[Closed] Building a 26" full suss - used frame choice

I got a s/h 26" Cube Stereo off here just before Xmas, the one before the 650B version. I bit of an odd child with the shock behind the seat post but it works well. Carbon too.

The reviews from 2011 criticised it for been too slack and too low a BB...

I have a 2000 Orange Sub5 frame with Fox Vanilla Air shock (medium size - about 17/18") gathering dust, fits your criteria other than tapered headset. Good used condition, no play in bearings.

Wouldn't want a huge amount for it. PM me if you're interested.

Spooky!
I was just going to post almost the exact same question. Only difference being I'm swapping frame for my son who is outgrowing his size small Cherry Bomb:)

Specialized Pitch is on top of my shortlist atm but I'll be following this thread with great interest. (Need a match for his 140 mm Pike 454)

I'm also considering the Commencal Meta 55 (short steep chainstay snapper?), Heckler, Prophet, Giant Trance/Reign

Cheers from Sweden
/Johan

26 and tapered headset would imply 2011-2013-ish at a guess. I may be wrong but most bikes around then would probably have been closer to 140 upfront.

LaPierre Zesty ? Giant Anthem or Trance ?

A Giant trance would be a good choice. A good all rounder that can be had for peanuts. Well designed and spares are readily available.
I have a x0 frame that is worthless. I ended up building a bike for the wife as it's not worth selling.

Stumpjumper, trance, transition bandit.

Owned the first two, great bikes. The transition is also supposed to be good.

i recently bought two saracens 14x and 16x

Old but worthy, C'dale prophet fits all of your requirements.. "SL" if you really want only 120mm (same frame shorter shock)

Trance / Anthem

140 travel, but a later Turner 5 spot with the bigger head tube can be picked up for decent money, is pretty bomb proof, versatile, agile and a fantastic ride.

[img] [/img]

Orange ST4

Canyon Nerves occasionally pop up as used frames. Given the price they made good donor bikes, but the frames were great.

The Specialized Camber and Ghost AMR ranges could be suitable as I believe both were 120mm travel in 26 format and relatively XC oriented. I have a 2010/11 (can't entirely remember offhand) AMR 7500 which served me well until I bought a Spitfire last year.

Transition bandit.

I have a size medium giant trance I'm about to put up for sale

How important is the tapered headtube/fork? There are bargains to be had with straight headtubes!

Keep an eye out for a Maverick Ml7, fantastic but obsolete bike. Tim at Sideways can still service them.

Yeti ASR 5 😉

Anyone who nterested in my Santa Cruz Blur 4X? Owned by me from new, in vgc with no dings or dents, bearings in great condition, spare mech hanger.

How important is the tapered headtube/fork? There are bargains to be had with straight headtubes!

The only reason I suggested that is the availability of 1"1/8th forks seems to be getting harder to come by. If I'm wrong then great, add straight steerers to the options 8)

Will have a look at the above options and reply later. Wasn't looking to buy this month but may be tempted by one of the options above 😉

Canyon Nerves occasionally pop up as used frames. Given the price they made good donor bikes, but the frames were great.

I have a 2011 Nerve AM in medium that I'm thinking of shifting. OP email me if you're interested, my user name at gmail dot com.

A Camber would be a good choice but only the 2012 Expert model has a tapered head tube and decent straight steerer forks are few and far between now.

Only problem with the Camber is that the linkage design takes 10 or so bearings (some are a pain to remove) so fathom that in if you plan on riding in muddy conditions regularly.

A Santa Cruz Superlight might be another option (single pivot design) if you can track one down at a decent price.

I just built up a 2nd hand 26 inch 2013 Orange Five for the winter. Such a sweet ride. It's smashing all my "race bike" times too. Exceptional handling up and down. I love it.

I have a large Superlight for sale, leave a message if you're interested.

I have a large Yeti ASR5a frame I need to sell. Carbon rear end has been helitaped all its life so in good nick for second hand.

Even if you didn't want mine I would still recommend an ASR5, ticks all your boxes and I loved mine. Full carbon version is a little lighter than the one with the alu front end if you want to go light.

http://dirtmountainbike.com/bike-reviews/yeti-asr5-c-review-point-and-shoot.html#udAstBiDfJwt4HR2.97

http://singletrackmag.com/reviews/long-termer-review-yeti-asr5/

The are plenty of straight steerer forks still available, I've even seen some brand new ones while trawling for forks.

If you like fives but don't want to spend five money then I've a medium morewood shova st which I'm selling. Its a single pivot, 5.2" travel take 125-150mm forks depending on how you wanted to use it. Light enough to climb but strong enough to be fun going down (just like a five really). My email is in my profile if you want to know more.

Same boat here and my choices were Giant Anthem with a 120mm fork or my preferred option of a Santa Cruz Superlight. The latter gets good reviews and sounds low maintenance. I think only 2013 had tapered head tube though.

Since the arrival of twins 2 years ago, I've had a med Heckler frame hanging up and a 19" Sub5 sitting unused. Drop me a mail if any interest

I went down the Giant Trance X4 route for my full sus 26" build.

I too am in a similar boat to the OP, ideally looking for something that would take most of the parts from my hardtail, including 120mm reba's.

If anyone's got anything suitable (I'm 6ft) I'd be keen to hear from you......

I've got a Yeti 575 from 2006 that's in good condition apart from the DHX Air shock that needs serviced or replaced. It's a Large, has a straight 1 1/8th headtube, threaded b/bracket. It's an alloy swingarm with the carbon pivots. Just been lying in a box since last year so would be good to see it moved onto a home where it will see some more dirt.

i have a nerve am frame im selling for a mate if interested. 140mm rear travel.

One of the last two years' trek fuel ex would be a great choice.

