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I love my 27.5 Jeffsy but it’s built up fairly beefy with a coil shock etc and I’d like something more suited to the limited local woods stuff that family and work commitments limit me to these days
I’m wondering about a hard tail frame and swapping the bits over. Ideally it’d be steel and approx 120mm travel as a 29er but ride ok in the short term with 27.5 and a 150mm fork (until I can source a second hand 29 fork and wheels basically)
I said moon on a stick!
I like the Moxie, and the Solaris but that’s pushing the budget
Bird zero 29 is another good option but the BB drop probably rules out running the 27.5 wheels.
Stanton is another option but I don’t know much about rhem
Anything else I’m missing, or not considering?
Oh and just to add, cycle to work might be an option but my employer uses Vivup, which many shops seem to avoid as I think the admin charges are quite high
Buying something like that whilst looking for a second hand fork and wheels in 29 seems counter intuitive, I’d get that first and get the right bike, such as a stif squatch
Hmmm, yes you might be right
I think I’ve missed the boat for 27.5 now
Thanks for flagging the Squatch. For some reason I’d immediately ruled that out but just had another look and it does seem to tick the boxes
Buy a secondhand full bike while they're so cheap?
I have a set of 29er wheels I keep meaning to sell but haven't yet as I don't have a wheel box. Stans Flow rims on Shimano hubs, rear is a microsplone free hub. Well used but still ok. I'd happily take £100 for them. I'm in Leeds but do travel about a bit.
Hmmm, yes you might be right
I think I’ve missed the boat for 27.5 now
Thanks for flagging the Squatch. For some reason I’d immediately ruled that out but just had another look and it does seem to tick the boxes
I have one so I am biased. They had a sale they were £250 and i see on Steel is Real facebook selling group someone is selling a new one for £150 which seems ridiculously cheap
I'd find a way to get a steel frame and go 29 straight away if possible. I've got a Moxie and an aluminium Ragley build up at the moment - both really good, but I do prefer the slight vibration damping you get from a steel/chromoly frame. I prefer the rollover of a 29er on a hardtail too.
In the recommend what you have game, there are a few Moxies used around right now, both eBay and the FB groups. Stanton are very good too - Switch9er, Sherpa or Sedona are all great frames with slightly different twists. If I can justify keeping two hardtails, I like to switch my Ragley to a Sedona one day.
Even though bargains aren't quite as plentiful as they used to be, decent deals, both new and used for frames, wheels and forks can be had.
There's a Soul in the classifieds - if you are a large.
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the advice
5’7”, so definitely not looking at a large! Xs legs and a medium torso though, so decent stand over is important.
The BB drop on the Squatch seems very high (i.e. low!), do riders not find they’re pedal-striking all the time?!
Might not be what you're after but worth a punt, I have one of these last army green BFe 27.5 frames in size Small with a Hope Headset that I was about to re-advertise if you did want to go down the route of a frame swap and stay 27.5? I ran it 130mm with 27.5x2.6" Forekasters and it was nice and nippy as a trail hardtail. I think I did put an advert in the classifieds a while back but planning to re-do that this week:
Check out the Stif Squatch again. Wildly capable and keeps popping up for good prices used
I like the Moxie, and the Solaris but that’s pushing the budget
There are some Solaris frames on the Cotic outlet page.
It sounds like you need a Cotic BFe. I've just swapped my Ragley Big Al build onto a new BFe frame and love it. The finish is beautiful and it has the 2 dropouts so you can switch between 27.5 and 29 and maintain the correct geometry. I'm running mine as a 29er with 160mm travel. It's ace.
Find a Pace RC627 frame and keep the 27.5"? People have run them with 29" too. Love mine, super capable and great for local runs as the short chain stays make it very easy to chuck about.
Bit of a stealth add but there’s a lovely Stanton switch9er in the classifieds for sale at the moment.
Bit of a stealth add but there’s a lovely Stanton switch9er in the classifieds for sale at the moment.
yes I’ve been looking at that!
It sounds like you need a Cotic BFe. I've just swapped my Ragley Big Al build onto a new BFe frame and love it. The finish is beautiful and it has the 2 dropouts so you can switch between 27.5 and 29 and maintain the correct geometry. I'm running mine as a 29er with 160mm travel. It's ace.
I did look but it’s designed to be 29 or mullet, and probably won’t work well with 27.5 on the front due to the BB drop. So I’d still need a 29” fork and front wheel
Might not be what you're after but worth a punt, I have one of these last army green BFe 27.5 frames in size Small with a Hope Headset that I was about to re-advertise if you did want to go down the route of a frame swap and stay 27.5? I ran it 130mm with 27.5x2.6" Forekasters and it was nice and nippy as a trail hardtail. I think I did put an advert in the classifieds a while back but planning to re-do that this week:
please can you drop me a message
"The BB drop on the Squatch seems very high (i.e. low!), do riders not find they’re pedal-striking all the time?!"
