NSMB - 2020 - Hardtail Thread

Halfway into February and no hardtail thread yet? Blasphemy!

I'll kick it off then, still on the old Chromag Surface, no boost or other nonsense, clean and simple :)  It had a bit of a makeover since 2019 marked the year I finally got a full suspension in the form of a Transition Smuggler and I initially used most of my Chromag parts.  Slowly built this back up over the winter, somewhat of a buy/sell budget build but came out pretty well and stoked to have it back together!

I went a little lighter on the build since this will now mostly be used for longer, mellower training rides.  Changed the Fox36 - 150mm up front to a MRP Ribbon Air set to 130mm for now.  Probably going with some lighter, faster tires for spring and summer as well, it'll be more of a XC rig for now albeit a capable one.  Might even try some bikepacking?!

Hope we get this thread rolling again, always fun to see the hardtails out there!

Cheers!

Not sure why I can never get pictures to work on this forum.. Edit: looks like they show up now..

Looks fun!

I did the opposite of you with my hardtail michel:

• 2012 Kona Steely built with old DH and Enduro parts.
• Old coil-sprung boxxer cut to 135mm + a newer Charger damper.
• Mavic EX521 rims laced to Hope Pro 2s
• Shimano 1x10 with Zee shifter/derailleur
• Saint Cranks
• Specialized Hillbilly DH tires that are brutal for climbing but great for descending
• Currently running Code brakes with 1 Elixer lever, but will be putting TRPs DH brake on soon

2019 was the year of the hardtail for me. I've ridden lots of rigid bikes and HTs in the past, but the modern geo HT is a revelation. So capable and so much fun. I was thinking I'd use it more for bikepacking and longer gravel rides, but it gets grabbed for lots of tech riding and gives up a lot less to my FS bikes than expected. Sure when the smashing chunk and speed gets maxed the HT starts to falter vs. the FS bike, but that leaves a lot of potential riding for the HT.

And all that ^^^ is with 29 x 2.6" Rekons which I think of as my "touring" tires. Next winter I'll put on some real knobbies and I'm keen to see what I can do with this bike and way more traction. For now I'm using it a lot to ride from home to the trails and back. Racking up a 50km loop with my normal shred in the middle. So the Rekons are pretty sweet for that. Maxxis has a 29 x 2.8" Rekon+ tire just coming out I'm excited to try for a bit more cushion.

I'm glad I ordered a custom bike from Peter at Daambuilt. It turned out even better than expected. :)

https://www.daambuilt.com/

https://vikapprovedblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/daambuilt-mega-krampus-bike-review-part-1/

https://vikapprovedblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/daambuilt-mega-krampus-bike-review-part-2/

Posted by: michel77

Not sure why I can never get pictures to work on this forum.. Edit: looks like they show up now..

Looks great. I had my eye on a Chromag for a while. Sweet rides. :)

This is my year for a HT. I’m cooking up something that I’m pretty excited about!

I’m finally doing it - just a matter of whether Plan A happens or B or C. 

I can’t wait!

How tall are you? I'll sell you a complete Wideangle real cheap.

The Norco is new for 2020, first time riding big wheels.

The Kona got a new axle for 2020 so I can now pull a Bob trailer.

Posted by: Cheez1ts

I did the opposite of you with my hardtail michel:

• 2012 Kona Steely built with old DH and Enduro parts.
• Old coil-sprung boxxer cut to 135mm + a newer Charger damper.
• Mavic EX521 rims laced to Hope Pro 2s
• Shimano 1x10 with Zee shifter/derailleur
• Saint Cranks
• Specialized Hillbilly DH tires that are brutal for climbing but great for descending
• Currently running Code brakes with 1 Elixer lever, but will be putting TRPs DH brake on soon

That's sweet!  Thing looks ready to party and I bet that turns some heads :)

Posted by: Vikb

2019 was the year of the hardtail for me. I've ridden lots of rigid bikes and HTs in the past, but the modern geo HT is a revelation. So capable and so much fun. I was thinking I'd use it more for bikepacking and longer gravel rides, but it gets grabbed for lots of tech riding and gives up a lot less to my FS bikes than expected. Sure when the smashing chunk and speed gets maxed the HT starts to falter vs. the FS bike, but that leaves a lot of potential riding for the HT.

And all that ^^^ is with 29 x 2.6" Rekons which I think of as my "touring" tires. Next winter I'll put on some real knobbies and I'm keen to see what I can do with this bike and way more traction. For now I'm using it a lot to ride from home to the trails and back. Racking up a 50km loop with my normal shred in the middle. So the Rekons are pretty sweet for that. Maxxis has a 29 x 2.8" Rekon+ tire just coming out I'm excited to try for a bit more cushion

I'm glad I ordered a custom bike from Peter at Daambuilt. It turned out even better than expected. :)

https://www.daambuilt.com/

https://vikapprovedblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/daambuilt-mega-krampus-bike-review-part-1/

https://vikapprovedblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/daambuilt-mega-krampus-bike-review-part-2/

Thanks for posting some more pictures of that bike, Vik, great looking utilitarian setup!  I toyed with the idea of selling my Chromag for a while thinking maybe I'd like to get something more geared towards longer XC rides, gravel, bikepacking, etc.  Then I read the feature on Skyler's Daambuilt on bikepacking and that was a bit of an eye-opener.  I mean I always knew you can ride whatever bike on whatever trail, but the hardtail (with some tweaks) started making more sense again with the added benefit that I can now keep using it on the local trails :)

Posted by: FraserU

The Norco is new for 2020, first time riding big wheels.

The Kona got a new axle for 2020 so I can now pull a Bob trailer.

That thing is a sled, man. Nice!  Nice profile pic as well, I do a lot of drydocks for work, always impressive to see the ships out of the water.

It’s been year of the hardtail again for me. I’ve been loving singlespeed with a little fitness, and cushcore has perfected the ride quality.

It’s been year of the hardtail for me. Singlespeed has been great again, and cushcore has perfected the BTR’s ride quality.