[Closed] Hardtail Recomendations

Thanks @theghost Does he ever give bad reviews though?

Cotic Soul. It'll have to be 2nd hand for the frame at least - there was a large in the Classifieds but.

Looking for something new @jimmy what other options are there in stock?

the titanium vandal gx is up for that price atm... that would be a no brainer, unless you must have more aggro

Yeah its looks decent @alan1977 but does it have routing for a dropper?

In the frame details:
Dropper Compatible Stealth Routing

I've got a sick shrike- what's now badged as the hello Dave.

I love it!

I bought a spare mech hangar just in case. It took the best part of 3 months to turn up. So id get a spare if they are in stock!

Looks ludicrous from the side.

Goes down brilliantly
Goes up surprisingly well. As in I can get up some steep stuff on it that I can't clear on my other bikes
Goes along on the flat fine.
Fine in the twisty bits, but my frame of reference is a cross bike, geometron and another hardtail that has a 65 degree head angle.
It's not light in xl.

On and there were quite a few for sale after people tried them and didn't like them.

Not for everyone!

They are slaaaaack and long. A lot of bike - probably epic for long fast rocky downhill sections and steep stuff.
Less good for tight twisty trails where you’ll have to ride super aggressively to get it to turn in - and flatter pedally trails will likely be dull. Can’t I imagine they manual easily either.

But if the above sounds like it’s for you then go for it - you won’t get anything else like it for that cost - and it’s decently made out of 4130 steel I believe.

If the above doesn’t sound good then there are loads of quicker handling options - it just depends what’s in stock. The Scandal (and I assume Vandal) are decent trail bike geometry if you’re after a 29er.

I ordered an XL Hello Dave yesterday (I'm a lanky 6'6"). Build date is the 24th. They had 4 XL's left when I ordered.

@joebristol

Have you tried one?

Less good for tight twisty trails where you’ll have to ride super aggressively to get it to turn in – and flatter pedally trails will likely be dull. Can’t I imagine they manual easily either

Perhaps I just don't have any super tight to stuff near me, bit it's fine for me. The bikes that get ridden near me are just a random assortment. Its not like anyone else is on the same supe slack bikes. I just like them🙂

Flatter pedaly trials are dull 😉 I took it round Sherwood pines red- which is super flat- and it was fun there.

I can't manual or wheelie more than two pedal strokes but it's no worse than anything else I've ridden.

I’ve ridden a LLS full suspension bike with 481mm reach and a 64 ish degree headangle. Great on fast and flowy downhill stuff. Ok ish on flat pedally - but I found it quite difficult to get round steep and sharp switchbacks. I had to work really hard with good technique to manual it - particularly at slow speeds.

Swapped it for a shorter fs bike with shorter chainstays (but still a 64 ish degree headangle) and low and behold it goes round sharp corners better and manuals much nicer. Better as an all rounder.

Hardtail wise I designed my own Marino - kept the back end short (425mm), reach middling for my height (445mm static / 5’9 with short arms), head angle slack enough to be stable (65.5 degrees). I know I like a shorter bike and where I ride it locally it’s much more fun than something radically long. Flat stuff at Ashton Court it’s hilariously poppy, it does pump tracks pretty well for a 650b hardtail with 2.6” tyres and it even rides decently at Cwmcarn / Forest of Dean etc.

Design wise, the Hello Dave is at the DH, descending end of the Hardtail spectrum.

You need to consider carefully if that's what you want from your hardtail and if it will match your riding.

I got a tiktik, slightly more sensible, rides really well in both 27+ (series 3 land rover mode) and 29er (for some reason they don't list is running 29er but mine does) which I prefer

Ragley Big Al would be a good choice if you can find one in stock. Or wait for 2022 bikes to land. Thing Hardtail Party did a review on one which was very favourable.

I ended up going with a Big Wig as I’ve got a liking for steel bikes but it rides really well and carries the same geometry as the Big Al.

I bought a spare mech hangar just in case. It took the best part of 3 months to turn up. So id get a spare if they are in stock!

Always amazes me that folk don't buy a spare hanger when they buy ANY frame/bike.

And if you don't need something as DH as the Dave, recommend the Scandal (I've the alloy version). Rides lovely and still aggro enough.

Does he ever give bad reviews though?

Never

I really like my Scandal. Its long and slack enough without being too extreme. Bear in mind a hardtail will always feel a bit longer than a full sus.

£1100 is a pretty decent price even if you have to factor in a dropper

I got an email the other day about the Hello Dave and really for the price it looks like amazing value:

* Pike Select fork
* 175mm Reverb dropper
* GX drivetrain
* 4130 frame
* reasonable finishing kit (i.e. wide bars, short stem)
* decent-looking brakes, with sensible 203 front / 180 rear rotor setup

...for 1500 notes. And you can actually buy one right now!

