I'm going to 100% agree with you on this one, a HardTail with a STA steeper than 74* static is not a pleasant all day bike unless you only ride in the mountains and go up and down, on long pedally days with a good mix of flat, rolling, mild climbing etc, no bueno.
\[EDITED to ADD\] I love my rigid Kona Unit, it's such a fun bike, always makes me smile, even if after the ride I'm more achy than if I was on my FS and rode slower, always, always fun and more capable than most would expect.
Also, own a '08 Monkey, Banshee Paradox and those super short rear ends just aren't for me, have always used/run the 10mm Monkey Nuts to keep the stays about 17.1", run the Unit with the stays slammed all the way back to fit 29x3" rubber in there, barely, but actually leave it there when running 29x2.6" as well, although 5mm shorter wouldn't hurt, makes mud clearance actually a thing.
Sept. 24, 2020, 6:03 a.m. - MountainBikeBarbados .
I'm going to 100% agree with you on this one, a HardTail with a STA steeper than 74* static is not a pleasant all day bike unless you only ride in the mountains and go up and down, on long pedally days with a good mix of flat, rolling, mild climbing etc, no bueno. \[EDITED to ADD\] I love my rigid Kona Unit, it's such a fun bike, always makes me smile, even if after the ride I'm more achy than if I was on my FS and rode slower, always, always fun and more capable than most would expect. Also, own a '08 Monkey, Banshee Paradox and those super short rear ends just aren't for me, have always used/run the 10mm Monkey Nuts to keep the stays about 17.1", run the Unit with the stays slammed all the way back to fit 29x3" rubber in there, barely, but actually leave it there when running 29x2.6" as well, although 5mm shorter wouldn't hurt, makes mud clearance actually a thing.