Dartmoor Hornet frame - any good?

dirkpitt74

Thinking of swapping the bits of my current 26'er HT onto a new frame and making use of the spare 140mm Fox's I have to make something a bit more trail than xc.

The Dartmoor Hornet looks interesting - anyone got one? Not sure it it'll be too slack though.

The Primal looked like a good compromise but they're out of 26'er versions.

Budget for frame is £200.

The Rookie

Head angle on 160's is 66.5, 140's will be about 67-67.5, those numbers are the same as a Stanton Slackline which is a very popular longer travel trail HT.

poah

great bike and cheap too - got mine from hibike for about 160 last year

swod1

hornet is a good choice as you can run either 26 or 650B wheels which has tempted me as I have some spare bits after building up my mega tr.

dirkpitt74

Will be running this one as 26" if I get one.

Not sure on size though as the M looks quite small at 16" but the M 18" seems quite long EET - about 10mm longer than my L Mega but the reach is about 11mm shorter.

Hornet/Primal:


Mega TR:

The Rookie

Don't forget that ETT and reach will lengthen slightly (reach more than ETT) compared to those numbers as your forks are 140 not 160, they will also change even more when you compare them suspension sagged as the Hornet will pivot around the rear wheel contact while the rear Suspension on the Mega will make it drop (almost but not quite) in a level manner.

Its hard to explain the Reach difference given the ETT difference and that the seattube angles are fairly similar (73 v 73.5 and only a 15mm difference in BB drop - that gives an expected difference of about 5mm shorter on the Hornet) and HT stackheights the same, looks like one is calculating differently to the other and it's not that large a 'real' difference. The Stack will be longer on the Hornet due to the BB drop on the Mega of 15mm less, but of course comparing with suspension sagged the Mega would probably bring that back to about the same as the BB drops more on an FS (obviously).

Ideally you need to do some trig' calculations and confirm the reach value for the Hornet and at the same time correcting for the 20mm shorter A2C effect (nominal, your forks could be anywhere from 10-30mm different to whatever A2C they are using for a 160) AND with it sagged by say 25%. Measure your Mega sagged rather than relying on the numbers!

poah

The ETT on my hornet is longer than the suppressor but reach is 6mm longer on the trannie. They ride differently sitting down but quite similar standing up. CS are shorter on the hornet too.

I would get the large, the medium is like a small in most other brands. Nice thing is the headset is integrated and the BB comes faced.

Its a fast trail bike and quite stable when the going gets steep.