NSMB - 2023 - Hardtails Leaning Against Stuff Thread

Posted by: fartymarty

The Moxie looks like a great bike.  Good geo and singlespeedable.  How do they ride?

It can be set up with dh components and heavy tyres to be a bruiser, and it begs to be abused as its low-slung geometry likes to hug the ground in heavy mode.  But it also makes a good trail bike for flat flow trails with lighter wheels.  It's a comfortable bike but it's never going to be an xc whippet.

I can't compare it to anything modern though and would be interested to hear what Vik thinks of it compared with other bikes he's had?

I'm on the smaller of the two Moxie sizes I could ride with the shorter 140mm fork spec and CS pretty much slammed. With that in mind I am really enjoying the geo. The bike disappears underneath me and just works. Having tried a bunch of bikes that were longer front and rear I'm sold on downsizing for my own needs/riding. In particular the shorter CS work well for me when climbing steep loose sections as I can really weight the rear tire and maintain traction. The bike feels very nimble and I can place it where I want it precisely vs. being along for the ride. 

The one area where I might have some issue with the frame is stiffness. The Moxie is definitely stiffer than the Bird Forge or Pipedream Sirius. I've pretty much only had one dry "summer" ride on the bike and since then it's been all snow or wet riding on softer ground. I'll wait and see how it rides once things dry out fully in the early summer. 

As with all the sizes of Moxie and Sirius frames the head tube is short. I'd prefer it to be a lot higher, but I do have a some nice high rise bars I like that can solve that problem so it's not a deal breaker. 

So all in all I am enjoying the Moxie. It's a bike that works well for me how and where I ride without me having to try and adapt myself to the bike. In terms of geo the Moxie and the Sirius suit me the best of the production hardtails I've had the chance to ride. I'm really glad they have sliding dropouts both for SS capability and letting me get the short CS I want.

Posted by: trumpstinyhands

I guess all three of these fit the bill!

That Arcturian colour reminds me of the Rasta paint scheme GT had on the Peace 9r in 2008-2009.

Vik - How does the Moxie compare to the BFe?  I would think they would have a similar geo with long stays.  Did you run the BFe at 140mm?  

I'm guessing the Sirius is similar to a Solaris Max in terms of geo with long CSs on the S.

Posted by: fartymarty

Vik - How does the Moxie compare to the BFe?  I would think they would have a similar geo with long stays.  Did you run the BFe at 140mm?  

I'm guessing the Sirius is similar to a Solaris Max in terms of geo with long CSs on the S.

The Cotic BFeMAX I had was a large with a 160mm fork and long CS. So it was huge. Biggest bike I've ever owned/ridden. So big it barely fit into our hitch rack. The Moxie I have feels totally different. Like the complete opposite. Sort of like Lambo vs. Miata. That said the tube set feels similar and if I sized up the Moxie put 160mm fork on it and stretched out the CS it would be a lot closer. The BFe had a slack STA the Moxie less so [although not as steep as the Geo chart would indicate].

The overforked Sirius I have actually feels more like the BFeMAX if you pushed it in from both ends. The super slack front end and slack STA are similar, but it's really short vs really long. I've never seen a SolarisMAX let alone ridden one so I can't comment on that a whole lot.

Of the two Pipedreams the Sirius actually feels like the more aggressive/hardcore machine as the front end is so much slacker than the Moxie the way I have them setup. It goes to show you that you that size choice and parts can really alter the character of a bike.

Posted by: Endurimil

Posted by: trumpstinyhands

I guess all three of these fit the bill!

That Arcturian colour reminds me of the Rasta paint scheme GT had on the Peace 9r in 2008-2009.

It's based on the Klein 'Backfire' paint job that I first saw on the Klein Pinnacle circa 1989, and was my dream bike back then. If I bought one now, it'd just hang on the wall so I paid extra $$$ for Chris DeKerf to custom paint the frame once Mike Truelove had welded it.  It always looks a bit dull in photos but is pretty fluorescent in real life ha ha.

Slowly coming together. That isn't the fork that will be on it in the end , just there to get it built and rideable while waiting on the Hope adapters.

