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I've got an *ahem* big birthday coming up.
For sometime now, I have promised myself a build around a new HT frame. The brief is a keeper that is fun to ride. And can tow a bike trailer for Dad duties.
For a long while I thought a Soul was the default choice but alas it is no more (and yes 2nd hand is an option).
Enter the slackline which was always on the radar but now is front and centre.
Anyone else about to / already gone for it? Looks like Gen 3 just about to arrive on these shores.
Or in normal STW ways, tell me I'm wrong and what I should get instead.
Slackline is pretty nice - I was dying up the 853 version but struggled to get my wad around £1k for a steel hardtail frame that wasn’t even custom.
For £1150 you could get a Curtis AM7 and flex some of the geometry.....
I have a Gen 2, I love it, get one.
£650 for a Taiwan job, a grand for UK made one, for a steel hardtail frame.
When I started biking that was titanium prices.
I'd never pay that, I'm not short of cash, I just need to see where the money went, you can't justify that price.
“I’d never pay that, I’m not short of cash, I just need to see where the money went, you can’t justify that price.”
I doubt anyone at Stanton is getting rich. Making nice things properly isn’t cheap, and even more so if you do it here.
If your birthday is at all imminent, be aware that Stanton's quoted lead times are in general very, very, very , very optimistic (aka. complete fantasy). The fanbois get very angry when this is pointed out as "there's a pandemic dummy" but they have always been that way quite frankly. On the plus side, I still love my Slackline (albeit back from the day they were £385 new and had 26" wheels).
SC Chameleon - at £1k, you’re getting close to the cost of the carbon version. I have one with two sets of wheels and love it for everything from bikepacking to ragging it round the woods and trail centres.
be aware that Stanton’s quoted lead times are in general very, very, very , very optimistic (aka. complete fantasy).
Yup. My mate's 40th birthday present arrived just in time for his 41st.
If you're in any sort of a hurry, buy one they've made already.
I've always liked Stanton bikes but never got around to buying one and at the current prices I never will. I didn't realise a Slackline had crept up so much.
Making nice things properly isn’t cheap, and even more so if you do it here.
I get this, I really do. Unfortunately like most people, I have a finite amount of money to spread among a growing list of hobbies and I can't just drop a grand on a steel hardtail when there are so many other nice options at much lower prices.
A steel hardtail for me was always the budget option anyway and never my main bike, just something nice to have for sliding around in the mud in the winter. They're just a bit exotic now for my tastes.
If I really, really wanted one though I'd still buy it. That red one on the website is lush.
“I get this, I really do. Unfortunately like most people, I have a finite amount of money to spread among a growing list of hobbies and I can’t just drop a grand on a steel hardtail when there are so many other nice options at much lower prices.“
Indeed - I’ve had my Zero AM for almost five years now, and it was only meant to be a temporary thing whilst I designed a custom steel hardtail! My own business makes high-end audio gear (for guitarists and bassists) here in the UK and we rely on people being willing to spend the extra, although thankfully our product benefits are a lot more tangible and the UK made thing is just a consequence of how I choose to run the business.
SC Chameleon – at £1k, you’re getting close to the cost of the carbon version. I have one with two sets of wheels and love it for everything from bikepacking to ragging it round the woods and trail centres.
And you'll only be waiting until March for one!