People have been asking what they can do to help support this channel while I work my way back to recovery. The best support would be to become a $5/mo patron on patreon. I'll be sharing my recovery journey over there, so if you'd like to stay in the loop or help support hardtail party in the meantime, please consider becoming a patron. Thanks so much. Patreon.com/hardtailparty
Great to see you at Rezduro but I apologize I couldn’t stop and chat. Thank you for being honest about your health and struggles. Mental health and chronic health conditions are not talked about enough in mtb. I’m not honest or brave enough to talk about my chronic health condition but just know we’re out here trying to figure out life right alongside you! You’re super solid and left even more of a good impression on us after making the effort to support such an exceptional event.
On the Scharen Cycles website, the DG's HA is listed as 63.5mm....different than the 61.8-62mm HA. Hooray for the Geometer designed by Steve, telling us the real world angles. This will be one interesting review.......much gratitude for your efforts Steve.
@@willscharen8472 may I suggest adding that piece of info (geo at sag) on the website. It's becoming beyond confusing to customers who know what to look for when it's not specified how the geo is measured (sag vs static). Keep up the good work!
Beautiful bike, seems perfect for bike parks like telluride! My Growler did great there but I would love to have given this thing a go! Great stuff Steve, not sure if this was a new vid or one you had in the vault but its good to see you doing what you love, helping guys like me find bikes that rip. You've been in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you're feeling the love from the community.
Love, love, love Hardtail’s and the small builder series you’re doing. In my opinion this should be a Netflix series lol. I have a set of WI hubs and some other WI components. Amazing company too, that are experienced experts that take pride in their products. They also have great sales/customer service that really know bikes.
As someone who rides aggressive hardtails, I prefer 60° degree, head tube angles I just love the way they feel and I ride them on everything from flat to downhill
Great video as always. I like that you actually measure angles and reach, wheelbase, etc :). Can wait for the video with riding impressions. Your channel influenced me to go back to hardtails, which is how I started mountain biking!
Great looking bike! I would love to ride that its right up my alley! Reminds me of a stif squatch but this is better looking! If the rear end rides like a squatch it will be amazing.
@@hardtailparty aah thanks for pointing that out! And the squatch is "only" 64 degrees slack.. And the seatttube is sooo steep. But it does feels nice when sitting and climbing. But the seat pokes your butt when standing up on tech moves or when sprinting!
Thats super interesting! The high BB, short chainstays and short reach make it seem like a sort of playful bike... Until the 61 degree head angle hits you 😂. I'm excited to see what you think of it
That’s a sweet bike… and love seeing it coming out of Ashland. Lived there for about 8 years and went to college down there. In fact just rode down there last week and had an awesome time! Check out Ashland Mountain Adventures for your shuttle needs to ride time warp! I can’t believe how slack that bike is! Slacker than my On One Hello Dave steel ht with a ht angle of 62.5!!
So glad your still at it😀 Many years ago I had a Gary Fisher Pro Caliber Limited came with White Industries Hubs and Cranks. Nice stuff. I see they are being used on gravel bikes a bit . Nice to see raw or silver aluminum parts coming back in style. Black is kinda boring.
When you get the chance, please review the NS Eccentric EVO. It was the cheapest frame I could find that fit the parts I had from a crashed FS bike. I was blown away by how fun and flexible the frame was, so I'd be curious to hear what you think.
Okay! Now I understand what you mean by 'slack'. At first, I thought you meant the frame was flexible. I got it now. Hate the colors, but I love the layout of the com,ponents. Hey, what is it with you-young guys and black? I like beautiful colors and polished aluminum 🙂
Really like the insight regarding slack head angles, and how they don't ride so well on less steep terrain. It's obvious, (when someone actually points it out!), that when you have a very slack head angle the fork just isn't being pushed in the correct direction on flat ground! I've not seen another bike review, that explains this point so clearly.
