Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Would

Would love to ride Hamsterley.

I'm starting to think I should get something more pedally...

Don't want to spend a bunch... so probably a hardtail. 130mm-ish. Dropper post ideally (not the end of the world if not uncluded). Slack head angle. Happy enough with 27.5".

Aside from Commencal Meta HT AM and Nukeproof Scout what are my complete build options?

Cotic soul

Bird

Zero AM looks niiice, little more travel than was thinking though.

Would be nice to have steel although a little more spendy than I was hoping...

I think a lot of it is down to the selected build as the frameset isn’t much more than the bird zero am.

Stanton also have some nice bikes

The itch to swap out my Genesis Latitude for something a little bit slacker is real...and I’ve not had it that long!

Pre covid I was out with a chap on a commencal meta with some lovely parts and it really did look good.

They look great!
I pedalled up to GAP on the Capra yesterday to drop it in for a service and it made me realise how overbiked I am for most of the trails around Dublin to be honest 😂 if I could get the price of a new YT Izzo Comp for my Capra I'd actually just consider that but I don't know if I would? Nice to have it for bikepark trips and burlier downhill anyway.

Vitus Sentier. I've got a 2019 VRS and am very happy with it, especially for the price (was £800ish direct from Wiggles eBay store).

I've actually just been having a look at the Marino Bikes page and they really are extraordinarily good value for a custom build steel frame...

Irritatingly I never actually sold my Santa Cruz Nomad which was my previous bike but I left it with a mate who intended to buy it from me. The berk has since stopped replying to my messages even which is most unsound but if I could just get that back it would make a great donor for a Marino hardtail!

For what it's worth you might as well get a Cotic. Although they're not doing the Soul any more. They're made from better materials, not sure Marinos have seen an alignment table, and in the long run probably cheaper. Unless you're 6' 27" then go for the Marino.

Other options -
Orange Crush/P7
Whyte 905
Marin San Quentin

There are probably more Cotic owners on this thread than any other brand though, for good reason.

Dropper post ideally (not the end of the world if not uncluded)

It's literally the most important part.

I was looking at the scout but the distributor would only sell to certain shops, they were however flogging off ragleys dirt cheap and the Marley is very similar to the scout, blue pig if you want steel for more money.

Oh I definitely need a dropper, just wouldn't put me off to have to add one myself, lower priced Commencal Meta HT AM for example don't come with one but have an otherwise excellent spec!

Great suggestions there though folks. Will look into them all!
Has anyone on here got a Marino by the way?

If you're in the M size range for a Cotic Soul, there's a rolling chassis on Pinkbike at the mo that looks like a good deal.

Love my Solaris max, just wish it was getting more use right now...

1 Attachment

I had one of the first ones into the country and got a free Peruvian hat with it (csb), it was a polo bike I designed myself and is in my loft at the moment as I no polo no more. Love that bike though.

Friend has a Rockrider MTB from 2011 and wants to upgrade the group. I have a feeling that the hub (9-speed Formula DC22) isn't going to be compatible with 11-speed; am I right?

Getting a rigid fork for a frame that is designed to take between 100mm and 16mm of travel - do I aim for suspension correction at the minimum, middle or max of that scale? Or doesn't it matter?

What wheel size?

Normally with a rigid you go for a slightly lower A2C to account for fork sag. I'd punt for something closer to a 100mm A2C based on your description though.

26". Currently looking at something 445 A2C which I think should work for the lower end of the scale.

Yep that's pretty standard for 26". IMO steel is by far the best material for rigid forks, especially on a more 'hardcore' frame - get the biggest tyres you can fit too!

That's absolutely spectacular looking!

I think going from a 9 speed cassette to 11 on the same hub should be OK, certainly on shimano. It's 12 speed things get funny. Check if getting sram- half remember some of the earlier 11sp setups also had proprietor free hubs.