My medium sized Pole (Ooh mother!)

[Bollox64]

Thought I’d post some pics of my modern hardtail. I sold a PlanetX racer, and an XTR gruppo from my Tim Gould Schwinn replica (still got the F&F) to fund this.

Pole sometimes have an outlet sale of ”seconds”, and I got the frame for €120 off retail as there was a tiny chip in the paint

First pics show it with the 29er wheels (orange Hope hubs) from my Pace RC295, but when I had more cash, I bought a set of Hope Fortus wheels, and went for a mullet setup.

The Pole mudguard is my own design, done by becomeunique.pt.

 

[W7Ford]

Wow, thats ridiculously long and slack compared to what I'm familiar with!

 

[jimo746]

I like the look of that.

What's the ride like?

 

[Bollox64]

I like the look of that.

What's the ride like?

It is absolutely mint! Pointed downhill, it is at times faster than the full-squishy Pace, which is really nice too.
I had a Hope HB160 before. That was a beautiful bike, and took big hits and drops really well, but the steering was a bit twitchy.

I am no DH whizz, after all I am 57 but the Taival just tracks. You sit really "in the middle", and when I remember to drop my heels, it feels really stable, and not at all twitchy. It climbs good too.

 

[Bollox64]

Both my bikes actually have 150mm travel forks, not 140 as shown in the table.

 

[The Kilt]

Looks very nice, hoe do you find the playfulness of the bike (hopping, manualing etc?). I had a pretty long slack hard tail, a Production Privee Shan GT 29er and it was very fast going down and through the rough stuff, but it wasnt as playful and didint jump as nicely as a lot of other previous 650b and 26" hardtails i used to ride which were shorter and steeper. Especially around where i ride more often now, i find the long and slack a bit of a hinderance to be honest. Ive gone back to an old 98 cannondale hardtail which is pretty long anyway, but that is much more playful for hopping and manualling than the PP used to be.

 

[Bollox64]

Looks very nice, hoe do you find the playfulness of the bike (hopping, manualing etc?). I had a pretty long slack hard tail, a Production Privee Shan GT 29er and it was very fast going down and through the rough stuff, but it wasnt as playful and didint jump as nicely as a lot of other previous 650b and 26" hardtails i used to ride which were shorter and steeper. Especially around where i ride more often now, i find the long and slack a bit of a hinderance to be honest. Ive gone back to an old 98 cannondale hardtail which is pretty long anyway, but that is much more playful for hopping and manualling than the PP used to be.

Must admit I am shit at manuals, so no reference there, though I do try them now and again - which only serves to confirm that I am still shit at them!
In the bike park on tabletops, drops and doubles it is great. Though I live in Sweden I am no Emil Johansson, so the TTs and doubles I do are only 2-3 meters max, nothing huge so far. It does "fly" well though IMHO. I'm 1m 80cm / 5' 10", and the size M is fine for me - I think I'd be too stretched on a Large

 

[2manyoranges]

I am half asleep here in England and thought I read that you got the frame for 120!! That woke me up!
Then I saw ‘120 off retail’...which makes it a real-world purchase.
Lovely bike, you’ve done a great build. POLE are thoughtful and innovative, like Cotic and Stanton.
Great that you are riding full bore at 57. Add 5 and that’s my age ....and still out there...