Steve if you want to get an estimate of the weight of the frame but it already came with cranks, what I do is weigh the frame + cranks and then search a website for the weight of the crank + bottom bracket and subtract from the weight of all. It is a lot of searching around so may not really be worth it, but you wouldn't have to strip the parts off.
Looks good, and while I agree filetting the braze joints could weaken them, for god's sake fill out the crater holes... a hole like that has a high chance of developing cracks overtime, I can't believe that was painted over and left like that ...
Nothing you see here would qualify as a “crater hole” - they are just surface imperfections, sometimes called the freeze pattern, where molten bronze cools as the puddle moves away. I assure you there’s a deep and solid fillet all the way around each joint with good penetration to the inside as well. The pearl powder coat may be exaggerating the contrast as well.
The last shot manages to portray how beautiful this bike really is. Btw, where can we buy hardtail party stickers? I finally pulled the trigger and bought an M size Marley 275 2023 frame at 399€ + 29€ delivery and a Manitou Mezzer Expert which I will set up to 140mm. I can't wait to build it and wish I could send it over for you to review. You're looking happy ✌🏼
Interesting bike, looking forward to the ride review! However I'm commenting b/c I'm interested in the Code brakes and the custom? levers blades and why you are using the codes and those lever blades instead of the Paul's you normally build with?
The levers are from freedom coast. Cool stuff. I have 4 sets of Pauls and they're currently on other bikes. Plus, with the Enduro nature of this, I wanted to try hydraulic brakes on this build.
I think frame builders who treat custom like a tailor are rare, altering a pattern to fit a customer’s body is what buying “bespoke” is about. He is very upfront about what the bike is designed to do and seems to have made not compromises to any “other” type of riding
Man, I don't like seeing brazed butt joints only, especially at the head tube. I know custom bikes have done this since forever, but there were lugs for a reason. Even when perfectly done, they are different metals subject to corrosion where they meet.
The hello Dave has an interesting story. Remember sick bikes? The company that promised the world and ripped everyone off? Well, on one bought their stock and rebranded it the "hello Dave." The geometry isn't right for me. I don't know where I could take it to wake it up. I almost bought one just for the parts, but eventually cancelled my order.😊
Awesome, thanks for the response. Keep up the good reviews. I usually bounce between my ht and fully for rides, so thanks for the inspiration to keep riding ht style.
Hey Steve, sorry if you’ve covered this in another video but I’m curious- if you were to take a bike like this out before putting it on the geometer, do you think you could fairly accurately map out the geo chart?
I think the only way for a ht to get big travel forks is to go slack , so that when the it goes in it's travel it doesn't get too steep , that's what manufacturers claim
I haven't hit that point yet, I don't think. I notice plenty of motion in my fork, no obvious binding. My hardtails in the past 10-12 years have moved through head tube angles of 71, 68, 65, 63.5 and 61.5 if you measure it static. Steve is right about how it's ridden. Bikes pointed down hill have different stresses on them than bikes on flat ground.
@@hardtailparty Yeaaaaaah! Lookin' forward to it. And I don't recall you showing the new builds of the State bicycles in Moab. I saw a few on Old Sovel's channel. Thanks partner.
I wouldn't trust this bike , look at the welds at the end of the video as they're horrible . I definitely wouldn't be paying $2k for a frame that has bad welds , bikes at Walmart are welded better .
It means the (head) angle of the forks is very laid back like a "chopper" motorbike. Most people would regard a trail bike with a head angle less than 65 degrees as very slack. Steve explains the benefits and also compromises of this geometry during the video.
It's better than boost, but unfortunately the industry got on the wrong wagon. Short answer: it provides more room for a strong chain stay to exist between the chainring and the tire, whereas boost creates a real bottleneck in this area. This is why so many bikes need a yoke and don't have an intact chain stay on the drive side. The wheel may also be stronger, but I don't think this matters nearly as much.
