Need help picking a new hard tail

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
R

razer17

Guest
I considered going with the 1 briefly, but decided I was already stretching my budget enough to get the 2. Did end up going 1x10 instead of going with 2 chain rings. The gear ratios don't really change that much, especially if I get myself a 42t expander. When things get too steep I tend to push rather than spin my way up anyway. The one slight shame is that they were out of black Sweeps, so I went with a white. Should still look good though.
 

Motozulu

Über Member
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
When is it delivered? in truth there isn't much difference really in the 1 and 2 but as I said, I really wanted the all turbine drive train and XT brakes - that was the deal maker for me, but really it ain't massive.

Bit concerned about the Sweeps - don't think I want white. Be sure to post a review of the bike on here! For a £60 option they do the expander for you (40t though I think). I considered it but then reasoned that it's a HT and lightish, it will climb better than my Chief, I'll just have to pedal harder and stop being so lazy! Also you lose the Zee rear mech if you opt for the pussy cog and the Zee is my favourite mech.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
R

razer17

Guest
When is it delivered? in truth there isn't much difference really in the 1 and 2 but as I said, I really wanted the all turbine drive train and XT brakes - that was the deal maker for me, but really it ain't massive.

Bit concerned about the Sweeps - don't think I want white. Be sure to post a review of the bike on here! For a £60 option they do the expander for you (40t though I think). I considered it but then reasoned that it's a HT and lightish, it will climb better than my Chief, I'll just have to pedal harder and stop being so lazy! Also you lose the Zee rear mech if you opt for the pussy cog and the Zee is my favourite mech.

Will be a few days till delivery, takes longer because I took tubeless. However, I phoned them up today, and they are going to swap the white Sweeps for black, since it's not finished yet. Which is great. It will definitely look better with black forks. Can't wait to get hold of it and try it out.
 

Motozulu

Über Member
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
That's a big relief - didn't want to say as you had already ordered but I really didn't like the white Sweeps! You made the right choice going for tubeless - since doing it myself I will never go back to tubed, you'll be the same, I think them setting tubeless up for free for you is a great selling point too.

Looking forward to your initial thoughts after a first ride! I'm 2 or 3 weeks off ordering yet.
 
OP
OP
R

razer17

Guest
That's a big relief - didn't want to say as you had already ordered but I really didn't like the white Sweeps! You made the right choice going for tubeless - since doing it myself I will never go back to tubed, you'll be the same, I think them setting tubeless up for free for you is a great selling point too.

Looking forward to your initial thoughts after a first ride! I'm 2 or 3 weeks off ordering yet.
I had to drag my mtb 3 miles back to my house last time I went out on it. Went over a root and just destroyed the inner tube. Didn't have a spare so it was an annoying hike back to mine. Especially since my old mtb weighs 15kg or so. I've had to hike with my roadie more than once as well, I need to start carrying more spares with me.
And you're right about the white sweeps. I thought they looked alright, and I looked again today and just thought "Nope, don't like 'em". Luckily I can get them changed.
 

Motozulu

Über Member
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
The peace of mind of being tubeless far outweighs the minimal faff of setting it up. With good old Bird you haven't even got the initial faffage! Win Win!
 
OP
OP
R

razer17

Guest
Also realised I chose the wrong tyre. Meant to get ardents front and back, accidentally got a high roller in the front. Not a big deal though.
The order hasn't updated to say it will have a black Sweep, but hoping that's just the way their site works. Looks like the bike has been shipped though, so it should come today or Monday I would assume.
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and more importantly seeing the pics!!.
 
OP
OP
R

razer17

Guest
Well, the day has come, the bike has arrived. Firstly, it looks absolutely fantastic. The tyres are bigger than I expected, much bigger than the tyres on my old mtb.Glad I went with the black sweeps, they look much better. I only took it out for a very short ride, mostly on road, since it was dark by the time it was fully set up. I forgot to buy a shock pump which was a mistake. I'm not exactly a light rider ,so the suspension really isn't set up for me. So much so that I tried to wheelie up a kerb, but basically all I did was pull my forks out of their travel and ended up lurching forward. Got one reserved at Halford and I'll pick it up on the way home from work tomorrow, put some air in my forks and then hit a few little trails in my town.

DSC_0076[1].JPG DSC_0077[1].JPG DSC_0079[1].JPG DSC_0078[1].JPG
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Well, the day has come, the bike has arrived. Firstly, it looks absolutely fantastic. The tyres are bigger than I expected, much bigger than the tyres on my old mtb.Glad I went with the black sweeps, they look much better. I only took it out for a very short ride, mostly on road, since it was dark by the time it was fully set up. I forgot to buy a shock pump which was a mistake. I'm not exactly a light rider ,so the suspension really isn't set up for me. So much so that I tried to wheelie up a kerb, but basically all I did was pull my forks out of their travel and ended up lurching forward. Got one reserved at Halford and I'll pick it up on the way home from work tomorrow, put some air in my forks and then hit a few little trails in my town.

View attachment 83533 View attachment 83534 View attachment 83535 View attachment 83536

Nice bike, and a good move on the shock pump.

Worth researching how to set the pressure, if you don't already know.

There is a bit of a knack to getting it right.
 

Motozulu

Über Member
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
That looks stunning. I'm going to the factory tomorrow to size one up and do a test ride around Swinley forest. Can't wait.

What tyres did you go for? can't quite make em out? I've only ever had Schwalbe tyres so know nothing about the Maxxisa range but was thinking Ardent 2.25 rear and either a High Roller or Minion 2.3 on the front - thoughts anyone?
 
OP
OP
R

razer17

Guest
Well I took it out for a bit more of a proper spin today. Looked like it was going to be cancelled when hailstorms started pelting down 10 minutes before I finished work. Luckily it had stopped completely before I got the bike out of the bike shed.
Got to halfords and put some air in my forks, feels a lot better straight away.
The bike rolls very quickly on the path, and also on the trails. There's some bits where you have to go over roots with some relatively steep drops on the side, and on my old bike it used to always nearly kick me out. That didn't happen on this bike, and I felt a lot more confident in tackling things. The brakes are much, much better than old my bike. The longer bars take some getting used to, It's not light compared to an XC machine, but it's a lot lighter than my old MTB, despite the extra 40mm of travel, and the bigger wheels and wider tyres.

All in all, the bike is fantastic. I can't wait to get it onto some more technical, bigger trails.
That looks stunning. I'm going to the factory tomorrow to size one up and do a test ride around Swinley forest. Can't wait.

What tyres did you go for? can't quite make em out? I've only ever had Schwalbe tyres so know nothing about the Maxxisa range but was thinking Ardent 2.25 rear and either a High Roller or Minion 2.3 on the front - thoughts anyone?
Ardent 2.2 rear and High Roller 2.3 front, same as you're considering.
 
Top Bottom