[Closed] What do it all hardtail...

Sounds like what they pitch the Stanton Slackline at

Here's my interpretation of what you're after. It really can do everything. Mines a 20" frame but they look much 'harder' in smaller frame sizes.

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Blue Pig, I use mine for thrashing around my local dh trails, to 30 mile xc rides around the Peak District.

Trailstar? At 5'7" you could probably get away with one for XC without needing a long stem, and they're really fun for jumping and DH on. I'm about 5'9" (short legs longer body/arms) and mine feels pretty good with a 50mm stem but would prefer something longer for the all day rides.. not that I really do those any more mind!

At 5'6" this is what I built up and ride for a very similar set of purposes.

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slainte 😀 rob

I was after exactly the same thing a few years back and I also got a 456 with a 100 - 130mm u-turn rev fork.. it did exactly what it said on the tin.. I used to clatter it down the rocky technical descents of east Dartmoor on a regular basis too..

bombproof..

I messed up the all-rounder handling by fitting a 150mm fork for extra gnar though..

I guess the more refined version would be a Cotic Bfe

I ride a charge blender, does everything brilliantly apart from climbs due to the slack seat angle...saying that it does climb its just no expert. Furthest ride I've done is 35 miles but I'm really not that fit, did Llandelga on it Sunday for the first time and it was super super fun!

I too ride hard and tend to lean towards gravity assisted bias ridding. Below is a link to my bike and me ridding it (in the one in purple)

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/8244950/

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/223512/

My other choices would be a small cotic BFE, stanton slackline of dialled prince Albert. A guy on here recently swapped a charge blender frame for a dialled prince Albert and says it everything the blender is with a better ability to pedal uphill.

i had a norco manik. 66 forks hope pro2s on mavics. hayes brakes. larson tt front tyre and minion rear. was great at everything execpt up hill but thats coz i had it set up single speed. amazing ride tho and even single speed i would rarely push up a hill

Last of the 725 PAs reduced to £249 😀

http://www.dialledbikes.bigcartel.com/product/dialled-bikes-prince-albert-reynolds-725-frames

I'm with colournoise, your riding sounds quite alot like mine. I got a BFe in small, I'm 5'8 and it fits really nicely. Mimes quite a heavy build but I wasn't really going for a lightweight bike, however I've never found myself finding it to be a pig on long rides. It's my only bike and I wouldn't swop it.

Mimes quite a heavy build but I wasn't really going for a lightweight bike, however I've never found myself finding it to be a pig on long rides. It's my only bike and I wouldn't swop it.

Mine comes in at around 29lb currently and is good for everything except steep switchback climbs when my stubbornness in not spacing down the forks to 130mm starts to tell a little. Apart from that it's a hoot.

slainte 8) rob

IME One frame works fine, but different builds' help considerably - so vary between a set of Thors and 36's in the front and tyres choices.

op, all these bikes sound great, and maybe adjustable travel forks would help with the versatility

@lovetoride - there are lots of threads like this (search BFe, 456, Prince Albert, On One 456 etc)

I bought a Cotic BFe for exactly the same useage and love, 60k XC (that's a record distance for me btw), Surrey Hills Trails, Peak District and it will for sure swallow up trail centre riding. As above adjustable forks (150/120) increase the versatility (although to be honest the bike rides really well in either setting, I often forget to increase the travel on the downs or decrease for climbing/xc and it's fine, you could equally put on a fixed travel fork in the middle of that range, e.g. 130 or 140).

You might also like to look at the Prince Albert, I bought one of these frames as a back up as threads here suggested the BFe may a harsh ride. That hasn't been my experience. I'd say you have a progression something like Soul/Prince Albert/BFe with a 456 similar to the BFe perhaps. When I started looking I had the Pig and Piglet on the list but favoured the Cotic for a variety of reasons in particular the support I got from Cy and Paul, Ragley just were at that same level of customer service. the Ragley owes I contacted all spoke very highly of their bikes. I don't like the way the 456 looks so discounted it purely on that basis.

To be fair there are lots of good choices out there.

Tbh, there's a fair bit of variation in the geometry of some bikes mentioned here. Different head angles, top tube lengths, chainstay lengths.
Whilst you will have fun on all of them as do it all bikes, some will be longer and slacker than others, and may be more suited to certain activities and less suited to others. eg The stanton's a different geo to the ragleys.
try to think about what's most important to you and what you'll be using it for most , pick the bike for that and accept it will be excellent most of the time.

