There are European bike makers that have resisted the 'low long slack' thing.

Rose Bikes, for one. 120mm bike with 67º head angle.

Merida, also. 120mm bike with 67.3º head angle.

Or, break the bank with a German-precision Nicolai that can be customized however the hell you want.

 

Canyon lux has a 68.5 degree hta but kind of scared me on the descents.
I think the salsa horse thief has a 67 degree hta.

previous canyon neuron had a 67.5 degree hta.

I strongly prefer the 66 degree hta or my transition spur; it took me a month to adjust, but feels massively more stable to me now.

change is hard 🤣

 

EVIL Following HTA 66.9, is that normie shuttlefuq slack?

Insanely fun bike.

 

2014 fuel ex 29er. 69.5 degree head angle. I'm sure you could find one second hand somewhere...

 

Wouldn't a XC bike fit your requirements? Do you want more travel than your typical XC bike? How about a Pivot Mach 4 SL?

Chris

 

…so I have to ask: does ANYONE make non-slack frames?

Mongoose Salvo - 69 degree and other similar geo numbers to the bandit

Salvo 29 Trail

The Salvo Trail 29er is uniquely tuned to offer a plush ride through rugged XC trails. Our adapted free floating Horst-Link suspension limits pedal feedback conserving riders’ energy making it easy to take on more miles and plow through technical terrain.

www.mongoose.com

 

If you liked your Bandit buy a Bandit. There's several for sale on Pinkbike. I never quite understood the whole "this one old bike I had was a unicorn what else can I buy that is exactly like it??". Just buy a used version of your unicorn bike and be done with it. You'll probably save a bunch of money to boot.

 

Only one the right size is the broken frame

 

EVIL Following HTA 66.9, is that normie shuttlefuq slack?

Insanely fun bike.

I came here to say the same thing. I got a Following for the same reason, and it has lived up to expectations.

 

I'd say stick to bikes that have 67+ head tube angles. There are several but they are more XC-ish 100-120mm travel. Yeti has one, Revel Ranger, Specialized Epic, and many more. Otherwise you will have to go alloy custom like Ventana.

 

I did 2,200ft of singletrack climbing today on my 63.5* hardtail, does that make me a normie shuttlefuck?

 

No, but it sounds like you're trying to flex

 

No, but it sounds like you're trying to flex

Nope, not a flex. Just pointing out that bikes with modern geo are more than up for the task of doing more than just bombing shuttle runs, or even winch and plummet stuff.

 

OP didn’t say that it is impossible to climb on a LLS frame; he is looking for different geo that matches his preference.

 

I used to ride technical BC singletrack on a bike with a 70.5 degree head angle, 26” tires, and didn’t die. Those bikes slayed the turns and ruled the tight spots. When you don’t know any different…

What’s hard to believe is that this impossibly steep head angle was top of the line geometry just over 10 years ago. Case in point:

 

I used to ride technical BC singletrack on a bike with a 70.5 degree head angle, 26” tires, and didn’t die. Those bikes slayed the turns and ruled the tight spots. When you don’t know any different…

What’s hard to believe is that this impossibly steep head angle was top of the line geometry just over 10 years ago. Case in point:

Well it depends. My 06 Enduro had a 68 degree angle. That's closing in on 20 years. Another Enduro of mine is officially ten years old and is at 66 degrees (possibly less as I'm running 10mm more travel at the front).
So slack bikes have been around a long time. It's just that newer bikes are more pleasant to climb on probably due to wheelbase and seat tube angles.

 

Revel ranger has a 67.5 hta and is supposed to be great

 

I used to ride technical BC singletrack on a bike with a 70.5 degree head angle, 26” tires, and didn’t die. Those bikes slayed the turns and ruled the tight spots. When you don’t know any different…

What’s hard to believe is that this impossibly steep head angle was top of the line geometry just over 10 years ago. Case in point:

View attachment 2058833

Plenty of us know different and spent years and years on bikes like this.

Personally, I'll take modern geo every single day of the week. When you take a few steps back, look at how you're riding and make adjustments, modern geo stuff flies through tight singletrack without issue, and it's much better when stuff gets steep, fast and technical. Modern bikes are simply far more versatile than bikes from 10+ years ago.

 

Plenty of us know different and spent years and years on bikes like this.

Personally, I'll take modern geo every single day of the week. When you take a few steps back, look at how you're riding and make adjustments, modern geo stuff flies through tight singletrack without issue, and it's much better when stuff gets steep, fast and technical. Modern bikes are simply far more versatile than bikes from 10+ years ago.

Not to mention they climb much better as well. Having a steep seat tube angle makes climbing so much easier on my back and puts me in a much more natural position. The longer cockpit also makes it much easier to keep traction on the rear wheel without having the front lift on you.

 

Get the bike you want, with the STA you want! Adjust HTA with an angle set from Works Components. This is such an easy adjustment, and tuneable, you should make sure you buy a frame compatible with the headset, before you buy it! Some mountain bikes have fully integrated head sets, i.e., like a road bike where the bearings just sit in the frame. My suggestion is make sure the headtube of the bike/s you are looking at have 'semi integrated' headsets. ie, the headset is actually pressed into the frame. When you look at Works Components you will see which are the most common frame spec.

A few years ago when I introduced the Nitrous hardtail, by wife was Not impressed with the slack HTA.. so, it's had a Works headset in it ever since.

Get either Laclede or Pewag security chain and equivalent lock to keep your new bike yours.

DT

 

I did endo way more back then too, with those 71-degree head angles on 26ers. Yesterday, I did some pretty steep stuff on my Top Fuel. I think it has a 66ish degree head angle and it did great. Really tight and twisty trails are better on something with a 67-68 but I like the 65-66 range quite well in general here in Colorado and have become used to that. On the tight twisty stuff, I need to get more weight on the handlebar instead of leaning back like I prefer to. Fortunately, there are still a decent number of bikes in that 67-68 range and they are probably perfect for the OP

 

Walmart still makes 'em. Check out Ozone.

GL

 

Any love for the Scott Spark? I like my '21 version.... 67 HTA 74STA...not too long, not too short. 130/120.

 

Gravity and Motobecane also still make short/tall/steep geometry bikes.

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67-68 is as steep as anyone is willing to make anymore. And those are getting harder to find. You can also look for a bike that uses a ZS type headset so you can use the Wolftooth Angleset to steepen it up a bit.

Currently produced bikes with a steeper headangle that I can think of:
Revel Ranger
Orbea Oiz
Kona Hei Hei

 

Jamis Portal might be another option.

 

If you don't want to spend allot of cash Ozark trail ridge is a great option as is Kent trouvellie along with it's variants( Giordano Valor and Intrepid) Walmart bikes have come along way, and these are trail capable ( I beat the **** out of a Giordano Intrepid on the single track and jump lines before my custom TI soft tail frame got delivered)

 

Tight, twisty, trails for me without much elevation. I don't really dig the super slack trend either, but I think you get used to what you ride, even on the slacker, "modern" geometry, as long as it's not too extreme. My FS bike felt like a chopper at first, (even though it's not extreme) but I adapted quickly. Feels normal now.

 

Quiring, Wlatworks... Or a gravel grinder!