost all of the stuff on this bike is ‘on test’. So don’t take anything as an implicit recommendation just because it’s on my bike! I will point out good bits when I get to them though.

From front to back then…

Front tyre is the frankly majestic Maxxis Shorty Gen 2. Which I really should have swapped out now that the clocks have changed. I will do soon. Promise. Just waiting for a fresh dump of Schwalbe Magic Mary Addix Super Softs to arrive. PSI speaking, my Shorty Gen 2 DH Casing fluctuates from 15-17 psi depending what’s in store on any particular day.

The wheels are Halo Ridge Line II 29, complete with Halo’s own tubeless valves. All of which have been totally without issue. No loose spokes as yet. Good width for 2.35 to 2.6in rubbers. The freehub is noisy enough for other trail users to hear from a polite distance, without being obnoxiously buzzy. I can’t honestly remember what sealant I used in the set-up. Very probably WTB’s new stuff.

The fork is a Fox Float 36 Factory GRIP2 160mm 29. All of the damping dials are typically run fully open with the occasional turn of the Low Speed Compression to the midway point in the range (8 clicks from fully closed IIRC) if doing persistently steep, slow, tight, tekkers tings. I’m running zero volume spacers. I am running a TruTune MTB Air Fork Insert (standard length) in there. Pressure is 88 psi. Mudguard is a freebie from KidsRideShotgun. I ride a full Mudhugger for Autumn-Winter.

The headset is from Nukeproof. Because silver. When running 140mm forks up font, I was going to install a -1° angle adjust headset from Works Components in there (I just think 63° head angles are ‘right’). But, as described already, I’ve ended up running a 20mm longer travel fork, which pretty much does the same slackening effect.

The stem is one of my go-to items: the DMR Defy 35. As described in last year’s Editors’ Choice Awards, the Defy 35 offers shortness with a bit of rise and doesn’t take up too much space on your fork steerer.

The steering stick is a OneUp Carbon Handlebar. 800mm wide. 35mm rise. 35mm clamp. Designed to feel less brutal than yer usual 35mm bore bars. Seems to work. I’d probably just go for aluminium 31.8mm meself but also appreciate that some people just prefer the look of 35mm carbonium bars. Which is fair enough. It’s your money.

The grips are also from OneUp. Whilst I’m a diehard push-on grip fan if I have the choice, these lock-on grips from OneUp are great. Super soft without feeling icky. Shaped and finned enough to be useful without being overly prescriptive about where you put/move your hands around. Single collar.

Brakes are some very nice Shimano XTR 4-pots with 203mm rotors at each end. In my opinion, these are certainly on the podium for the Best Disc Brakes Available. Performance and that exquisite XTR aesthetic that I’m just a sucker for.

The dropper remote is… [nips into the garage to have a look] … a Giant branded one. Purchased several years ago in an emergency and has gone on to be a reliable little thing.

The rear shifter is an old 11-speed SLX one (I think).

The bottle cage is one of those Ninja toolbox ones from Topeak. It doesn’t appear to be made anymore in this configuration. It’s essentially a Topeak Ninja Cage (that is a bit mediocre to be honest) with a swivel-out Ninja T Road multitool-in-a-box underneath it (very handy).

Cranks are a set of DMR Axe in 165mm arm length. The chainring is 32T and the 30mm BB is from Praxis. Shall we get into the whole debate about short cranks? No. I’ll just say: the drivetrain is where you can get extra leverage if you need it (that’s kinda what gears are for), you should ride the shortest length cranks you can when off-road cycling. Because duh.

Pedals. Pedals get changed all the time. At the mo the Squatch is sporting some DMR Vault Mag flat pedals. Which have been both good and bad. The good: nothing feels as good under foot as a Vault. The bad: the magnesium body is possibly not great at dealing with whacks. I ripped a pin out on the first ride. Sadface.

Much like the dropper remote, the dropper itself is an old item pressed into service for this Stif Squatch. It’s a 170mm travel PRO Koryak dropper post. It’ll do for now whilst my preferred 190mm (reduced from 210mm) travel OneUp Dropper Seatpost V2.1 is being used in another test bike.

The saddle, again, is an old one pulled from my spares box. The fantastically named Decathlon 30° Light Cycling Saddle is a little trooper. Flat at the back. Long enough rails to compensate for various seat angles. Impressively durable. Cheap AF. Seatpost collar is from Nukeproof. Because silver.

The rest of the drivetrain is made up of an old 11-speed SLX rear mech, an XT chain (I think) and a SunRace 11-50T cassette. Chain lube of late has been Juice Lubes Wet Conditions. I probably need to clean the drivetrain and switch to a lighter lube now TBH.

The rear tyre is a Maxxis Minion DHR II WT 2.4in EXO TR. Because it’s the best all-round tyre ever made. Inside the the tyre is a Cushcore XC 29 insert. Pressure-wise, it varies depending on what the ride plan is, but is generally in the 17-20psi range.

So there you have it. That’s my Stif Squatch testbed. Any questions? Post ’em in the comments 👇

Benji’s Stif Squatch specification

• Frame // Stif Squatch, 4130 Cromoly
• Fork // Fox Float 36 160mm
• Wheels // Halo
• Front Tyre // Maxxis Shorty Gen 2 29 x 2.5in 3C MaxxGrip DH
• Rear Tyre // Maxxis Minion DHR II 29×2.4in WT 3C MaxxTerra EXO
• Chainset // DMR Axe, 165mm, 32T
• Drivetrain // Ye olde Shimano SLX 11-speed w/ SunRace 11-50T cassette
• Brakes // Shimano XTR 4-post, 203/203mm rotors
• Stem // DMR Defy 35mm, 35mm
• Bars // OneUp Carbon Handlebar, 800mm x 35mm, 35mm rise,
• Grips // OneUp Grips Lock-On
• Seatpost // PRO Koryak 170mm, 30.9mm
• Saddle // Decathlon 30° LIght Cycling Saddle
• BB // Praxis 30mm
• Size tested // XL
• Sizes available // M, L, XL
• Weight // Not weighing it

Geometry of this size XL

• Head angle // 64°
• Effective seat angle // 78°
• Seat tube length // 480mm
• Head tube length // 110mm
• Chainstay // 430mm
• Wheelbase // 1,253mm
• BB height // 80mm BB drop
• Reach // 500mm