Which hardtail for bikepacking for someone 160cm?

larfingiraffe

I recently attempted the King Alfreds Way on a gravel bike, only to find my hardtailled companions had a far easier time of it and spent a great deal less time walking the bike than I. So I'm looking for a hardtail with a particular eye to bikepacking, not really into technical trail stuff (too old to want to fall off regularly) but also want to do day trips across country/trails so need to be able to do tree routes, hop onto bridges across streams, wet chalk downhill with fist-size rocks etc etc. Looking for front sus rather than rigid forks (although ability to fit a rigid fork a bonus should I decide to drop the extra weight for less gnarly tours).

Since I last bought a mountain bike things have changed a bit, and now geometries are all unrelatable to the numbers I once knew. In particular the reach which is so different to road bikes. The modern trend of long bike reach + short stem means less scope for post-purchase adjustment.
I'm 160cm tall with a floor-to-crotch measurement of 77cm, so slightly leggy with an ape distance of 163cm, and fairly flexible but want to ride all day long (possibly 40++ miles a day). Many lovely bikes I believe are simply too long for me - but how long would people think was too long in the reach? What should be my target reach figure?

I'm considering a small Surly Karate Monkey with 27.5 as it ticks most of my boxes and has reach 402cm/standover 758cm. Silly idea? In the right ball-park? Bang on target? What do you think?

JBA

I have been using my Mk1 Bird Zero for bike packing over the summer and find it to be just right. It's NOT long, low and slack and that suits me fine.



I am thinking of changing it for something newer and the Surly Karate Monkey is on my list of potential bikes. I don't want a bike with a slack head angle as that would be horrible for all-day rides on a loaded bike.
The Trek 1120 is another bike I like the look of but it is expensive.
At the other end of the cost scale the Sonder Frontier looks very good.

The problem at the moment is getting hold of a bike though. Most dealers are out of stock and the 2021 bikes haven't started to arrive yet. If you can source a Karate Monkey then I'd go for it.

JBA

I have been using my Mk1 Bird Zero for bike packing over the summer and find it to be just right. It's NOT long, low and slack and that suits me fine.



I am thinking of changing it for something newer and the Surly Karate Monkey is on my list of potential bikes. I don't want a bike with a slack head angle as that would be horrible for all-day rides on a loaded bike.
The Trek 1120 is another bike I like the look of but it is expensive.
At the other end of the cost scale the Sonder Frontier looks very good.

The problem at the moment is getting hold of a bike though. Most dealers are out of stock and the 2021 bikes haven't started to arrive yet. If you can source a Karate Monkey then I'd go for it.