So my Bird Zero 29er has exactly the same drop 80mm I believe.
I had to get some shorter cranks and you do need to be mindful of it on natural trails, think sunken singletrack but the benefit is a lower COG which makes it feel like it's on rails going round corners.
I’d get a secondhand 27.5 frame and swap everything straight across. Loads of choice in the 150mm hardtail realm!
“So my Bird Zero 29er has exactly the same drop 80mm I believe.”
The Bird Zero 29 is ~80mm at sag, 68mm static with a 130mm fork. The Squatch is 80mm static with the same fork!
I find a 6mm difference in BB height pretty obvious on a hardtail as you can’t really raise or lower the BB by unweighting or loading the pedals, not like on a full-sus. With my Moxie part of the reason I went with the 160mm fork was to raise the BB to about 60mm drop, slightly higher than where my Zero AM was (but it’s longer and slacker and has big wheels so is more stable). 12mm would be a v big difference to me!
80mm BB drop is so low unless you’re only on groomed flow trails or steep but not nadgery stuff - it’s not just pedal strikes but break angle on log rolls etc.
It might be a shock going from a plush big ish travel full suss to a hardtail.
I’d look at a short travel fs with 120-130mm on the rear and 130/140mm on the front if it were me. Light ish trail casing tyres.
Go 27.5 for ultimate cheap - Bird Aeris 120 or Aether 7 / Nukeproof Reactor 275 type thing. I’ve found a few Aeris 120 whole bikes for under £1k. You could mix and match the best bits between the 2 bikes and sell the rest.
Another stif squatch vote and no confirmation bias as I don’t own one, but have ridden. Surprisingly versatile, stw had one on test and ended up putting 160mm forks on iirc. They corner like nothing else. Great fun.
There are a couple of lovely hardtails in the classifieds if you are the right height.
https://singletrackmag.com/advert/stif-squash-xl-29er-n/
I've been tempted by this, but already have a steel framed hardtail. At £650 you get a frame, wheels fork and the rest of the bits to sell to reduce your spend.
https://singletrackmag.com/advert/soul-for-sale/
Or less helpfully get an on one hello Dave. They don't match what you have asked for in any way other than they are ace 😁
£500 for a brand new titanium frame. If I don't have the steel one already that's what I'd buy.
There's a Moxie frame in the classifieds in medium/long if that's any good.
https://singletrackmag.com/advert/pipedream-moxie-mx3-medium-long/
Thank you 🙂
I demod a Squatch and loved it so have ordered one. A few second thoughts following the announcement Stif is closing but I figure the kit will all be covered by mfu warranty and I’ll get a spare set of dropouts just in case
Nice one, pretty sure Stif said their parent company Jungle will be covering warranties. I'd trust that, given their size and decent reputation for CS.
On One Scandal?
I've seen at least one with 27.5x2.8 tyres.
Not steel but TBH it's more comfortable than some steel bikes I've owned. I don't think there's been a ride-quality advantage to steel since the mid 2000's TBH, tubesets are just burlier hand heavier these days. I do miss the way steel frames shrugged off being dropped, thrown on a bike rack and generally abused though.
Full builds are of variable value depending on what sale they have on and what parts bin they've raided. At the moment they look like good VFM, but they've been better (both cheaper and better spec'd) in the past. The 35 fork is useable (there's a Pike upgrade option), the wheels are the right size, you'd probably want new tyres and a dropper straight away.
They take Vivup cycle to work vouchers, so even the full bike is going to be cheaper than most steel frames.
There's the Big Dog, Huntsman and Vandal if you really want something not-aluminum.
I've just built up a Banshee Enigma (not steel, sorry) which according to the blurb is happy to run with at 27.5 with a 150mm fork or with a 130mm 29 front end.
I've built it as a mullet with Fox 34's, Forkaster front/Rekon 2.6's and it definitely fits the fast trail hardtail theme.
I was a liitle worried about the supershort chainstays and climbing but have just done 200 loaded miles and it wasn't the chainstays that had me occasionally walking.
I have a coil Helm and 27.5 front wheel to try too for winter as I have 27.5 winter tyres in the shed.
Possibly worth a look.
The Squatch is a good shout, especially at the current price, I picked one up on the C2W scheme and really like it, it’s not as versatile as the Bird forge I had but it’s more fun blasting down stuff, I swapped the brakes out immediately for some Formula Cura 2 and put smaller tyres on as it felt sluggish.
They have an Ex display one for just over a grand which looks fab vfm.
Or on the Stif vibe, if you are keeping to 27.5 the Stif Morf would be a good shout, had one for years loved it, as comfy/hooligan Steel hardtail as you’d get