[Closed] which 29er trail hardtail frame for 120mm fork

Trek Stache

Stanton Sherpa,no contest!

Vitus only go up to large so if 6 foot plus not an option really

+1 for the Sherpa, absolutely brilliant, mind you it's my first 29er hardtail but it is awesome.

What size you after? Currently have a small sized FF29 frameset for sale if you were interested...

It was my GF's and has now been replaced by a Stanton Sherpa FWIW.

Cotic Solaris?

Kev7654 here's mine
[IMG] [/IMG]

I've owned a Solaris and a Sherpa and the Sherpa is fantastic, much preferred to the Cotic

I've owned a Solaris and a Sherpa and the Sherpa is fantastic, much preferred to the Cotic

What is it about the Sherpa that you prefer?

Cotic Solaris,steel is real and angles spot on.

No, buy one like mine! 😀

The FF29 is not just a good fast hardtail, although it is really good at that. I've used it for some reasonably long days (West Highland Way and some big routes in the Cairngorms) in the last year, as well as Puffer solo, and it coped brilliantly. It's also very capable for technical trails - the geometry just feels 'right' to me on tech stuff.

Probably quite easy to grab a good one secondhand, as you say, as they've been out for a while. I think I paid £200 for mine, and it was as good as new

Zealous Division? Gets rave reviews for everything other than comfort.

Singular Buzzard
Canfield Nimble 9
Canfield Yelli Screamy
Commencal - something or other
Older Santa Cruz Highball (latest version now sits as more of a XC race machine in SC range - I think)

I forgot there are a couple of Konas too - the Taro and Honza(?)

I've owned a Solaris and a Sherpa and the Sherpa is fantastic, much preferred to the Cotic

Quite agree with this sentiment (will go into it in a moment), but the OP isn't looking to spend £500 on a frame it seems... For his money, a 2nd hand FF29 would make a superb investment.

As to why the Sherpa is better than the Solaris? It's one of those "Team Sky Incremental Gains" kind of things. The Solaris is a very nice frame for sure, but ride a Sherpa next to it and you'd buy the Sherpa every time. There is a fair bit more mud/tyre clearance on the Sherpa which matters to a lot, but even ignoring that, the it's the difference in feel, primarily because of the geometry, that makes the Sherpa really shine. The head angle is just over 1 degree slacker (and to be honest, I wouldn't recommend a fork above 110mm travel myself having tried it, 100-110mm is optimal and plenty) and the seat angle is a degree steeper. My honest opinion the first time I tried a Sherpa was that it feels exactly like you might imagine a 29er 4X bike would be, should anyone ever build one.

Zealous Division? Gets rave reviews for everything other than comfort.

Awesome as it seems to be, it's another £500 frame sadly!

Genesis High Latitude worth a look? Stock bikes come with 100mm forks but I've seen frames built up around 120/130mm forks. Seems like a good no nonsense option. I've actually just ordered a frame so will let you know when it turns up.

What is it about the Sherpa that you prefer?

I agree with what Mboy states above but also add that the bb is lower as well along with shorter stays which makes it feel much more agile than what it possibly should be. I do have some slight spec differences though, revs on Solaris compared to Pikes on Sherpa but both 120mm and an XL as opposed to a L Sherpa.

Thanks all. Am loving the look of the Sherpa but unfortunately the price isn't realistic for me right now. So no love out there for the on-one parkwood or vitus sentier 290?

Vitus only go up to large so if 6 foot plus not an option really

No idea how tall the OP is, but he is looking for a 29er and the Sentier 290 is available in XL

over budget again but the new version of the transition trans am looks good

I've not ridden one, but recently considered it when I broke my clockwork frame. If I was looking for a trail-focused hardtail that was fun, cheap and could be used with a longer fork (120-140) I would go for the vitus sentier 290. The complete bike with a 140 fork has been well reviewed and ticks a lot of boxes for me for not much money. The fact it comes in XL is also a big plus but may not be relevant.

A friend of mine rides a Parkwood when he's not ragging his Mojo HD. He rides bl88dy hard and fast, hits pretty sizeable jumps and it handles it well. I was considering one to replace my Scandal, but now going full suss instead.

warns74 - Member

Vitus only go up to large so if 6 foot plus not an option really

No idea how tall the OP is, but he is looking for a 29er and the Sentier 290 is available in XL

Sorry you are right, pretty sure they never used to (?).

Agree it's a great choice.

I like my parkwood - for £199 hard to see much better value if building up from a frame only.

Coomber - It's the usual sizing story! The sentier VR (27.5) only goes up to a large. The newer sentier 290 (29er) goes up to XL.

What size and do you need a fork too? I've got my '13 Large/19" Orange Clockwork (no headset fitted) sat doing nothing and a130mm (can be reduced to 120mm) Revelation RL 20mm but I'd want to shift together and ideally collection/meet up (Manchester).

Thanks again all. Am 6ft 2 but like my frames on the smaller side. Currently I have two 19" and one 20.5" and it's the larger that's getting broken down to provide parts and fund's for New build. An effective tt of around 620 would be good - it's what appeals to me about the sentier 290 - large would be long enough for me but at 19" seat post gives plenty room for dropper.

I had a large parkwood for a while built up with 140mm revs. It was a cracking ride, just a bit small for me at 6'4", perfect size for blasting the downs, just a bit small for my liking for the alongs and the ups. If they brought out a bigger size I would get another one in a heartbeat.

My trek stache that I have for sale has a 620 ett. I'd split it for frame and forks too

Got a medium Kona Honzo frame - tatty paint but otherwise good. 610mm ETT.
Any good? Email in profile.

Stooge with a 120 fork is a beast and works brilliantly with short back end for a really aggressive cornering bike...the new ti version with the oversize headtube increases fork choice massively and looks luuurverly

I've got the Fireline, the Parkwood is essentially the alu version. Absolutely love it, you can smash it down stuff at whatever rate you like. I regret going for the 18" at 5'11", it's shorter in the tt than I expected so I need to use a 70mm stem, but it's brilliant.

@mboy do you still have the ff29 for sale?

Still got it. It's a small, was my GF's

Email is mbonnes AT gmail DOT com if it's of interest... Cheers

Mboy, ygm