NSMB - 2023 - Hardtails Leaning Against Stuff Thread

Up and ready for 1 Jan 23.

Current project for 2023.

I’ve been enjoying running 27.5+ this cold season on mine. What tires are you going to run?

Posted by: yardrec

I’ve been enjoying running 27.5+ this cold season on mine. What tires are you going to run?

Will be running 27.5 plus first as already have a wheelset for that from the cracked Wideangle. And building a 29er set up as well. 

Got the Stylus back in June 2020 and got the Wideangle frame in 2019. Ended up kind of duplicating things at least wheel size wise. And just before the Wideangle cracked still used it for trails and such but it became more kind of an all rounder including more gravel type rides while the Stylus is more set up for guess they call it Enduro now days. LOL

Having both is fun!

I guess I should post a picture of my December 2022 purchase here as well.

So as many parts as possible from the Wideangle will get installed to the Rootdown.

And scored this X Fusion 29er fork off a local for $120.

My GF's been riding this RSD Middlechild for 4 years. When she expressed an interest in  getting a hardtail we had no idea if she'd take to it as her first ever MTB was a 6" travel SC Nomad. The MC was on sale at the time at a very reasonable price so we were prepared to overlook some of it's short comings such the fact it is a stiff frame [particularly for a lighter rider]. I have to say while she didn't get a #HARDTAILforLIFE tattoo she did ride that bike a lot...particularly in the winter. She did complain about the stiffness from time to time and the fact she could climb better on her FS bike. Unfortunately she's not one to expound/analyze on her riding experience much so I didn't have a lot of details to go on in terms of what she wanted to see different.

During the summer she had me build her a flat bar "gravel"/ATB bike using a Pipedream Sirius frame and a Bird steel fork. So the easy move was to MTB-ify that rig so she could try a different flavour of hardtail and see how that compared to the RSD. She wanted to try a 29er hardtail vs. the 27+ on her RSD so I threw some 29 x 2.5" rubber on it. Moved the 140mm fork and dropper over from the RSD and swapped in a SQ Labs 16 deg bar I had cut too narrow for my own use.  Interestingly at 5'6" she's running the same Long [aka medium] frame as I am. 

After a couple rides she's loving the more supple frame and the Sirius geo for climbing as well as the better roll over of the wagon wheels. She's asked me to sell the RSD MC frame and then we'll figure out what to do for a flat bar gravel/ATB rig.

Had my first ride of the year and it was on the Solaris.  It was fun slipping around in the mud on a HT.

Vik - has your GF tried clips?  If you can ride them it makes HTing a lot easier eapecially once it gets bumpy.  I ride both but have been on flats for a lengthy spell - maybe / sorta 365 day flat challenge...

My 2018 wideangle. It has an angle set in it bringing the HA to 64, and mulleted with a 130mm fork to keep the same axel to crown as a 27.5 160mm. 2.6" rear tire with cushcore for a bit of suspension. 

I will probably upgrade it to a full 29er in the next few months, maybe a Solaris? Open to suggestions on a slack short travel 29er.

Posted by: fartymarty

Had my first ride of the year and it was on the Solaris.  It was fun slipping around in the mud on a HT.

Vik - has your GF tried clips?  If you can ride them it makes HTing a lot easier eapecially once it gets bumpy.  I ride both but have been on flats for a lengthy spell - maybe / sorta 365 day flat challenge...

Nice. If I could get on with long-ish CS I'd love to ride a Solaris. The tube set sounds awesome.

My GF is #FLATSforLIFE. She tried clipess pedals and hated them. I really don't find flats and HTs an issue at all. My feet don't come off the pedals on bumpy terrain. She's not having any issues with that either.

Posted by: Stoke

My 2018 wideangle. It has an angle set in it bringing the HA to 64, and mulleted with a 130mm fork to keep the same axel to crown as a 27.5 160mm. 2.6" rear tire with cushcore for a bit of suspension. 

Looks great. A bike worthy of upgrades for sure.

Sweet looking Knolly!

Stoke - the Solaris does have a 444 CS plus they're not making the 120-140 ones any more - now only 120max.  Hence I'm glad I picked up mine when I did.  If you're after short CS then there's a ton of choice.