@@dadbod4lifeI don't feel like will makes any more money by making his bikes super boost, but I do think it allows his wheels to be stronger and the chain stays shorter. I wish we had gone to super boost first and just skipped boost all together. Now that 99% of MTBs are boost, I like the idea of sticking with boost for wheel swap options.
@@hardtailpartySuper boost does nothing for wheel strength. My 142mm hubs are just fine after 10k miles and multiple descents on 14k foot mountains on a hardtail. Sad you let the marketing fool you.
How much should a guy sell these for when he's creating these by hand in the US? He needs a living wage. There's a big difference from a factory in China cranking out 20 of these a day and a guy doing this all by hand. Pricing is on par with other hand built frames in the US.
@@dystopiaisutopia I wish that were possible. I pay more than $600 just for raw materials and a single-color powder coat. That leaves zero for my time, my overhead, or my profit. $600 will buy you something made in China, not the US.
People have been asking what they can do to help support this channel while I work my way back to recovery. The best support would be to become a $5/mo patron on patreon. I'll be sharing my recovery journey over there, so if you'd like to stay in the loop or help support hardtail party in the meantime, please consider becoming a patron. Thanks so much.
Patreon.com/hardtailparty
What’s up Steve? Hope your feeling well! The joy in your face tells me everything about this bike!
You're
I bet you feel smart. Get a life. @@dystopiaisutopia
That is probably one of the most beautiful hardtails I have seen on your channel, amazing work Will. Great first look Steve.
@@manchesterexplorer8519 ok. lets see your welded Chromoly hardtail frame, and we'll all compare the two frames, how's that sound to you?
Head badge looks great!
Great to see you at Rezduro but I apologize I couldn’t stop and chat. Thank you for being honest about your health and struggles. Mental health and chronic health conditions are not talked about enough in mtb. I’m not honest or brave enough to talk about my chronic health condition but just know we’re out here trying to figure out life right alongside you! You’re super solid and left even more of a good impression on us after making the effort to support such an exceptional event.
That paint is awesome
Great first look 👍. I’m exited to see what crazy double black diamond trails you take us on when your review comes out!!. 🙌🙌🤘
Nice shirt you have at the opening of the video👕, and the bicycle - BEAUTYFUL !🚲😎👍
On the Scharen Cycles website, the DG's HA is listed as 63.5mm....different than the 61.8-62mm HA.
Hooray for the Geometer designed by Steve, telling us the real world angles.
This will be one interesting review.......much gratitude for your efforts Steve.
Steve put a 150mm fork, and axle to crown could be different on helm than what the manufacturer measured. Its not that far off.
@@jeffreydzialoalso, some companies measure geo sagged, which would make sense here.
The bike was designed at 30% sag, which is where you see the 63.5° hta. At static fork length the angle is closer to 61.5°.
@@willscharen8472 may I suggest adding that piece of info (geo at sag) on the website. It's becoming beyond confusing to customers who know what to look for when it's not specified how the geo is measured (sag vs static).
Keep up the good work!
Totally dig the cable routing. It’s how I rig my hard tails.
Might need me one of these! Thanks for putting out such sick content!
Thanks for showing us this beauty of a bike Steve!
Beautiful bike, seems perfect for bike parks like telluride! My Growler did great there but I would love to have given this thing a go!
Great stuff Steve, not sure if this was a new vid or one you had in the vault but its good to see you doing what you love, helping guys like me find bikes that rip. You've been in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you're feeling the love from the community.
Super cool paint job. Great to see a new video Steve.
Love, love, love Hardtail’s and the small builder series you’re doing. In my opinion this should be a Netflix series lol. I have a set of WI hubs and some other WI components. Amazing company too, that are experienced experts that take pride in their products. They also have great sales/customer service that really know bikes.
Hardtail's what? Lol
Definitely picked the right shirt for this build up
Great looking bike. I like the colors!
sick colors.