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Mine does all that 🙂
Im eyeing up the fox 34 or bos deville as my next upgrade..

OK, this is probably the usage it will get:

Ragging in woods on singletrack, drops and jumps (2 - 3 hr blasts) - Once a week
DH Days (Inners/Alps) - 2 - 3 weekends a year
Trail centres - 5 weekend trips a year
30 mile XC trips - 1 - 2 times a month?!
Urban blasts (2hrs) - Once a week
Dual/4x - Once a month
Family riding on tow paths etc - Handful of times in the summer

What kind of jumps are you riding in your woods? If proper DJs then get something shorter and steeper as it'll make things a lot more fun. If they're more mellow kickers then something longer and slacker will probably be fine whilst probably being better for your other riding. all imo/ime of course!

No just natural jumps on the trails and drops about 3/4 feet.

There are so many ways to skin this cat. I still use my 2003 Orange Evo 2 with alot off changes. Still a do it all frame.

Evil Sovereign.
I have built this with gears, Singlespeed, 1x9, 69er Rigid and 29er Rigid (albeit with custom made rear dropouts)
Its my Carlsberg bike.
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If you're riding the DH/4X cleanly and not sending big doubles/gaps then even a Cotic Soul will handle that (and be lighter/smoother/quicker on your XC / trail centre stuff. If you're casing big landings then something stronger like a BFe/Sov/Slackline/Surge.

The fact you're only a larl un opens up a whole load of options. Obviously theres the cotics and that stanton but theres loads of decent dirt jump/4x frames that you'll be able to use with a longish seat post.

What about one of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55495

With some rebas and some decent wheels. Dead light, dead good fun. Better than some sort of fat, wallowy mess of a long travel hardtail like most people seem to suggest for this sort of application.

i`ve got an Intense Tazer HT with Sektors . can only use 1 ring up front tho . perfect for trail centres , DH , thrashing about on ...

From what you describe your riding to be, I'd go for something like...

Cotic BFe frame
Rockshox Revelations/Sektors set at 120/125mm of travel (any longer and the geometry starts to get a bit lethargic IMO)
Lightish wheels (something like Pro 2's on Flows)
2 sets of tyres, a light folding set for most of your riding, a set of Dual Ply's for your DH days

Keep the build reasonably light and it will be perfect for all day riding too, and should still be burly enough for most things. I had a BFe and made the mistake of going overly heavy on the build, and it was a bit of a pig at almost 32lb. Get it in at under 28lb with the lighter tyres fitted and it'll be fine for all day XC too. And don't be tempted to run silly long forks cos it really does screw the geometery up. Cotics handle best with a 120mm fork on for definite.

Have a look the the on-one 456
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FBOOC456V2/on_one_carbon_456_x9_mountain_bike_2013

loum - Member
op, all these bikes sound great, and maybe adjustable travel forks would help with the versatility

That's exactly what I did, and why my bike wins 😛

36 Talas (i love the fact that my fork legs are thicker than my frame tubes) generally set at their lowest (not sure if that's 110 or 120) for most stuff, with the option to increase the travel up to 150 if needed. It's not so much a 'do-it-all' hardtail but more of a take-it-anywhere bike, with a wazzing bias. If i go somewhere new and have no idea of what type of riding is on offer, it's the bike I take.

edit: TBH, there are better frames mentioned on here, but it's the overall build (and rider) that makes the difference.

@mboy - that is my bike, my sectors are 150/120. @lovetoride that setup wold be perfect for you I think.

A Carbon 456 would be perfect for what the OP describes. It's quite a bit lighter than the steel alternatives mentioned above, tough, dirt cheap,and will take a dropper post and a slackset. I run mine with a 130 fork and never really feel the need for more or less travel.

A Carbon 456 would be perfect for what the OP describes.

Nah it wouldnt. Far to long in the chainstays and the top tube.

Mboy talks sense, that's similar to my build. Sektors on a BFe frame are a good match IMO. I notice on your list you have bridle ways with the family too, I didn't know if the slow pootles with my kid nephew in tow would wind me up and the frame would be heavy and pigish, but forks wound down and locked out it's pretty comfy. You can just plod along. It's so much fun though on everything else, my ridings come on loads since having it... I love that bike...

