Long travel hardtail frames

swod1

Recently rebuilt my hard tail bike on to a decent 2nd hand boardman frame which is nicer to ride than my old trek but now fancying something which is more slacker geometry and can run some longer travel forks 140-150 and maybe add a reverb dropper post.

Been looking at frames and quite fancy a Dartmoor hornet frame due to low cost but not sure what to do as mates are all saying get a full suss bike.

Would I be wasting my time rebuilding on to another frame, I ride mostly xc and medium trail use nothing overly technical but have been to Peak District and liked some of the downhill runs that I managed to stay on my bike.

For what I ride I'm thinking a full suss bike would be a waste of money and just get another frame and use parts over from current bike with just adding some longer travel forks and reverb for any future riding that gets a bit out of my comfort zone lol.

What do you guys reckon I should do?

kevinharley

I moved from a Boardman Team HT to an OnOne 45650b HT a couple of years ago. Like you, was considering a FS, but couldn't afford a new one, and eventually decided that for the riding I do, a long travel HT will do all I want or need of it. The OnOne is much slacker than the Boardman, and with longer forks and a dropper, made a significant difference to my confidence and what I was capable of descending. It handles stuff in the Peaks / Lakes / Wales really well. Being a HT, you get battered about a bit more and you need to watch the rear kicking you off line at times, but if you're used to and confident on a HT, that won't hold you back.

Its all about choice / funds / what you want ... for me, a long-travel HT is currently all I need as my only MTB, and it will do all you need of it in terms of the kind of riding you do.

swod1

Yeah, I can afford a full suss but just feel like it wouldn't get used as much as it should.

The boardman frame is nice but now fancy something more liveler.

Looked at Stanton, ragley, Dartmoor and cotic frames.

The hornet frame is 650b compatible so can use my perfectly fine hope 26" wheels for a while longer but not sure how well it would run with some 650b pikes though?

poah

I've got a hornet that I used to run with 160mm pikes, its a great bike and handles the rough stuff well. if you ran 650b pikes with 26 inch wheels it would give the same geo as 160mm with 26. I've also got an FS bike. I like both but prefer my FS. depending on the cash you have, a hornet is pretty cheap from hibike.de (I got mine there) and is a worthy upgrade from your current bike.

The Rookie

Check out the on-one deedar as well, similar weight to the Stanton/BFe/Pig but a lot cheaper.

ste_t

I've got a 456 evo in the classifieds that would suit if you fancy a peek.

My LBS (Slam69) stock Dartmoor bikes so worth checking them out, lovely looking bikes

swod1

POAH wrote:

I've got a hornet that I used to run with 160mm pikes, its a great bike and handles the rough stuff well. if you ran 650b pikes with 26 inch wheels it would give the same geo as 160mm with 26. I've also got an FS bike. I like both but prefer my FS. depending on the cash you have, a hornet is pretty cheap from hibike.de (I got mine there) and is a worthy upgrade from your current bike.

Yeah I was favouring this due to the cost. The hornet is a aluminium frame right and how does it feel weight wise, this boardman is rather light which is probably why its good at being thrown into corners easily.

I'll probably use some 140-150 650b pikes with the 26inch wheels as currently using some 120mm recons that I acquired cheaply which are fine but more travel would be nice.

Do you need to use different wheel dropouts to use 26 or 650b wheels?

Also is the dropper post cable routing external?

poah

the dropper routing is odd as it has a cut out for a stealth in the seat tube but nothing else. I've got an old standard reverb on there. I'm currently running mine with 120 manitou minutes as the pikes are on my supressor. frame is alu and you don't need different drop outs but its a 12x135 at the back. I don't have any carbon parts on the bike so it was about 28lb with the pikes. if you put lighter parts on in you could shave a few grams. frame is 2.2kg