As someone who rides aggressive hardtails, I prefer 60° degree, head tube angles I just love the way they feel and I ride them on everything from flat to downhill
Those white industries hubs sound so good! So nice to see a smallish 90's company still in the game
Sweet looking bike! While for me it's the wrong tool for the job, it looks amazing.
Hey Steve, I absolutely love your videos and I can't wait to see you ride the DG.
Amazing looking bike! Love the colors. Thanks again for all the information you put out! 🤙🏻
Great video as always. I like that you actually measure angles and reach, wheelbase, etc :). Can wait for the video with riding impressions. Your channel influenced me to go back to hardtails, which is how I started mountain biking!
Great Video Steven. Thank you.
It sounds like the Scharen gravel bike would be the perfect build for the next Road Bike Party video!
Whoa! That bike is insane, I wanna jump on that beast and go ride Santa Cruz.
Steve. Hope you feel better soon
Really cool bike
Beautiful bike!
Great looking bike! I would love to ride that its right up my alley!
Reminds me of a stif squatch but this is better looking! If the rear end rides like a squatch it will be amazing.
squatch has a MUCH lower BB.
@@hardtailparty aah thanks for pointing that out! And the squatch is "only" 64 degrees slack..
And the seatttube is sooo steep. But it does feels nice when sitting and climbing. But the seat pokes your butt when standing up on tech moves or when sprinting!
Such a beautiful bike. I had something similar made as a custom, but that thing is gorgeous
Great review. Beautiful bike
Thats super interesting! The high BB, short chainstays and short reach make it seem like a sort of playful bike... Until the 61 degree head angle hits you 😂. I'm excited to see what you think of it
That’s a sweet bike… and love seeing it coming out of Ashland. Lived there for about 8 years and went to college down there. In fact just rode down there last week and had an awesome time! Check out Ashland Mountain Adventures for your shuttle needs to ride time warp!
I can’t believe how slack that bike is! Slacker than my On One Hello Dave steel ht with a ht angle of 62.5!!
Merci pour cette présentation. Toujours au top tes vidéos. Un bonjour du centre France 😉
Nice bike!
Good luck. You are a wonderful, intelligent and inspirational person.
So glad your still at it😀 Many years ago I had a Gary Fisher Pro Caliber Limited came with White Industries Hubs and Cranks. Nice stuff. I see they are being used on gravel bikes a bit . Nice to see raw or silver aluminum parts coming back in style. Black is kinda boring.
Beautiful bike 😍
When you get the chance, please review the NS Eccentric EVO. It was the cheapest frame I could find that fit the parts I had from a crashed FS bike. I was blown away by how fun and flexible the frame was, so I'd be curious to hear what you think.
I've tried to get one in for years but no luck. Hopefully one day.
Very good looking bike. Love the colours. Bit specialist in purpose/design... He shld do a more xc/dc version
That might be next, but full custom is always an option in the meantime. My gravel bike is actually pretty close to XC geo…
Okay! Now I understand what you mean by 'slack'. At first, I thought you meant the frame was flexible. I got it now. Hate the colors, but I love the layout of the com,ponents. Hey, what is it with you-young guys and black? I like beautiful colors and polished aluminum 🙂
Another great reveal. Thanks for the content.
Awesome video !!!!
Really like the insight regarding slack head angles, and how they don't ride so well on less steep terrain. It's obvious, (when someone actually points it out!), that when you have a very slack head angle the fork just isn't being pushed in the correct direction on flat ground! I've not seen another bike review, that explains this point so clearly.
I have more of this content coming soon. I can't wait to release it.
66 is perfect
@@dystopiaisutopia it depends on your trails, travel, geo, riding style, and what you want out of the bike. 66* is good for a lot of people out there.
Steve if you want to get an estimate of the weight of the frame but it already came with cranks, what I do is weigh the frame + cranks and then search a website for the weight of the crank + bottom bracket and subtract from the weight of all. It is a lot of searching around so may not really be worth it, but you wouldn't have to strip the parts off.
