Looks pretty sweet, checks a lot of my boxes too... but when I got to the Reach/Front Center I was looking for (the XXL) the chainstays got longer than what I'm looking for. Overall though looks like a pretty sweet frame.

 

Looks pretty sweet, checks a lot of my boxes too... Until you get to XXL and the chainstays get longer. 😡

Yep. I hate this trend. Luckily I'm just under 5'11, so I ordered the extra-medium with 420mm CS.

 

I'm a big fan of Binary. The owners are great people and I see their bikes out here a lot since they're just right down the road from me... That said, I am a bit skeptical of the Maniak. It seems like the Hardtail Party guy is trying to shove 10lbs of **** into a 5lb bag on this frame. It may be great, or it may be one of those bikes that's trying to do way too many things at once and just ends up riding goofy. He makes a lot of claims about it.

When someone claims that a frame can be both a 150mm mullet downhill sled AND the perfect bikepacker, I start to cock my head to the side a little bit. Maybe he's right, but it's one of those frames I would insist on riding before I purchased one.

I also find it weird to design a frame around 29+ when that wheel size is dying out. I love 29+ as much as the next guy, but there aren't any tire choices left hardly.

 

I'm a big fan of Binary. The owners are great people and I see their bikes out here a lot since they're just right down the road from me... That said, I am a bit skeptical of the Maniak. It seems like the Hardtail Party guy is trying to shove 10lbs of **** into a 5lb bag on this frame. It may be great, or it may be one of those bikes that's trying to do way too many things at once and just ends up riding goofy. He makes a lot of claims about it.

When someone claims that a frame can be both a 150mm mullet downhill sled AND the perfect bikepacker, I start to cock my head to the side a little bit. Maybe he's right, but it's one of those frames I would insist on riding before I purchased one.

I also find it weird to design a frame around 29+ when that wheel size is dying out. I love 29+ as much as the next guy, but there aren't any tire choices left hardly.

To be fair, I don't think he ever said it was the perfect bike packer. He said it would be able to bike pack. I don't always agree with him but I do think he's been fair about the bike. It sounds like he rants and raves about it because it's his ideal bike. So do course he's going to love it. I think it's ugly though.

 

Appreciate the input! Agreed it would be nice to ride first.

 

Granted I am not a bikepacker, but I would be really really curious what it would be like to pedal a 76degST 65HT angle around on flat terrain for long periods of time. Almost every bike oriented towards bikepacking has a much slacker ST and steeper HT. I was very excited about the geo until I saw the ST and HT angles, which just don't suit riding in WI. Looks like an awesome bike for AZ type riding though!

 

Frankly, I just cannot benefit by the STA those have, regardless of geography. 65° HTA is doable but an STA of 76/77° is out of specification.

 

I'll have to see a review by someone else, maybe from one of the PinkBike people.

 

I have a Fezzari La Sal, which has an insanely steep STA at 78. I actually really like it on the full suspension, where I climb seated most of the time. I can’t imagine that steep STA on a hardtail though. I guess if you climbed everything with your dropper slammed it may be ok, but I like having my saddle up where I can use it between my knees while out of the saddle climbing. That steep STA puts it in a really weird spot for that kind of riding.

 

Hay 29+ isn't dead yet! Hopefully just taking a back seat for a while! Steve always said it was his dream to figure out and build his perfect GEO bike for his riding and he is finally doing it. Props to him and who cares if not everyone's cup of tea!

 

who cares if not everyone's cup of tea!

Binary might care if they can’t sell a bunch of them…

 

The chainring would be in serious danger running 27.5x2.3 tires. I am not sure it is possible to design a bike that works with 27.5*2.3 up to 29*3.0 tires.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Right before this frame was offered, I purchased a custom Ti Carver built very comparably to my favorite HT of all time, the Kona Wozo. (Hopefully the ti frame is a bit stronger than the paper mache they use on the 177 Wozos.) Been riding it with 27.5x3.8 on 45 rims and it is exactly what I wanted! (Just like 29+ but better for my needs)

When reading about the Maniak I hadn't had a chance to ride the Carver as it was getting built up from the parts off the previous FS fatty I had. Spring fever gave me a wandering eye....