There's really nothing obvious you'd want to switch immediately to my eye (modulo tyres, which I couldn't see quoted in the build spec, hopefully they'd be enough to get going on at least).

The full build weight for a large is quoted at 16.2 kg which is not light, but OTOH it's a big steel 29er.

It's not exactly what you'd call an all-rounder though 😀

The full build weight for a large is quoted at 16.2 kg which is not light, but OTOH it’s a big steel 29er.

Bloody hell that's heavy, have they remembered to hollow out the tubes?

For comparison my Scandal is about 12.5kg with pedals

with added pic

Scandal scandal medium scandal sell sell medium scandal .....I'm not good at subliminal messages but always worth a try 🤣

Over your budget - a fully built Bird AM Zero.

https://www.bird.bike/product/zero-am-27-5-shimano-12-speed/#configuration

You might be able to spec it yourself for less.

I have one - excellent bike.

One mate has a Hello Dave. We've lots of tight trails here (and some steep ones) and he loved it. He was properly quick on it as well. We all 'had a go' as you do and it felt like a fun bike to ride. To say it's fairly extreme in terms of Geo, it felt surprisingly normal. Not light, but build quality was good.

Another mate has the new Big Wig. Replaced the previous model. Again a really good looking HT with decent angles and good build quality. Not ridden that one, but - apart from it being pretty low - it's apparently a far better all round ride than the previous one.

I have a Nordest Bardino which is fab. But hard to get hold of and no full bikes available.

@joebrostol

I guess it's just preference 🙂

I suspect someone who is faster than me will be faster than me on any bike.

Your custom bike sounds ace, almost makes me want to try something less slack now!

I got a Specialized Fuse M4 frame second hand last year and have been really impressed. A neighbour liked it enough he bought his own. Have you looked at those? They're a bit of a sleeper if you ask me. The Comp is £1598 - so may well be discounted to your budget in an autumn sale, assuming things are returning to vague normality, of course...

Had a Hello Dave delivered yesterday, not ridden it yet so can't offer any opinion on how it rides, but compared to my 2016 full sus it's absolutely massive! My thinking was for the price/spec it was great value for the components, frame might not be exactly what I need, but can always strip the parts off and sell the frame for a new one if I don't get on with it.

I think a tyre change will help get loads of rolling weight off the bike which might liven up the ride.

@tall_martin

The Marino I built is ace. Similar bikes in terms of geometry are the Ribble HT725 (the steel one) and the Sonder Transmitter. I basically took the Vitus Sentier vrx+ I liked and made the head angle slacker, reach a bit longer, seat tube a bit shorter - but kept the same short chainstays and bb drop.

Just to say over 16kgs (35lbs ish) is mental heavy for a hardtail.

I’m running a 150mm front / 140mm rear alloy full suss trail bike with Lyriks, Fox DHX2 coil shock, Codes, 2.6/2.5” tyres (albeit a lighter casing) etc and that comes in at 33lbs.

I’m selling a nice 4 month old Sensa Merano HT that I bought from Merlin..

Can't go wrong with them. Bought mine from the first batch of frame onlys they released.

Been used and abused all year round and it's great. Yes it doesn't manual well as the stays are too long but it does tight twisty single singletrack with ease. I ride an XL for reference as well. It's just so stable you will feel so safe on it it's unreal.

Just buy a Hello Dave.
I snapped up a frame in PX's sale about a year ago, finally got the build finished in February. Going by geometry numbers, it has no right to be as good as it is. It's great fun. A hooligan of a bike.
It's so good that it's now my only bike, having sold my FS enduro bike through lack of use.

I bought a hardtail last week and it came down to what was in stock in the frame size I needed and not what was the "best" hardtail. 90% of the bikes were available only in an XS or XL frame size and only at dealers so a lot of phoning was involved.

Sonder Transmitter or Sonder signal ST

I've gone for a large in the green as Im 6 foot. My current Trek Remedy only has a wheelbase of 1196 so I think the hello dave will feel huge at first. The schwable tyres look quite heavy so I might switch out an agrressor on the back and DHR2 on the front.

I had a On One Big Dog that I managed to hit a tree with, with sufficient force to bend the downtube. It was a good bike, albeit a little heavy.

I replaced the frame with a Nukeproof Scout 290, and transferred the bit for the dead Dog over - Tt's a brilliant hardtail. Decent on the rowdy stuff, and fast on the trails.

I've had a Voodoo Bizango, Voodoo Bokor, Orange Crush 27.5 and the Big Dog.

The Scout is by far my favourite.

Loved my Dave, but it got replaced by it's close relative, a Loco Moto. Lighter but just as fun