This photo is a month out of date - I’ll add a more recent 2023 one with its comical layers of filth, asap. But snow is rare and exciting where I live:

I don’t have lots of other similar 29” hardtails to compare this to, I don’t change bikes that often - so my previous hardtail was a 2015 Bird Zero AM 27.5” 150mm and before that a 2010 Cotic Soul 26” 140mm.

So this is a Pipedream Moxie, if the shocking pink didn’t give it away! It’s a really really special bike - it’s weirdly good at everything I want it to do. My previous hardtail demanded you attack everything and be really on it and was so cantankerous if you tried to chill out. The one before was a friendly beast but got out of its depth on fast and rough or steep stuff.

The Moxie is lovely whether you’re having a relaxed flow or an absolute on the limit thrash, whether it’s swoopy singletrack or steep rough gnar. It’s not an XC race bike and it’s not the fastest on very tight twisty trails, it’s too heavy, slack and long for those.

It’s been singlespeed since I got it last spring - my first MTB without gears (and my first MTB had 3x5 gears so I’ve been doing this a while!) 1x1 is much more fun than I expected, so I’m on quite the hardtail high!

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: fartymarty

Vik - How does the Moxie compare to the BFe?  

The BFe had a slack STA the Moxie less so [although not as steep as the Geo chart would indicate].

Of the two Pipedreams the Sirius actually feels like the more aggressive/hardcore machine as the front end is so much slacker than the Moxie the way I have them setup. It goes to show you that you that size choice and parts can really alter the character of a bike.

I'm a little surprised (given the forum users) my Moxie looks like the only one here with a Works or similar headset. 

I've been really stoked with it at ~63° / 140mm.

Posted by: velocipedestrian

I'm a little surprised (given the forum users) my Moxie looks like the only one here with a Works or similar headset. 

I've been really stoked with it at ~63° / 140mm.

Having tried a bunch of hardtails from ~62 deg to ~65 deg HTA over the last few years I have to say I'm not all that fussed about hitting a particular number within a reasonable range. My Sirius is ~62.5 deg and my Moxie is ~64 deg - both unsagged. They both ride well and it's not like I would hit a feature on one that I wouldn't hit on the other. 

If you handed me a free WC -1 deg headset I'd throw it in the Moxie and see what I thought. OTOH as I ride the bike my brain isn't focused on the HTA at all...the front end rides well as is.

I think we need to rename this thread "NSMB - 2023 - Hardtail Thread - The Year of the Moxie"

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: velocipedestrian

I'm a little surprised (given the forum users) my Moxie looks like the only one here with a Works or similar headset. 

I've been really stoked with it at ~63° / 140mm.

Having tried a bunch of hardtails from ~62 deg to ~65 deg HTA over the last few years I have to say I'm not all that fussed about hitting a particular number within a reasonable range. My Sirius is ~62.5 deg and my Moxie is ~64 deg - both unsagged. They both ride well and it's not like I would hit a feature on one that I wouldn't hit on the other. 

If you handed me a free WC -1 deg headset I'd throw it in the Moxie and see what I thought. OTOH as I ride the bike my brain isn't focused on the HTA at all...the front end rides well as is.

Fair enough, I was shopping for a new headset anyway...

Posted by: velocipedestrian

I'm a little surprised (given the forum users) my Moxie looks like the only one here with a Works or similar headset. 

I've been really stoked with it at ~63° / 140mm.

Mine’s at 160mm so also ~63 deg static. I wanted the higher BB and stack and the slacker angles (seat tube too) with the bigger fork. Plus every time I have a hardtail with more fork travel I prefer it to less, so I thought I might as well continue the trend. 

The other reason is that I have the exact same fork on my full-sus so they feel more similar and either one can be a spare for the other.

My previous hardtail had a Works -2 deg headset which really improved it (by taking it from 65.4 static to about 64). Downside was the sealing wasn’t as good at my Hope headsets so more bearing issues.

Posted by: a.funks

Mine’s at 160mm so also ~63 deg static. I wanted the higher BB and stack and the slacker angles (seat tube too) with the bigger fork. 

I tried the Moxie at 160mm when I built it and then switched down to 140mm. I think I may try the 160mm fork again. I wouldn't mind a higher BB, higher bars and slacker STA. I suspect 150mm might be the best of both worlds, but I'd have to hunt down another air shaft. It's not that I need more travel than the 140mm fork.....it's just some of the side benefits that happen with a longer fork.