At this point, I'm certainly curious about the Maniak but I'm finding the Carver has everything I want.
Davis over at Carver Bikes were great to work with! I suspect it will not be my last frame from him.

 

I looked at the Maniak frame but was thinking would run 29x2.6, in the end ended up ordering a Canfield Yelli Screamy, decided needed to replace FS bike so canceled the Canfield order, gotta new FS. Found out still desired a new aggressive 29 HT , sold another bike and just purchased a Yelli again because the Maniak Frame was sold out for preorder. Probably better option considering saving considerable dollars going that route. That being said though that Maniak seemed to be a screaming deal with capability to be a fun make it what you want machine and who doesn't want, maybe need one of those N+N or N+1 can I get a high five to that.

In all seriousness though am slightly disappointed that Canfield had to change from preorder to bikes actual arrival on the Yelli, originally they were advertising 29 2.8 clearance, now advertising 2.5 but multiple reports of 2.6 clearing with no issues. While short Chain Stays can be done with 3.0 clearance certainly tough on a production bike, be interesting see how the Maniak does, once I see some good long term reviews on some might consider it.

 

While short Chain Stays can be done with 3.0 clearance certainly tough on a production bike, be interesting see how the Maniak does, once I see some good long term reviews on some might consider it.

So, basically, a production manager is overseeing incompetence if the team is not willing to work to a set of shop drawings that have been proofed.

Sad state of affairs.

 

I have a great deal of respect for Hardtail Party. This Maniak would not be to my taste (each to their own) but I totally understand the ideas that produced it. The seat tube is steep, but that helps to keep you forward on such a slack bike (see Pole Evolink… old farts with shot knees need not apply). Same with the lengthening chainstay - kudos for that - as a 6’4”er experience tells me that there’s nothing worse than being arsed behind the back wheel.

As an aside, I have been poring over HP’s review of the Why S7, in conjunction with his reviews of the Ionic and the Stanton Sherpa. He gets what the magic of a top shelf hardtail can be. I can feel the n+1 plus juices flowing… 😜

 

Anyone receive and running a Maniak yet?

 

Curious about this too. I’d like to hear what folks think of it.

 

It doesn't ship until Q1 of 2023. He did a livestream yesterday about it & mentioned there is a few more order spots open for the next few days if anyone who wants to order one.

 

Maniaks have just started shipping this week from Binary in Arizona. Mine should ship before Christmas, I hope.

I opted for a Large and I'm 6' with a slightly long torso. Given my experience with a Large Banshee Paradox and 19" Stanton Sherpa, I think the Maniak will be just what I'm wanting for central TX. I love the Banshee, but I like the tire size options of the Maniak, as well as the sliding dropouts. Sadly, the Sherpa is just too cramped for me so it's going up for sale. I'm old school having started riding in the early '90s, but over the last few years I've really come to enjoy the whole longer, lower, slacker thing. Maybe I'm just trying too hard to hold on to my youth!

If anyone's interested, I'd be happy to share my thoughts on the bike and photos once I've got it together. The parts are here. So I should have it built within a day of it arriving. Current plan is to run it with 130 travel, 29x2.6 or 29x2.8 tires on 35i hoops, and will bounce between geared and single speed.

 

It' sucks the lengthened the chainstay in the bigger sizes . I'll keep my xl 2016 nimble 9 with its 415 CS and short wheel base it really feels like a dj 29er. I just can't get used to these semi truck new frames

 

Different strokes... I'm happy about the longer chainstays on the larger sizes 'cause it helps prevent wheeling out on climbs and helps keep my front wheel weighted in the corners. But it's obviously not for everyone.

 

Like others have noted the STA is too steep for me to be comfortable on. I also think that if you are paying $2K+USD I'd rather have a custom US/Can made steel frame than a Ti production frame made overseas.

