Hardtail Talk!!

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
My mind is blown that there's hardly any hardtail frames with sliding dropouts. Timberjack is on my short list but supposedly new frame is pretty heavy, not sure if @jimvreeland has info on that.

And then on top of that, most hard tails spec wise is based around cheap bikes with low end components.
Why not AL chameleon, aren't you a Cruz fanboy?
If you want baller and steel I'm sure Reeb will build you exactly your needs. Otherwise I would say build your own (stanton) slowly and keep riding that old thing till it breaks.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Why not AL chameleon, aren't you a Cruz fanboy?
If you want baller and steel I'm sure Reeb will build you exactly your needs. Otherwise I would say build your own (stanton) slowly and keep riding that old thing till it breaks.
Not a fanboy, but they make some nice stuff. Chameleon is nice and not too far off from the Timberjack. It does seem like both the AL and Carbon versions are pretty heavy.

And if the Timberjack is similar to the Chameleon, the pricing is much better on a Salsa especially as I'd be looking at the last generation. It's not the primary bike so it's not like I want to dump $$$$ into it. This isn't a dream build.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Why not AL chameleon, aren't you a Cruz fanboy?
If you want baller and steel I'm sure Reeb will build you exactly your needs. Otherwise I would say build your own (stanton) slowly and keep riding that old thing till it breaks.
And just to say it, my original point is there isn't a lot out there from the major manufacturers. Santa Cruz has the Chameleon, but then the other few out there from the big name brands like Kona/Salsa are going more slacker and more travel.

Trek/Specialized/Cannondale/Etc don't really do sliding dropout bikes. It's low-end hardtails for beginners or XC bikes, and most XC racers aren't doing hard tails these days anyway.

I understand why, SS isn't really popular.
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
499mm reach in a large seems a bit off
They custom build the frame on your specs, you can grab the ones for your fav super slack HT and punch them in. It remains to see if by the time you add all your custom options and shipping it's still financially viable, but the guy as some sort of a following so there maybe substance to it.
 

Strix

Well-Known Member
They custom build the frame on your specs, you can grab the ones for your fav super slack HT and punch them in. It remains to see if by the time you add all your custom options and shipping it's still financially viable, but the guy as some sort of a following so there maybe substance to it.
That’s pretty cool
 

Strix

Well-Known Member
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Rushing home Pedals came in
 

Strix

Well-Known Member
6BB7F230-1F26-4B0F-BCA5-491C065DC026.jpeg

Sorry if I sound like a kid in a candy store! But this build means a lot to me. It’s been a few years since I had a bike, I sold my last one…..among other things when my father got sick with cancer and stopped working and everything to care for him. So this build is a new start. If ya know what I mean.
 

BPaze

Well-Known Member
And just to say it, my original point is there isn't a lot out there from the major manufacturers. Santa Cruz has the Chameleon, but then the other few out there from the big name brands like Kona/Salsa are going more slacker and more travel.

Trek/Specialized/Cannondale/Etc don't really do sliding dropout bikes. It's low-end hardtails for beginners or XC bikes, and most XC racers aren't doing hard tails these days anyway.

I understand why, SS isn't really popular.
SS is actually making a comeback maybe not the race scene but during COVID I keep seeing SS is increasing with that being said they are high end hard tails and not really entry level SS. Kona has SS bikes I believe multiple frames with sliding drops but I don’t think they are big and the other big guys not really pursuing. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot out there.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
SS is actually making a comeback maybe not the race scene but during COVID I keep seeing SS is increasing with that being said they are high end hard tails and not really entry level SS. Kona has SS bikes I believe multiple frames with sliding drops but I don’t think they are big and the other big guys not really pursuing. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot out there.
Kona's sliding dropout hardtails right now are both built around 140mm forks.

They have the regular Honzo built around a 120mm fork, but no sliding dropouts.
 

BPaze

Well-Known Member
Kona's sliding dropout hardtails right now are both built around 140mm forks.

They have the regular Honzo built around a 120mm fork, but no sliding dropouts.
Check the Kona Unit I am a lil bit of a Kona fan boy love my Honzo want the ESD. If you can get the old steel Honzo frame get it. Timber jacks are really good as well. Also check out RSD, really are a lot of great HT if you go outside the big companies
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I’m posting this so someone else gets it and I don’t spend the money. There’s a $600 TJ in size large on the FB marketplace in Long Island. It’s a frame that sold for $449 just two years ago but I guess $600 can be considered a steal (unless it was actually a ‘steal’).

I’ve always liked the honzos, wanted @BPaze ‘s big honzo real bad but then got the el mar and converted to steel. I’d go with a regular honzo though, the esd looks ridiculous to me even though I get the geometry logic.
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
I’m posting this so someone else gets it and I don’t spend the money. There’s a $600 TJ in size large on the FB marketplace in Long Island. It’s a frame that sold for $449 just two years ago but I guess $600 can be considered a steal (unless it was actually a ‘steal’).

I’ve always liked the honzos, wanted @BPaze ‘s big honzo real bad but then got the el mar and converted to steel. I’d go with a regular honzo though, the esd looks ridiculous to me even though I get the geometry logic.
I almost asked about it even tho I have one but then I saw it’s a 3 hour drive each way without traffic for me. That’s a steal.
 
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