Great review and may help others to think twice before dismissing alloy hardtails as being too harsh. The original '12 Honzo was a game changer for me as it was first 29er I ever rode after years of hating them that I liked. I had a '15 Honzo that ran as a local trail basher and built up a million different ways. On the alloy hardtail note, I have to say the sleeper is the Banshee Paradox V3. I picked up one of those frames this summer on a whim from the rave reviews it has garnered. I first built it up with parts bin stuff, but ended up liking it so much I put a nice kit on it. The hype is real and their designed flex points do as reported making it an insanely comfortable ride, smoother in fact than the Honzo it replaced. Lastly as Mike mentioned hardtails can make you write checks your body cannot cash. I have a Zeb 150 on my Banshee and it basically will do just about anything I could do on my big bike, but the tail will slap you if you get sloppy through fast chunk. So much fun though.
Oct. 13, 2022, 5:55 a.m. - Raymond Epstein
Great review and may help others to think twice before dismissing alloy hardtails as being too harsh. The original '12 Honzo was a game changer for me as it was first 29er I ever rode after years of hating them that I liked. I had a '15 Honzo that ran as a local trail basher and built up a million different ways. On the alloy hardtail note, I have to say the sleeper is the Banshee Paradox V3. I picked up one of those frames this summer on a whim from the rave reviews it has garnered. I first built it up with parts bin stuff, but ended up liking it so much I put a nice kit on it. The hype is real and their designed flex points do as reported making it an insanely comfortable ride, smoother in fact than the Honzo it replaced. Lastly as Mike mentioned hardtails can make you write checks your body cannot cash. I have a Zeb 150 on my Banshee and it basically will do just about anything I could do on my big bike, but the tail will slap you if you get sloppy through fast chunk. So much fun though.