I had a P7 before it never felt all that nimble to me, i didn't ride much DJ on it just a few kickers and stuff, it was a nice bike but I always felt a bit like it was lacking and had the urge to keep trying to tweak things.

Nah it wouldnt. Far to long in the chainstays and the top tube.

Which would be good on the "30 mile plus XC "

I use a Kona Caldera for the exact same thing as the OP wants. Over the years I've upgraded forks (RS Revs), wheels (Hope Hoops) and brakes (Avid Juicy) and other bits as parts wore out, and I absolutely love it. Only the desire to hit bigger DHs has led to me looking at a proper DH sled.

My Dialled Alpine with 1x9 and u-turn Pikes. Love it.

120mm bolted + tapered forks - as stiff as poss.
Longer front-centre / slackish HA (compared to XC/DJ bikes) / short top tube kind of balance
Short rear
A not too low bb
As small as possible for 2-3hrs XC with 50-60mm stem and long post
Proper tought wheels, sod the weight, stability is good and the bike should feel nippy anyway

Geometry and fork set up / stiffness is all, fork travel is not-much. If do-it-all includes jumps, 4x, street kind of stuff as well as drops and DH and you're a half-capable rider who can pump and hop a bike, tbh I'd ignore any recommendations for a long-fork hardtail. They don't jump well and can feel rubbish on really steep droppy / steppy stuff imo.

Just my 2p anyway.. best all-rounder I ever had for jumps, DH, 4X, XC, messing about on urban DHs etc was a late-90s Chameleon with 110mm Marzocchis, 1x9 wide-ratio and a 60mm stem. In comparison, longer-forked bikes never lived up to the all-rounder tag to me, especially on anything steep / droppy / steppy and were rubbish on jumps unless set up so that only 100mm got used. On wide-open rough DHs yes they help, so U-turn or similar can be good if reliable, but if you're a good rider a shorter-forked bike can be moved around enough anyway.

I have a Ragley mmmbop... Love this bike to bits, great when pointed down hill and climbs well too.

So much choice!

Liking the look of the PA and Bfe.

Sounds like the Bfe is a bit stronger but assume the PA can handle the odd day of DH and can comfortably handle drops etc?

honourablegeorge - Member

Sounds like what they pitch the [s]Stanton Slackline[/s] Unicorn at

120mm bolted + tapered forks - as stiff as poss.
Longer front-centre / slackish HA (compared to XC/DJ bikes) / short top tube kind of balance
Short rear
A not too low bb
As small as possible for 2-3hrs XC with 50-60mm stem and long post
Proper tought wheels, sod the weight, stability is good and the bike should feel nippy anyway

I don't know how heavy you are or how much you muscle your bike around but if you're bigger/grrrrerr I'd go for a frame that can take taper or 1.5" steerer forks (and go for thicker stanchions if the forks are long) - I notice my 1 1/8th Float 32s flex/twist much more than my Soul's frame does - I don't notice when riding, only from being too inquisitive when fettling but I wonder if I would notice on the trail if I had a more violent riding style or weighed more (I'm about 12.5 stone). I did notice a vast improvement in steering characteristics going to bolt-thru forks and Flow rims from QR forks and skinny XC rims though, so it's not like the Fox's are bendy!

Dialled Prince Albert. Good enough for [url= http://www.trans-provence.com/ ]THE DEFINITIVE ALL MOUNTAIN MTB RACE[/url][img] [/img]
This was a 520, took it all in it`s stride.

Had a 520 PA - great frame. Took it everywhere from long xc rides to uplift days and alps holidays and it certainly ticked all the boxes.

Have a NS Surge now:

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Absolutely love it. Very versatile and a real hoot for all types of riding.

So, my Sanderson with

If you built is as a[s]n XC[/s] trail bike, probably no more so than my HT with 120/20mm rebas, flows + rubber queens etc and I wouldn't call that a DJ/DH/ragging about/bit of proper XC all-rounder either )

I meant more of a DJ-4x style bike in a larger size. Something designed to be used with the saddle down more than up. edit, like that one ^ there

🙂

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Which would be good on the "30 mile plus XC "

Awesome. Good once per month then. Definitely worth it.