So sick!!!
Steve have you seen a hardtail with a knock block type feature? I think I've only heard about them on full suspension bikes...
Knock block is a trek system, and you're right, it's only on their fs (thank goodness, most people would rather remove knock block)
Not the bike for me based on geo and purpose, but it’s a beauty! Not sure yet how I feel about Superboost, but it is intriguing.
Good work! Nice informed post!
A beauty!
Have you tried the Merida Big Trail Series? That would be sick if you will review it :)
looking good senor!
Looks good, and while I agree filetting the braze joints could weaken them, for god's sake fill out the crater holes... a hole like that has a high chance of developing cracks overtime, I can't believe that was painted over and left like that ...
Nothing you see here would qualify as a “crater hole” - they are just surface imperfections, sometimes called the freeze pattern, where molten bronze cools as the puddle moves away. I assure you there’s a deep and solid fillet all the way around each joint with good penetration to the inside as well. The pearl powder coat may be exaggerating the contrast as well.
The last shot manages to portray how beautiful this bike really is. Btw, where can we buy hardtail party stickers?
I finally pulled the trigger and bought an M size Marley 275 2023 frame at 399€ + 29€ delivery and a Manitou Mezzer Expert which I will set up to 140mm. I can't wait to build it and wish I could send it over for you to review.
You're looking happy ✌🏼
Hardtail party stickers are available on patron.
Interesting bike, looking forward to the ride review! However I'm commenting b/c I'm interested in the Code brakes and the custom? levers blades and why you are using the codes and those lever blades instead of the Paul's you normally build with?
The levers are from freedom coast. Cool stuff. I have 4 sets of Pauls and they're currently on other bikes. Plus, with the Enduro nature of this, I wanted to try hydraulic brakes on this build.
I think frame builders who treat custom like a tailor are rare, altering a pattern to fit a customer’s body is what buying “bespoke” is about. He is very upfront about what the bike is designed to do and seems to have made not compromises to any “other” type of riding
Man, I don't like seeing brazed butt joints only, especially at the head tube. I know custom bikes have done this since forever, but there were lugs for a reason. Even when perfectly done, they are different metals subject to corrosion where they meet.
Ever think of reviewing the on one hello dave?
The hello Dave has an interesting story. Remember sick bikes? The company that promised the world and ripped everyone off? Well, on one bought their stock and rebranded it the "hello Dave." The geometry isn't right for me. I don't know where I could take it to wake it up. I almost bought one just for the parts, but eventually cancelled my order.😊
Awesome, thanks for the response. Keep up the good reviews. I usually bounce between my ht and fully for rides, so thanks for the inspiration to keep riding ht style.
Hey Steve, sorry if you’ve covered this in another video but I’m curious- if you were to take a bike like this out before putting it on the geometer, do you think you could fairly accurately map out the geo chart?
Extreme but beautiful!
When does a bike get so slack that it puts undue stress on the steerer?
It depends on how it's ridden and how it's built. Huck to flats on a slack bike are worse for the head tube than a steep bike.
I think the only way for a ht to get big travel forks is to go slack , so that when the it goes in it's travel it doesn't get too steep , that's what manufacturers claim
I haven't hit that point yet, I don't think. I notice plenty of motion in my fork, no obvious binding. My hardtails in the past 10-12 years have moved through head tube angles of 71, 68, 65, 63.5 and 61.5 if you measure it static. Steve is right about how it's ridden. Bikes pointed down hill have different stresses on them than bikes on flat ground.
Wowza
another awesome video. hope you are feeling better. thoughts with you every day.
😃. Ohhhhhhh wow looks cool .
Or it's titanium cousin, the wrekker?
Its********
Wow that is slack....I WANT IT
It'll break , look at the low quality welds
@@manchesterexplorer8519 it's fillet brazed and strong as hell
I wish there weren’t so many “standards.”
