steel hardtail for trails....

i'm in the mood to get myself a steel hardtail.
looking for something a little bit slack, so i can throw it down hill nicely, but not too slack as i do like a climb....so a trail bike that has some XC blood in it....

I've only ever done full sus trail riding, so i'm not really sure where to look to for steel hardtails.

I have a M2 Stumpy hardtail, but its been diagnosed with a twisted rear end, so need something that isn't tainted to get on the trails...

I'm just after a frame in 26" or 27.5 flavour if that pair of wheels in the 98---> section are still around by the time I've found a frame...

whats people saying?

i don't wanna go 29 yet.....unless a frame and wheelset come together at the right price (sub £200).

don't mind used - as long as its not abused.

It's modern, but have you considered the 27.5" Kona Explosif?

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I've had older kona's with 80-100mm forks retromoded and they've been great!!!!

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Cotic Soul would be a nice trail/XC steel hardtail bike. Takes forks up to 140mm.

These are nice with the sids. 1992 and 2004

take a look at old sunn frames. i have a sunn enduro from 1999 which is excellent for everything your looking for

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I have seen a few sunns over the years and always fancied one. I like Konas too!
Would prefer 26" just bcoz cheap

I wouldn't describe Sunn hardtail frames from that epoch as having anything approaching "slack" headstock angles. Fun as a fun thing, mind, but I have a hard time on the Sunn when things start getting gnarly downhill. My colleague's 2015 explosif, on the other hand - a whole different bag of fun.

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point taken about the sunn but he did ask for something not to slack as he likes a climb,or maybe you need to push a bit harder.

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Retro junkie":f9bhs6y5 said:

point taken about the sunn but he did ask for something not to slack as he likes a climb,or maybe you need to push a bit harder.

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No "maybe" about it. I'm a big girl's blouse when the front starts pointing downwards