NSMB - 2015 – Hardtail Thread

While your requests are cool and I totally agree with them, the business case for such a bike would be hard to justify at the Rocky of today.

I very much pine for a steel hardtail with modern geo and features. A few others as well, but I doubt more than 50 people world-wide would for over the cash for such a bike.

well, why not run a seriously cool ad commemorating about twenty years of shredding the gnar, along with a nice paintjob of lots of Triple Crown Logos morphing into Maple leaves, wait - that belongs to nmsb.

I think you underestimate the power of the steel hardtail and how deep some pockets of those are who are old enough to remember the glory days in the 90s, at least in Europe.

I have never owned a Rocky. That would be one killer bike. Imagine…a bike as shredtastic as my Stylus just with bigger wheels. :drool:

This is why custom builders exist.

I am designing my next one at 65hta with 140mm fork. 44 headtube, 12x142, internal dropper. Still playing with reach numbers.

pfft. profitability. where's the passion? if i were at the helm i'd be tossing out the occasional no profit intended blue sky project to keep the stoke burning. fab them internally (does rocky still have build capability here?), and have fun. let the kids run wild with the tools [HTML_REMOVED] ideas.

but yeah, i hears that. there are a handful of companies (or builders, rather) that seem to be making a go building frames like this, but they feed very few mouths.

was thinking tossing a -2 angleset on the new steel honzo w/ 650 wheels might be interesting. perhaps plump tires will fit…

While your requests are cool and I totally agree with them, the business case for such a bike would be hard to justify at the Rocky of today.

I very much pine for a steel hardtail with modern geo and features. A few others as well, but I doubt more than 50 people world-wide would for over the cash for such a bike.

There are also a number of boutique builders in this space already. Why would Rocky spend any dollars developing it. You are probably right, Rocky would likely sell 50.

I have had two modern slack static bikes and yes, they did steepen while riding, but the steering did flop. My Chromag with a still relatively steep HA @ 68 is easily as capable as the 65 deg counter parts and it climbs far better.

new from breadwinner (they had that bad otis frame so many people were drooling over). not sure of the angles, but the bb on this one seems lower. and, of course, BIG TIRES

looks good. while i've yet to wrap my head around + tires on duallies, i'd be willing to give it a go on a ht for the extra rear squish. perhaps 26+ to keep things relatively snappy.

I believe Rob @ Whishart could be that man.

Yep. Mine's around 65.5 HA with a 150mm fork. Someone mentioned floppy steering, and I initially had that with a RS Revelation but the steering with a Suntour Auron with moar offset is perfect. Stable, fast and predicable at the same time. I did toy with a slacker HA when I was figuring out the geometry but pussied out. Maybe in a couple of years I'll see if Rob will build another one and if so I'll go all out. I guess by then 24" wheels with 9" tires will be all the rage.

Rocky Mountain would do better with steel hardtails if they didn't put out a half-assed Taiwanese frame with generic tubing, unremarkable geometry, heavy weight and high price (Blizzard LT). Shame as it's not like they don't have experience with great hardtails, but the current company has forgotten all about their history. Plenty other companies do well with them. RMB would sell more than 50 if they didn't suck.

Flicking through the beginning of this thread and it appears that my Facebook links have been eaten, so here's a snap of my Whishart on it's way to destroying the Sea Wall while giving the hound some exercise.

Flicking through the beginning of this thread and it appears that my Facebook links have been eaten,

Yup, FB links are temporary, it isn't a good place to share pics from.

Yep. Mine's around 65.5 HA with a 150mm fork. Someone mentioned floppy steering, and I initially had that with a RS Revelation but the steering with a Suntour Auron with moar offset is perfect. Stable, fast and predicable at the same time. I did toy with a slacker HA when I was figuring out the geometry but pussied out. Maybe in a couple of years I'll see if Rob will build another one and if so I'll go all out. I guess by then 24" wheels with 9" tires will be all the rage.

Rocky Mountain would do better with steel hardtails if they didn't put out a half-assed Taiwanese frame with generic tubing, unremarkable geometry, heavy weight and high price (Blizzard LT). Shame as it's not like they don't have experience with great hardtails, but the current company has forgotten all about their history. Plenty other companies do well with them. RMB would sell more than 50 if they didn't suck.

Are you allowed to say what yours cost? Wishart could be the route to take for a custom fat bike since I can't get wide enough tires with my first choice builder, and no threaded BB on my second.

Are you allowed to say what yours cost? Wishart could be the route to take for a custom fat bike since I can't get wide enough tires with my first choice builder, and no threaded BB on my second.

Probably not to be honest. I knew Rob before he built the frame, and my frame was only the second MTB frame that he built. You could drop him a line via his website. Judging by what you are looking for he'd either be really excited……or run for the border :D

http://whishart.com/

Got it pretty much built up now. Just needs a Rad'r cage and going to put a Race Face dropper on it since the reverb is a 30.9 and it needs to be a 31.6.

Custom built frame by Mike Truelove. Headangle is 64.5 and BB is 12.4"
Parking lot test says it handles very nicely and feels a lot like my Nomad which was the goal.
Trail test will have to wait til my collarbone heals. CT scan this week to see if I need surgery :(

Got it pretty much built up now. Just needs a Rad'r cage and going to put a Race Face dropper on it since the reverb is a 30.9 and it needs to be a 31.6.

Custom built frame by Mike Truelove. Headangle is 64.5 and BB is 12.4"
Parking lot test says it handles very nicely and feels a lot like my Nomad which was the goal.
Trail test will have to wait til my collarbone heals. CT scan this week to see if I need surgery :(

That is gorgeous… great geo numbers. Enjoy.

Very nice!