[Closed] What lightish HT (xc/downcountry)?

What sort of budget?

New or used only?

You're describing most good quality modern hardtails there.

My Marin is modern ish geometry, lightish (@26lbs), 120mm travel forks, a lovely ride feel and generally takes on everything I throw at it, from roads to Munro's.

@Normalman the Dial is £399 so I would hope well below that. Used is usually much better value IMO.

Thanks @mattoutandabout I know Cannondale frames are among the lightest mass made aluminium ones, and I like light Sonder say their Dial is very light but that seems to mean about 2kg these days, when even 2 decades ago 1.4kg was achievable.

Good point, Al. My most recent HT is a real tank compared to one I bought in 2005. It is much more competent down hill but certainly pedals up hill a lot worse. Magazine reviews no longer fixate on weight as they did at one time, in fact we are now told weight doesn't really matter. How did this switch happen? As a gentleman of advanced years weight certainly does matter to me.
I suspected it is down to the increased influence of gravity based off shoots of the sport as opposed to XC. There will always be an XC type scene but I don't think we will see the range of lighter bikes we used to

Specialized Chisel? Frame is around 1600g and geo is slackish.

I've seen some people put on 120 forks to make it more capable. Plus a whole bike is not bad value although frame only is steep!

Where do you see the spoon being fitted?

yeah the chisel is on my radar (similar brief to Al's)

Chisel is on my radar too but where can you actually buy one??

I've just picked up a Polygon Syncline from Go Outdoors - in stock, Shimano 12 speed and carbon frame. Might be worth considering?

I think weight is less relevant these days. 29ers seem to maintain speed more easily although they'll take more effort to get up to speed. My 29er is also much better on technical climbs.

My most recent HT is a real tank compared to one I bought in 2005. It is much more competent down hill but certainly pedals up hill a lot worse. Magazine reviews no longer fixate on weight as they did at one time, in fact we are now told weight doesn’t really matter. How did this switch happen?

It’s cheaper and easier to build them heavier and easy to justify under the label of reliability and less warranty issues etc. Like you it does irritate that bikes, with the same intended purpose, are getting heavier. The media understandably is close to the manufacturers and arguably part of their marketing. There is definitely a mutual benefit between the 2 so who wants to rock the boat?

I remember the glory days of super light Al frames and I seem to recall a lot of failures as well. I had a Klein for a while, and thought it pretty awful to be honest, very stiff, not comfortable although I was on a small - on a large it might have worked better.
If you want a light hardtail then go carbon - I had a Scott 930 that was the best bike to ride I've owned ( was stolen)

Those Polygons look good value - must be a cheap heavy carbon frame?

I also see some Boardmans in aluminium around that price, they have been light frames when I have seen them.

Are Suntour/RS Recon forks and SX eagle ok or junk?

I was looking at hard tails etc
I bought a KTM x- strada gravel bike and it seems ace so far

Dial is very much xc angles. 'Downcountry' bikes seen to be the same angles as trail bikes, so how about On-one Scandal? They can be picked up with 'blemishes' on eBay for under £200, are just over 2kg and ride really well.

Review here

Interesting @clink cheers - I can't take him seriously but that looks to be a sensible option (there's too much choice even at this price point alone!). Agreed re dial after some research - it's angles are close to what I already have.

Where are they £200?

They come up on Plentx's eBay store. Mine was meant to have a paint blemish - it is a tiny pin-prick that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't told it was there!

Is it change for changes sake? Do you know someone with a bike you could borrow? I love my Zero but you don't need that kind of bike for xc rides. Are you going to be going to the Valley to ride steeper trails? If you're worried about weight are you going to ruin the bike just to make it lighter? I wouldn't run less than 2.5 tyres on mine, they're heavy but add so much to the quality of the ride. Wide tyres need wider rims. Big wheels need a bigger, stiffer fork. I now consider a dropper post pretty essential too. These things all add weight but make things a lot more fun. That's why I ride nowadays, to have fun.

Good points @stevenmenmuir, it is to find something different/new and get some inspiration. Part of light is that I like to ride from my door and the Pantlands are 45m away on roads...

Where are they £200

They come up on Plentx’s eBay store

link

Phil Ball selling a Large Scandal for £260 on Pinkbike, Al.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3189290/

I have a Chisel.

The frame is indeed light, but sadly, to achieve the good value in the complete bike, they used some super-heavy components.

I considered the frame only , but really didn't like the colour options, preferring the red of the Comp build. Also, the drivetrain and brakes on the full build are pretty good.

The Judy fork was utterly awful and well over 2kg. The wheels were 2.1kg.
The rigid seatpost was heavier than the Divine SL dropper that replaced it!

Mine is now about 22lb but a lot has been changed. SIDs, carbon bits, 1400g wheels etc. It was about 29lb as standard.

That said, it is a fantastic ride. the sort of bike that makes you want to got at everything full speed, with eyes on stalks. Fast and exciting but exhausting after three hours.

@Rickos I just logged in to update that I bought that exact frame! On one had a raw one a bit cheaper but I thought that would have a low sell-on value if I didn't get on with it. I can build it up cheaply with existing parts to get a flavour.

@gingerflash cheers - is it just me or did you disappear, for like, a decade?

@cynic-al. i did indeed. family meant i didn't have time for it. gave up mountain biking almost completely, switched to road. now back again when time allows.

The rigid seatpost was heavier than the Divine SL dropper that replaced it!

Gingerflash has a dropper!. The times are indeed a'changing 🙂

Have we mentioned something like a sonder transmitter TI, possibly more in the trail bike category, might want something more like a dial or broken road
on one have some nice titanium deals at the moment too
not sure if these are light or potentially too aggressive

I have a Chisel.

The frame is indeed light, but sadly, to achieve the good value in the complete bike, they used some super-heavy components.

ahhh...this is good info but also makes me a bit disappoint. I thought the full bike looked a bit too good to be true. The frame only looked a bit pricey to me, unless people are seeing it discounted somewhere else?

Kind of makes me look at something like the carbon whippet in a new light

I think the Chisel frame is probably about right at £1099. It's pretty fancy and certainly light for aluminium.

To build a full bike for £1600, some serious compromises had to be made. In my view, they went much too far.

Full SLX, a base SID or Reba, some 1600g wheels, some lighter alloy contact points, and a price of about £2500, would have made much more sense.

If they'd had better colours, I'd have bought the frame and built it from there. The current colours of frame-only are much better than what was available when i got mine.

My main recent biking regret was not getting a pre Covid/Brexit chisel from bike24. Think the red mid range one with Judy Gold was about £850 delivered and the top level with Reba in light blue was about £1300.

I think you're mistaken on price.
The 2019 Comp X1 (red, Judy Gold, SLX) was £1500.
The Expert (pale blue, Reba, NX) was £1900.
Other years' models have been similarly priced.
I don't believe there's been a model under 1000, not least because the frame-only has always been around that price.