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No MAX, no Rockets, just good ole 27.5 Flares.
And let me know what you think of them, your typical riding & locations, version, shock, builds & pics if you can. Rate it up and down. I'd be coming from a 120mm HT.
I'm trying to track down a small & be keen to gather some intel.
Cheers.
💥
It's not 2010, get a Max.
The lastest version Flare was 2020, the geo is pretty spot on, my current wheels & forks are 27.5" and I only have a budget for a second hand frame.
I had a ride on one at a demo day - felt very similar to my Soul mk5 (which is great btw) but with a bit more squidge at the back - it was a bit faster than the Soul on the way down (according to strava). After I rode it I picked it up in the car park and was surprised that it felt heavier than how it rode. Sorry no pictures
The missus has one. In small. No you can't have it...
Hers has 140mm Helms, Trailwides, Tech3 M4 brakes, XT/XX1 drivetrain and nice finishing kit.
Good luck getting hold of one - there was only the one batch, so they're kinda rare.
I'd have one as a "one MTB for everything", but it's too close to my mkV Soul to be a complementary fullsus, so I've got a Rocket Max instead. I did try a Flare on a demo day and thought it was a really nice, balanced, nippy, playful bike. As soon as you go to the 29ers you lose some of that nippiness simply from the sheer mass of the wheels with sensible trail tyres on - faster yes, more stable yes, but not any more fun.
@JonEdwards - Nice. Thanks for the input, if it becomes available as a frame, give me a shout 👍
There a medium on eBay right now,. Sure you can't size up a little?
slackboy - yea, definitely a small. eBay's currently got a small Rocket & medium Flare 🙈
get the Rocket !!
I had a small soul, but needed a medium Flare.
Great bike, pedals better than the weight suggests, only niggle for me was the bottle cage mount wasn't really useable (rubbed the shock).
I'm riding a 2017 medium. It was my only bike for trail / xc loops, peaks, Cannock, Yorkshire Dales etc until recently when I got a gravel bike. I love mine. It is nippy, climbs and descends well. Although I hasten to add that I have not ridden anything newish with the long low slack thing.
The 650b wheels work for me. I feel like 29's fight back and don't want to get involved. I get 12 -18 months out of swingarm bearings and sometimes you don't need to do them all. That's riding off road all year. They are easy to do. Use a torque wrench though and loctite. Cotic support is brilliant and they are so helpful.
Having a bottle on the m frame is tricky.
Fabric bottles go on but can launch off when full. Fidlock system doesn't go. Neither does side load cages. I'm mainly running a utilitarian set up, Yaris, slx and xt and JRA wheels. Have never weighed it!