I mean the last two years that they were 26in.

m360 - drop me an email. I have a barely used Genesis Grapil (120mm) I need to sell to make room for another project.. 44 headset with cups to accept tapered forks. I can also do a deal on rolling chassis with forks (little use X-Fusion Velvet 140 DLA) and possibly with hardly used wheels to suit (Superstar hubs & Sentinel rims).

My email is in profile.

Is that one of the non-snappy Grapil's?

Good to see 26 aint dead.
I am currently without bike, something I am trying to get fixed quick.
I have been seeing some nice 2015 end of year deals, but really finding it hard to look past one of the last 26 inch Orange 5's for the money.
Good luck with your build.

Thanks for all of the replies, no clear "winner" out there. This turned into a bit of a wanted add, wasn't supposed to be, but thanks for the offers of frames.

I'll be doing some more research, but I am swaying towards an Orange 5. Mostly because it's a bike I would have bought back in the day, and mostly because of the simplicity of it. Might have to save a bit longer though as it's not "bargain bin cheap".

Turner Flux - grease ports for bearing, late one with 44mm HT and can be used with 120mm forks. Fast but such great rear sus.

You can't go wrong with a Marin. The frame on the left cost £25 off here . They ride really well and a doddle to service if the bearings ever wear out.[img] [/img]

Instead of going down the "buy a frame" route, I bought a complete bike and think I got a good buy. I got myself a Intense Tracer 2 with Fox 36's and basically XTR running gear. The beauty of the Tracer 2 is I can replace the rear drop-outs and got the 650B route if I want and the 36's just about accept a 650B wheel too.

Will be selling a 2009 specilized stumpjumper in small with straight steerer if of interest.

The whole thing, or just the frame & shocks ? Is that the FSR or Ht model?

If any of the 120mm travel frames are around London or Surrey i wod be very interested. Still not scratched the full sus itch so this could be a good change.

If I didn't already have one if buy this bandit.

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/frames-for-sale-transition-bandit-2-sz-lrg-and-853-rocky-mountain-blizzard-165

I did spot that Bandit. If I hadn't just bought the commuter I'd have stupidly bought that instead and used it for work 😯 Looks perfect though (more so than a Sub 5 even!)

Way over my budget for teh forseeable future though, think I'd rather save a bit longer and get something I really fancy later in the year.

Sorry to hijack, but I'm considering doing a similar project. Looking for a FS frame that can be bought cheap and I want to put the effort in to restor, I'm looking for a 16" or 17" frame though, but only got about £100 to spend so I think I'll struggle.

If anyones got anything jonnyhindley at hotmail dot co dot uk

In the finest traditions etc...

http://r.ebay.com/dffeMz

Maybe not so much 3 (but if I can do it etc)
Def not 5.
But fab bikes and very light and versatile.

Lovely in't they
[img] https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Qy8RhQYgG3Y9RlFdv5bZ-djS4zvBTepyUKRwvRgXYvsG=w1314-h985-no [/img]

Carbon Cannondale Rush.

http://dirtmountainbike.com/bike-reviews/bike-test-cannondale-rush.html#8gDB6G6SRcR5yh4e.97

My brother in law has a Cube Fritz (I think) coming up for sale soon. I think it is a medium, but I'd have to check.

Drop me a line if you're interested.

Just got back from a ride on my SC Blur TR that I've just built up. Having spent the last couple of years almost exclusively riding various FS 29es, I was a bit apprehensive about taking the Blur down some of the more testing descents, but I've been very pleasantly surprised. I'm running the Blur with a 140 fork, and if I'm being super picky, I reckon it'd handle slightly better with a 130mm - but for a bike with 'only' 125mm rear suspension, it's amazingly capable down, along and up stuff. I haven't tried it out round a trail centre yet, but it's so poppy and fun, I reckon it'll be a hoot.

Definately one of the very best 26" full sus bikes I've ridden - and being a serial bike switcher, I've been through a few;)

I went for an Ibis Mojo, they seem to to have halved again in price from when I bought mine. Can't fault it really, the bearings are huge, seem impervious to wear and you can dismantle the frame in 10 mins if you need to service it.

This thread is relevant to my interests!

I have a 2011 ghost AMR 7500 gathering dust. It's a great bike but I have been riding almost exclusively hardtail of the last few months.

Why gathering dust? Just not excited about it anymore, it's competent but its a bit of a heavyweight.

I'd love a lightweight carbon trail/xc bike for rapid riding. Happy to go for a 26 that once was the bike of its time. I don't really want to drop £3k+ on a new 650b, is there a second hand frame option out there that would be ripe for moving over the 120mm Fox32, 2 speed drivetrain, Crests on proIIs etc over?

So far musing as far as Cambers and fuel9.9s from a couple of years back.

Anything else to consider? Yeti? Epics? Turner? Cannondale?

Moonboy have you considered a Trance Advanced, seen a few pop up on eBay.

My second-hand 2013 Five S handled Bikepark Wales at the weekend with aplomb.

An amazing handling bike. I think it's very light at 13.3kg with pedals, reverb and all alloy bits bolted on. Rips on every trail up and down. Easy to manual and hop over stuff but still slack, long and low enough to rail berms and pop out faster than you went in. Such a confidence inspiring bike.

It's limits on DH are so much further away than my limits at the moment but I rode it on the steepest DH track I'd ever tried to go down (I couldn't walk up it) a week or so ago and it made it just fine and we popped out the bottom grinning from ear to ear. There and then I decided it was the bike I was taking to BPW.

I'm trying to hang onto the post BPW cloud 9 feeling I've got for as long as I can this week. 🙂

@neenan1 - might be interested in your stumpy. Email in profile

Cheers