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I'm toying with the idea of a hardtail for a variety of reasons and these 3 seem to be up to date wrt geometry and compatibility (I don't feel like dropping £2.5k on a full sus frame until standards settle out a bit e.g. 27.5+, boost, metric shock sizing etc)
The P7 and Morf are very new so I suspect there won't be much real world feedback. The Wideangle got a glowing write up in the previous stw mag but a 68 deg head angle seems a bit unusual as the P7 and Morf have 65deg. SA is pretty much identical (74 deg)
P7 is the longest, lowest and slackest but also has the longest chainstays so might not be quite as chuckable as the other two. P7 has the lowest BB height.
Morf seems designed around a 130mm fork, which is a little shorter than the 140-150 I'd prefer for general trail riding.
Orange warranty is better but Morf has crash replacement (not sure about details - probably a cost-price frame). Not heard anything good or bad about Chroma warranty but their build quality is reputedly so good its probably not an issue.
Heart says Chromag, head says Orange!
Option D: Pace RC127
Thanks - having previously experienced Pace build quality, the RC127 is most certainly not option D!
I've had a few chromag frames and all have been excellent. That would be my choice and you won't see too many on the trails either.
The geometry on the P7 looks best to me.
And it seems Neon Pink is available as a colour option at no cost.
Go on!
Struggling to find frame weights (although I suspect they'll be similar).
I wouldn't be surprised if the Chromag was a little heavier. Every one I've picked up has felt noticeably chunky.
150mm forks on a hardtail for general trail riding?! What trail is it? Fort William WC DH track!? And then you're worrying about weights.....how're you gonna make the most of 150mm of travel without running heavy wheels and tyres?
120mm ish (or less) is what you want. I'd be looking at a Cotic, although that Stif thing looks like it'd be decent. Those Stanton's also look quite the part.
A few folk on here about to take delivery of their new P7s so you could just wait and see what the verdict is. Ordered one myself as everything stacks up on paper geometry-wise and Orange definitely know what they're doing when it comes do building decent bikes for riding in UK conditions. Weight on the new P7 I saw was surprisingly low, but a 5-year warranty means it's probably very tough (or you'll get a replacement if not tough enough).
I find 140-150mm to be the sweet spot, with enough travel to run decent sag and therefore small bump compliance and allow a bit of weight over the front end without blowing through travel, yet not too much weight to carry round.
I had an Evil Sovereign with 140mm forks for a few years and it was superb. Stainburn, 7 Stanes, Gisburn etc were all no problem with trail wheels & tyres.
I have a Wideangle, dropped a works components headset in it to slack it out a little and plugged in a 140mm Yari. It's fabulous and my Foxy sees very little use at the moment. Bearing in mind how slack the Mondy is I find the Chromag really confident on the steep stuff.
As an aside, I think 140mm is perfectly acceptable on a hardtail, I live in Innerleithen and am riding everything from steep/tech enduro trails to the DH courses on it. I feel 120mm might struggle a little with that unless on a 29er.
Second on a chromag wide angle. Bit of a tank but also got the works headset and 160mm bos devilles =66 head angle #rad