Which hardtail frame for XC/Trail build?

[HovR]

I've been wanting to build up a mountain bike for a while now, and it looks like I'll be able to get the first few components in May (I'm thinking frame and possibly fork, budget depending).

For the most part I know what I want to build. I'm planning on fitting Reba's for the forks and either full SLX or XT (or a combination of both) for the groupset.

As far as the frame goes, I'm a big steel fan, and really like the look of the Cotic Soul, however it's out of my budget so I've been looking at the On-One Inbred (26'er). I also like some of the Charge frames, although they seem less available, and the few I can find aren't available in colours I like!

Does anyone have any opinions on the Inbred, or perhaps has built up a bike similar to the one I'm planning on an Inbred frame? Would love to see some photos! Also if anyone has any other frame recommendations I'd love to hear them!

I'm not looking exclusively at steel, however. Price range ~£200, would consider second hand in good condition!

Cheers!

 

[Crackle]

May I also suggest Kinesis. They do an ali 26 and 29 frame and a steel mtb frame. I built a 29er from them recently, the thread is on here in the mtn bike section. I also went wiith mainly xt stuff and thanks to @Cubist 's advice, I bought a lot of my components in Germany and wheels from Superstar.

Edit: Looks like they've dropped the 26 frames and now only have the steel Virsa 26, a titanium 650b and the ff29 but you'll still be able to get the XC3 or XC130 26" frames online, maybe at a bargain price if they have your size in stock.

 

[dan_bo]

How's about that?!

Inbred: tick
Steel: tick
Trail: tick
£200: tick.

 

[Crackle]

Pink: tick

 

[dan_bo]

Pink: tick

Oh aye.

 

[HovR]

May I also suggest Kinesis. They do an ali 26 and 29 frame and a steel mtb frame. I built a 29er from them recently, the thread is on here in the mtn bike section. I also went wiith mainly xt stuff and thanks to @Cubist 's advice, I bought a lot of my components in Germany and wheels from Superstar.

Edit: Looks like they've dropped the 26 frames and now only have the steel Virsa 26, a titanium 650b and the ff29 but you'll still be able to get the XC3 or XC130 26" frames online, maybe at a bargain price if they have your size in stock.

Really like the look of that Virsa, but at £350 it'd definitely have to be second hand. The pre-build X9 model at £1050 also looks good, but it comes with X-Fusion forks - never really heard of anyone using those before? Would rather go RockShox, but I'll keep that frame open as an option when it gets a bit closer to buying time!

How's about that?!

Inbred: tick
Steel: tick
Trail: tick
£200: tick.

Looks good! If you don't mind, what size frame did you pick for what height rider? Also, how heavy did your build come in at and how much travel do those forks have?

Cheers!

 

[Crackle]

Myself and Cubist have x-fusion forks on our bikes. Excellent reviews for them. The Virsa retails for about 300 and there's a 2nd hand one on ebay at the moment for 200, don't know what size you need.

 

[dan_bo]

Really like the look of that Virsa, but at £350 it'd definitely have to be second hand. The pre-build X9 model at £1050 also looks good, but it comes with X-Fusion forks - never really heard of anyone using those before? Would rather go RockShox, but I'll keep that frame open as an option when it gets a bit closer to buying time!



Looks good! If you don't mind, what size frame did you pick for what height rider? Also, how heavy did your build come in at and how much travel do those forks have?

Cheers!

I'm 6'0" and it's an 18. (it is an older 853 inbred mind- don't know how different the geometry is to the modern Inbred)

135mm Revelations but the bike feels 'right' at ~ 110 mm travel dialled in. No Idea how much it weighs, I imagine 27-28lb.

 

[HovR]

I'm 6'0" and it's an 18. (it is an older 853 inbred mind- don't know how different the geometry is to the modern Inbred)

Thanks for that. I'm still deciding between the 18" or 20" frame. I'm 5'10" however have quite a long inside leg (~34.5") and feel that on 18" frames I struggle to get enough seatpost out. I rented a 19.5" Felt the other day which seemed to fit quite well, so I'm tempted to go for the larger size.

135mm Revelations but the bike feels 'right' at ~ 110 mm travel dialled in. No Idea how much it weighs, I imagine 27-28lb.

Excellent, that should work well with a 100 to 120mm Reba, then!