On the 29+ rubber front there are still a number of tire options and like fat bike tires [another small niche] we'll end up with a few tires that stick around as demand gets focused on fewer options. Personally I don't need 10+ 29+ tire options. I really only need one great tire like the Bony XR2 that's pretty versatile. I'd also rather have extra tire clearance I don't use than have too little and wish I had more.

 

The WTB Ranger 3.0s is what I used on my Surly Krampus when I was running 29+. At that size they were grippy and fast rolling. 29+ tires don't have many options right now, but eventually I think they will make a comeback as some big OEM will market it has a "new" thing again.

 

I have the Bontrager XR4 in a 29x2.6 on my bike, but it also comes in the 3.0, which I imagine would be even better. XR3 in 3.0 or even 2.8 would have been cool & would pair nicely with a XR4 front.

 

I recently picked up a new 29x3.0 XR2 for the rear and will pick up an XR4 for the front. I just need some rims wider than the 35s I have currently.

 

My Maniak showed up this evening and I hastily built it up in hopes for a shakedown ride in the morning. It's a beaut, IMO, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow! In the pic it's got a 140mm Pike, 29x2.8 Rekons, and a 210mm dropper (frame size large).

 

My Maniak showed up this evening and I hastily built it up in hopes for a shakedown ride in the morning.

Looks great. Enjoy the new bike. 🤘

 

Nice...mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow. What size did you get?

 

Thanks, it's a large. I'm 6' with a slightly longer than average torso and the bike actually feels longer than expected which, for me, is a good thing.

Looks great. Enjoy the new bike. 🤘

Thank you! I'm gonna try!

 

This bike is a perfect example of why I question most of Steve from Hardtail Party’s opinions. He supposedly designed the perfect 130 travel Hardtail and on his first ride he wanted a 140 fork and to change the seat angle. People pay this guy to tell them what bike to buy and he can’t even design his own bike right. Do your own research. Ride as many demo bikes as you can and learn what you like and what you would change before spending a lot on a Ti bike

 

Frankly, anyone else's findings/opinions are conjecture if they do not reflect your own experiences on a bike's geometry and dimensions.

 

For what it's worth, Steve at HP stated in one of his videos (where he was test riding a prototype frame) that the seat tube came in much steeper than he intended (79 vs ~76 degrees) so they corrected it. Prototyping doing its thing. Personally, I don't recall him preferring a 140 fork on it, but he did say it's intended for 120 up to 150 mm of travel. I won't speak for others, but if the geo of this frame weren't exactly what I was looking for, I absolutely wouldn't have pulled the trigger. I also don't always agree with Steve. I value his opinion, but like all things internet, I take it with a grain of salt. With this frame, he pretty much designed exactly what I wanted other than having more bikepacking mounts than I'd want, but that's hardly a dealbreaker. YMMV, FWIW, IMHO, etc...

 

That looks sweet. How much clearance is there left with the 2.8s? Were you able to weigh it?

I also don't always agree with Steve. I value his opinion, but like all things internet, I take it with a grain of salt.

Agreed. I used his service as I was choosing between 3-4 bikes that were hard to test ride. Other than taking a bit of time(it was early December) he steered me to a Sherpa which I really like.

 

Last night I weighed the bike as pictured above. ~27.8 lbs. That's close to what my Yeti ARC weighed with mostly similar components. And attached is a photo showing what I meant with regard to the chainstay clearance. As you can see, moving the tire rearward will increase the likelihood of the sidewall contacting the contour of the chainstay. This may be quite limiting with 27.5+, but I haven't checked yet.

Lastly, I decided to pull off the 140mm Pike and I shortened my CC Helm down to 120mm and will try that out. It's now showing just under 65 degrees of headtube angle.

 

I've got two maniaks right now, one singlespeed with 2.6s and a 120mm fork, and another with 2.3s with a 130mm helm. I love them both for different reasons. Sometimes I toss on 29x3.0s. I love having the options. I think for those wanting a quicker, zippier ride that rolls faster, try it out with fast rolling 2.3s, I think you'll be surprised at how quick it can be.

 

Mine...too soft to ride yet in Fruita, but any day now!