The World's Fattest Man with no bike! aka - find hippy a new bike aka - Just get ( fill in blank )

No, although everyone is complaining about how spendy they are for what they are.

What about sticking slightly shorter forks in stuff like
https://salsacycles.com/bikes/timberjack/2020_timberjack_xt_29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bh9kf7dJGY

Bearing in mind I have no knowledge of most of what he's talking about it does sound kinda like what I'm after.

Not available until April. Meh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sNUJDiqwwE

I have one of those in the classifieds

if you are ok with pressfit BB (https://ninerbikes.com/pages/biocentric-30-bottom-bracket)

Thanks, but XL.

I'm only that size in the horizontal plane.

#hippyisfat

Yeah, that's probably another thing I should avoid.

68 degree(ish) head angle
120mm fork
Threaded BB
Boost
12spd Shimano 1x
Dropper
29x2.4 min.

On-One Big Dog:
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FTOOBD/on-one-big-dog-29-mountain-bike-frame

Ritchey Ultra
https://eu.ritcheylogic.com/eu_en/ultra-frameset#product.info.technical_description

Bird
https://www.bird.bike/product/zero-am-2018-frameset/

Cotic SolarisMax
https://www.cotic.co.uk/product/solarisMAX#sizing
https://bikepacking.com/news/2020-cotic-solarismax/
https://www.cotic.co.uk/international/

Surly Karate Monkey
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/karate_monkey

Surly Krampus
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/krampus

Salsa Timberjack looks like a good bike for something like that, though I haven't tried it.
https://salsacycles.com/bikes/timberjack/2020_timberjack_xt_29
Lyon Distribution

Nørdest have some interesting bike too but can't remember the model now.
https://nordestcycles.com/en/product/sardinha-2-frame
I have a Stanton Sherpa, but older model than what they sell now, I use it for natural trails and bikepacking mostly and will likely use it in a race. 29x2.4, light steel, 120mm.

Weirder? buy Jones or Stooge.

Surlys are heavy and silly expensive for what they are.

Would like to try a Solaris Max.

Stanton Sherpa slightly more old school. Love my Mk2, best riding steel 29er I have ridden. Good mile muncher but only one bottle mount.

Pipedream Sirius worth a look.
https://www.pipedreamcycles.com/shop/sirius/

Stanton Sherpa Mk3
https://www.stantonbikes.com/product/sherpa-gen-3/

Marin Pine Mountain 2
https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/2021-pine-mountain-2

Kona Unit X
https://bikepacking.com/bikes/kona-unit-x-review/
https://konaworld.com/unit_x.cfm

I have a Sanderson Town Crier (as well as a Sherpa and Broken Road). Rides sweet. Not boost (135 QR) and 2.4 in rear would be tight. Wont take 27.5 plus.

On One big dog and Solaris Max are great trail bikes but burly/heavy for divide style racing. Older Solaris Mk2/Longshot would be better for that.

Add in Sonder Broken Road from Alpkit. Ti, but ticks all criteria very well.

Ultimately availability this year will probably be as much a decider. Speak to Lyon Distribution about Timberjack Alu availability.

https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/2021-pine-mountain-2

maybe slightly slack on the front end but you could run 8 water bottles

Ok, cool Sanderson is gone.

"Solaris Max are great trail bikes but burly/heavy for divide style racing"
Much like me :)
Pity because I was getting into the Solaris watching that guy's 30min youtube review. Stable, long, etc.

No Ti. I'm not retirement age yet. ;)

1kg worth of bottle cage bolts :P

I think I'm going to have to ride some of these 'modern mtbs' to see what the go is.

I've no idea about anything except the Inbred which is quite long and steep HA and the duallie I borrowed which was too big for me and slack as.

Aside from availability I think one of your challenges of Trail v Divide riding is a lot of steel 29ers are built to a more robust CEN standard and for longer forks s0 are more burly. Good thread on the Solarismax on the shouty place...

I've been looking for a similar kind of bike recently. Love my trail bike, but it's a bit of a tank and slow at covering the miles. Hardtails seem to fall into two categories at the moment. They're either lightweight xc rigs, or longlowslack trail monsters.. brilliant fun I'm sure, but I'm not sure how good they'd be at longer rides. And big bikes in steel = heavy.

Best middle ground I've found that's not £££ is the canyon grand canyon range. Description says they're for light trails, but the '8' and '9' models look like solid all-rounders to me.

Kona Unit fits your criteria, I think, though only available as a singlespeed full build or frameset

https://konaworld.com/unit.cfm

https://bikepacking.com/bikes/kona-unit-x-review/

Edit - geared version https://konaworld.com/unit_x.cfm

1 Attachment

Great bikes. UnitX comes with gears.

A unit for a UNIT

Squeeze an F in the middle of that name and I'd get one

The frame is designed for a fork with 100mm of travel, which is a little small for my liking.

why do you hate Hippy?!

Not sure how much my 853 LLS weighs, never occurred to me to weigh it. I shall find out.

Interesting. Shipping May and June though and the triangle is small.

Where's the boing up front?

"designed for 100m travel"

I mean, that's more than the 0mm I have now :)

Boing sold separately, so you get to choose something decent

Nothing weird would happen to that geometry if you fitted a 120mm fork

My Big Dog is 15kg with a 130mm Yari, dropper, 29×2.6/4, SLX and Sunrace cassette.

But who cares about weight when you have 17 gear inches?

Regarding availability, I think Pipedream have or are due in a batch of the Sirus frames. Alan the owner is good to deal with.

Ok, another one onto the list. Will have to check availability somewhere.

Now remove some from the list...