 

[HovR]

Another option I've noticed is the On One 45650b, but having never ridden a longer travel (up to 150mm), slack head angled (65.7deg) bike before I'm not sure if it would be a bit overkill for my needs. I enjoy going downhill fast and don't generally hold back, but I'm not doing any true downhill requiring body armour, huge drops etc.

 

[Cubist]

Thanks for that. I'm still deciding between the 18" or 20" frame. I'm 5'10" however have quite a long inside leg (~34.5") and feel that on 18" frames I struggle to get enough seatpost out. I rented a 19.5" Felt the other day which seemed to fit quite well, so I'm tempted to go for the larger size.



Excellent, that should work well with a 100 to 120mm Reba, then!

At 5'10" I'd say you need a 17.5 inch Soul. Cotic recommend you ride them with a long seatpost, and around a 400 mm post will show a decent length whilst keeping plenty in the seat tube. Mine currently has a 420mm Reverb in, plenty of post showing! Otherwise I'd stick with a medium On One or Ragley. My lad rode his 16 inch Ragley perfectly happily at your height. LT Hardtails are best kept on the small side to keep them playful.

You'll find a secondhand Soul frame for your £200 no problem, most likely a Mk 2 with standard head tube and 27.2 seatpost. Save a bob or two and get a BFe maybe, identical geometry but cheaper steel, so heavier too. Put a wanted ad on singletrackworld.com, their classifieds are bristling with used Hooligan Hardtail frames.

That said, you could also look for any of the following, and build a cracking hardtail for the purposes you describe.:

Ragley Blue Pig
Ragley Piglet
Dialled Prince Albert classic or 853
Orange P7
Genesis Altitude 853
On One 446
On One Inbred
On One summer season
Soul
BFe
Stanton Slackline
Sanderson breath...... There are loads to choose from! The ,more exotic 853 steel alloys are lightweight for a premium price. My Soul built up with XT and Stans Arch Ex wheelset comes in at 11.5 kg.

I have a Reba 120 on my Cotic, but my lad went up to a Thor 140 on his. (The Slant is on my susser)

If you're close enough you're welcome to ride the Soul to get a feel for it.

 

[goody]

I quite like my On One scandal.

 

[goody]

PlanetX have the Inbred in stock in Back or white for £140.

 

[HovR]

At 5'10" I'd say you need a 17.5 inch Soul. Cotic recommend you ride them with a long seatpost, and around a 400 mm post will show a decent length whilst keeping plenty in the seat tube. Mine currently has a 420mm Reverb in, plenty of post showing! Otherwise I'd stick with a medium On One or Ragley. My lad rode his 16 inch Ragley perfectly happily at your height. LT Hardtails are best kept on the small side to keep them playful.

You'll find a secondhand Soul frame for your £200 no problem, most likely a Mk 2 with standard head tube and 27.2 seatpost. Save a bob or two and get a BFe maybe, identical geometry but cheaper steel, so heavier too. Put a wanted ad on singletrackworld.com, their classifieds are bristling with used Hooligan Hardtail frames.

That said, you could also look for any of the following, and build a cracking hardtail for the purposes you describe.:

Ragley Blue Pig
Ragley Piglet
Dialled Prince Albert classic or 853
Orange P7
Genesis Altitude 853
On One 446
On One Inbred
On One summer season
Soul
BFe
Stanton Slackline
Sanderson breath...... There are loads to choose from! The ,more exotic 853 steel alloys are lightweight for a premium price. My Soul built up with XT and Stans Arch Ex wheelset comes in at 11.5 kg.

I have a Reba 120 on my Cotic, but my lad went up to a Thor 140 on his. (The Slant is on my susser)

If you're close enough you're welcome to ride the Soul to get a feel for it.

Really useful response, cheers Cubist!

I'll stick with a medium frame upon your recommendation. Thinking of building it up on an Inbred frame, and then there's always room to upgrade to a Soul later if I wish. Don't think I really need the extra travel I could put on the 45650b, after all I'm coming from a 10+ year old RockShox Jett which can't have more than 50mm travel, so anything will be better by leaps and bounds! The ability to use "last season's" 26" wheels should save me some cash too.

Having priced this up today for XT parts and Rebas instead of Recons I'm already ~£400 over my previous budget, but I think the final product will be worth it!

 

[HovR]

And so it begins! Next will be the fork, headset, stem and bars!