What's happened to the Klunker bikes and rides? That's the reason I subscribed.
It's in my backlog of videos to edit. I've got 20+ hours of footage to go through, it's taking longer than I had hoped.
@@hardtailparty Yeaaaaaah! Lookin' forward to it. And I don't recall you showing the new builds of the State bicycles in Moab. I saw a few on Old Sovel's channel. Thanks partner.
@@Johann-4354 it's in the backlog I'm working through..I haven't forgotten those videos.
Totally off topic, but now that I noticed your electrical outlets have the ground at the top, I can't stop staring at it. 😶
That's actually how electrical outlets are supposed to be wired now.
@@hardtailparty I know I've been hearing that for a while now, but it just doesn't look right to me 😅 be well brother 👊
More slack than a Kona ESD?
It is!
I wouldn't trust this bike , look at the welds at the end of the video as they're horrible . I definitely wouldn't be paying $2k for a frame that has bad welds , bikes at Walmart are welded better .
Grim doughnut hardtail!!
So pretty much useless
Much too specialized for me, unfortunately. Looks beautiful, though. Hope you are getting the rest you need!
What does "super slack" mean? I'm a fairly new MTB rider.
The forks are pointed more forward. People think it's cooler or better but it depends on what kind of riding you do.
It means the (head) angle of the forks is very laid back like a "chopper" motorbike. Most people would regard a trail bike with a head angle less than 65 degrees as very slack. Steve explains the benefits and also compromises of this geometry during the video.
White Ind. hubs rule!!
Riding Hangover?
No, hangover is actually a fairly slow trail.
Slack you say…….😍
looks amazing, almost as good as you
Get well soon sir. 🫡
Thank you my friend.
You guys need to go learn the difference between metal joins. No problems with this bike, because it’s BRAZED, not welded.
Why why why do we need super boost? Complete madness.
It's better than boost, but unfortunately the industry got on the wrong wagon. Short answer: it provides more room for a strong chain stay to exist between the chainring and the tire, whereas boost creates a real bottleneck in this area. This is why so many bikes need a yoke and don't have an intact chain stay on the drive side. The wheel may also be stronger, but I don't think this matters nearly as much.
It is a great looking bike, but too much bike for me and my area
Super boost is annoying. Just my $0.02.
I see your 2¢
And raise another 2¢
Agreed. Standard boost is great, can easily swap wheelsets from bike to bike with different tire combos in just a few min.
@@michiganstate149 that’s exactly it! Boost was a blessing, and anything beyond that is another money grab by the industry.
@@dadbod4lifeI don't feel like will makes any more money by making his bikes super boost, but I do think it allows his wheels to be stronger and the chain stays shorter. I wish we had gone to super boost first and just skipped boost all together. Now that 99% of MTBs are boost, I like the idea of sticking with boost for wheel swap options.
@@hardtailpartySuper boost does nothing for wheel strength. My 142mm hubs are just fine after 10k miles and multiple descents on 14k foot mountains on a hardtail.
Sad you let the marketing fool you.
what a shunner
So slack it might as well be a business focused messaging app…..
You win the Internet today
these guys are having a bubble, 2K plus for a steel hardtail...frame! outa their minds
How much should a guy sell these for when he's creating these by hand in the US? He needs a living wage. There's a big difference from a factory in China cranking out 20 of these a day and a guy doing this all by hand. Pricing is on par with other hand built frames in the US.
@@hardtailparty$600 and he will get a lot more business. Guaranteed.
@@dystopiaisutopia I wish that were possible. I pay more than $600 just for raw materials and a single-color powder coat. That leaves zero for my time, my overhead, or my profit. $600 will buy you something made in China, not the US.
@@willscharen8472 Just had a frame made in Peru for $600 with 853 Reynolds.
More like Schlackest bike