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I want a hard tail


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Steel Honzo is such a great bike.  With the sliding dropouts, easy to get it running singlespeed and the Honzo's look so good. Damn thing gets me into trouble though, geo directs me into the chunkiest line and although steel helps, I realize real quick I am on a hardtail and pray for my rear wheel.

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4 hours ago, Chief said:

My aggressive geo Dartmoor. Dartmoor is owned by Transition. Paid $250 for frame built bike complete for $1300. Fork really needs a damper upgrade though.1

Interesting bikes but it looks like frame build-up is the only option based on their US importer. Not really an issue but It would be nice to test ride before building. 

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5 minutes ago, RedRider3141 said:

Since my last steel bike was from Costco and probably cost $129. Educate me, why is steel preferable?

Have you ridden a non-shitty bike made from quality chromoly? It's a tactile thing that is hard to define. Kind of like the feeling of new shoes or a fresh skateboard deck under your feel.

Edited by mack_turtle
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1 minute ago, RedRider3141 said:

Since my last steel bike was from Costco and probably cost $129. Educate me, why is steel preferable?

First of all, it rhymes with "real". If you can go around saying definitive, rhyming statements like "Steel is real" or "Bros before hoes", your argument is going to carry much more weight. 

Ti is fly.

Alum means doom.

Carbon is no bargain. 

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23 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

Have you ridden a non-shitty bike made from quality chromoly? It's a tactile thing that is hard to define. Kind of like the feeling of new shoes or a fresh skateboard deck under your feel.

Nope, don't know what I am missing but genuinely curious. 

18 minutes ago, notyal said:

First of all, it rhymes with "real". If you can go around saying definitive, rhyming statements like "Steel is real" or "Bros before hoes", your argument is going to carry much more weight. 

No joke, my College Material Science teacher's story problems were always answered with "Steel is Real". 

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20 minutes ago, notyal said:

First of all, it rhymes with "real". If you can go around saying definitive, rhyming statements like "Steel is real" or "Bros before hoes", your argument is going to carry much more weight. 

Ti is fly.

Alum means doom.

Carbon is no bargain. 

Also, my (former) Companies Moto: "When it doubt, make it stout, from materials you know about".

Similar to Harley Davidson's: "If it breaks, make it bigger, if it sticks out, chrome it."

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36 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

Have you ridden a non-shitty bike made from quality chromoly? It's a tactile thing that is hard to define. Kind of like the feeling of new shoes or a fresh skateboard deck under your feel.

Steel is perfect for a hardtail, just feels right, maybe it comes from riding in the heyday of chromoly bikes, but I think it is the best material for this kind of trail bike!

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What I've heard is that steel provides more flex than aluminum which is more brittle thus needs to be stiff.  Meaning steel takes the edge off of all of the small bumps and impacts you encounter out on the trails.  However I've also read that this is dependent on the grade of steel used (cheap vs quality butted) and how the frame is designed.  

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I admit, part of it is the aesthetics of steel frames. I have a ideal form in my head of what a bicycle is, and most of the modern aluminum and carbon options look more like space ships. I prefer to buy Earthling bicycles, not Romulan ones. Screw Romulans and their silly haircuts. I might feel differently if Klingons got into the industry, but they never seem interested.

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Been looking to do a new hardtail this year julyish and have to decide between a chromag surface ti or a SC chameleon but really need to get rid of a bike before I do.

Decisions, decisions.

Or I could do the smart thing and save my money and keep the current bikes...

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

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4 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

Interesting bikes but it looks like frame build-up is the only option based on their US importer. Not really an issue but It would be nice to test ride before building. 

You're welcome to test mine if you'd like. Just PM me.

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I would have loved to build a steel HT but I was looking to build something on a budget. Unfortunately while building my HT, Evil put their  V1 Followings on sale. So in the end I wound up building two bikes at about the same time. 

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Been looking to do a new hardtail this year julyish and have to decide between a chromag surface ti or a SC chameleon but really need to get rid of a bike before I do.

Decisions, decisions.

Or I could do the smart thing and save my money and keep the current bikes...

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk


I've been selling stuff to raise cash and not touch my savings or irritate my CFO
I sold my Sunday and have my current HT frame for sale. ( Check it out in the bikes for sale section) Plus selling other stuff.

Amazing what you can find around the house that people are willing to buy

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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8 hours ago, tomreece said:

My short list so far is:

  • Kona Honzo
  • Trek Stache

Cant comment on the stache, but i hear its good. The honzo is a killer rig and with a little tweaking it can do just about whatever you want. I had the aluminum frame and it rode fine for my 40+ y/o body, just make sure you get a good saddle. 

I'd recommend finding a leftover 2018 big honzo 27+ because you can run either plus wheels or a 29x2.6 combo .  Frame geo is almost the same between the 29 & plus frames.

(2019s have longer chainstays)

 

http://2018.konaworld.com/bikes.cfm

 

 

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10 hours ago, RedRider3141 said:

Since my last steel bike was from Costco and probably cost $129. Educate me, why is steel preferable?

Mostly I feel it in my back. I rode an aluminum hardtail when I got my first SS. Loved it, but it felt like I was feeling every little bump on the trail. Then I got a steel SS and it was like night and day. 

If I was a 30 year old kid the aluminum would be fine, but as an old guy that creaks in the morning, steel is my best friend. It just feels smoother when I ride. 

Interestingly, I assumed that my full suspension bike would be more comfortable for my body, but when I ride the greenbelt on a steel SS I still feel great when I am done. 

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I had a custom Carl Strong frame made for me yrs ago. 29r with a longish tt and his custom blend of steel. Carl is one of the original welders from Ibis and his frames are a work of art. Seriously the best riding ht Ive ever owned. Saddly was stolen after a race at RHR

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I also was shopping for a steel hardtail to use as a single speed but ended up with an aluminum 29+. The reason it works for me is that those big chushy tires absorb chatter the same way a good steel frame should. The engineer in me looked at a bike and recognized that 3” tires at 15 psi will flex well before any frame material you might select that’s stiffer than a wet noodle.

Btw - pushing 45 yo, this is my first hardtail, and I’m used to riding a 160 mm full travel enduro rig. If anyone is going to feel chatter and rocks, it’s me.


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All of my favorite bikes have been steel bikes. I used have 2 Gunnar Rock Hounds, 1 with vbrakes I had set up as a rigid ss and the other was a disc brake geared version. Every bmx bike I've ever owned has been chromoly. My steel Serotta road bike rides like a dream. Steel is real.

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