Nu-school Zaskar - should I?

Hoping that some of the forum's Zaskar aficionados will see this as I'd be interested in your comments.

Always fancied another Zaskar but I'm pretty much sorted and happy on the retro front with the little Dirt Research so I won't be challenging Kaz for the 'little Zaskar of the year' title That said, I've been enjoying putting in the miles on my new retro ride (something that I usually avoid, prefering to play on the pump track or wallow in 6" travel ) and enjoying the light weight so another x/c build is calling - maybe worth giving 27.5 another shot (I've had a couple before but found them too steep-angled and felt like I was sitting 'in' the bike).

Been doing a bit of digging around this weekend and it looks as though the UK Zaskar is spec'd with longer forks than the US model (more hardcore hardtail than it's previous 29er x/c incarnation) which would suit me better. Anyone tried one? Will I get escorted off the forum for riding a GT without a triple-triangle? (the small and super-hard-to-find x-small don't have a TT) These things matter :facepalm:

Re:

Good!

Which reminds me, I must do some work on it today....

I know I had this discussion on here many moons ago, about bigger wheeled modern bikes, but the general consensus was, they look bloody stupid in the tiny frame sizes, hence the 'sitting in the bike' look.

Not sure I could live with it myself, but that's probably not much help really to you :facepalm:

Thanks Kaz! Now get that lovely little custard monster finished!

Big fan of the old zaskars but not sure the newer ones are that great to be honest. I would argue there's much better out there for the money albeit without the heritage of the zaskar name.

So if you want nostalgia then not a bad choice but if you want value for money my money would go elsewhere.

Interested in your comments about how steep angles, are you referring to seat tube of head angle? The latter seems to be slackening off by a degree every year!

Well the Zaskar which I was interested in was this one - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-zaskar-sport ... tain-bike/ - pretty good price, but I stayed with what I know and went for a little Kona in the end :facepalm: http://www.probikeshop.com/en/gb/kona-s ... 13645.html. Absolute bargain including shipping from France and arrived in just two days. The small size comes with 26" wheels and is waay longer and slacker than any other Kona I've owned before - gonna be a riot :twisted:

Re the angles on my previous 650b ventures, I've tried a couple of Whyte womens specific designs and although I've not checked the numbers out I'd guess that it was the steeper seat tube angle and the fact that most small-size 650b frames are spec'd with shorter (80mm as opposed to 100mm) forks (maybe to keep the standover clearance down) which made me feel as though I was sitting 'in' a shopping bike.

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I had a spin on a 2010 Zaskar carbon hardtail and it was spot on.So much so I searched high and low for one online and couldnt find a used one in my size.Very fast and an unbelivable climber.I still want one.