rosefarts

I think I do anyway. I had a single speed Nashbar 29er a couple years ago. I liked how it rode but was really low end and super heavy. I also like absurd climbs, and my far from absurd legs need gears for that. I'd be taking it everywhere that anyone else would take a cross country/trail bike.

This spring I rode the White Rim trail on a cross bike with 38mm tires. I enjoyed the crap out of that. It sort of put a bug in my head about what sort of bike for long days, moderate technical sections, and big climbs while still preserving the ground/tire/frame connection to riding.

Right now I'm sort of enamored with the idea of a 29 plus hardtail with a rigid fork. 3" tires on tall rims seems like it would be more than adequate. Maybe 27.5 is a smarter idea.

So it seems like I either want a Karate Monkey or Trek Stache. I don't love either, I'm sure there are other options.

What I'd like from this thread are two things

1. Brands and models of 29+ frames or whole bikes to drool over.

2. Dissuade me from such a silly idea (if I were right about my needs, modern mountain bikes would look like what I've described).

No massive hurry, this is probably something I wouldn't be able to ride much until this upcoming spring, even if I bought it today.

Ryder1

I also like rigid bikes off-road, but I wouldn't consider a 27.5 unless it was a 29+/27.5+ combo. Gotta have 29 up front for roll over. Currently ride a 29er 2.6/2.4 and it works well but want to push it up to 3.0/2.6. I see 29x3 in back as overkill but I'll admit to no trail time with something like a rigid Krampus. To your questions.

Surly Krampus will get you your 3.0 in back, frame or complete. Monkey can do it but may limit your tire options and where you run your dropouts. Krampus has 17.1" minimum chainstay length, Karate 16.7 plus less BB drop.

2020 Specialized Fuse, 2020 Kona Unit X. New designs, fit 2.6 and probably more, adjustable dropouts. Frame-only available for both, Kona also available as a complete geared rigid with 29x2.6. Between the two, I'd go Kona all day long, but I'm partial to steel and Kona.

Salsa Timberjack and Santa Cruz Chameleon - similar to Fuse and Unit. 2.6 no problem, adjustable dropouts. The Salsa is cheaper and lighter. Santa Cruz has a carbon option, Salsa has ti.

Myth Cycles Talos is very cool. Vassago is another option. There are others but you'll see I only pay attention to hardtails with adjustable dropouts.

Dissuade you? Not unless your riding is technical enough, or just plain rocky enough, to demand suspension. If you're riding with guys on full-suspension bikes, you risk getting bounced off the trail trying to keep up. Otherwise, a bike like the 2020 Unit X makes a lot of sense for getting off-road at a reasonable price, and low maintenance.

qclabrat

I have a Carver Gnarvester, silly name, but it's been my go to bike whether it's in SS or geared.
It's full rigid with Whisky fork and it pretty light even with Surly Dirt Wizard. Not the best for twisty tight trails due to the giant rubbers or chunky downhills but is so much fun climbing and spinning on gravel.
I have the budget AL version, but my friend has the Ti frame. I prefer the dropouts for the AL version, but it's more a personal look than anything else. No mine, but some shots from the interwebz

bonsai171

What kind of riding do you like to do? If it is rooty, rocky singletrack, I would suggest keeping the suspension. As an owner of a fully rigid Specialized, I hardly ever take it on singletrack anymore. Definitely not the rocky, rooty stuff. It dishes out too much of a beating on that kind of riding. It has since been re-purposed as a gravel bike, and while it is on the heavy side, does a good job on the gravel and paved roads with smoothish tires.

Dave

rosefarts

So I have a gravel bike that I'm kinda in love with. 20 years old, can fit 45's, and within a pound of all but the super expensive stuff. I wouldn't use the mountain bike for stuff the CX bike can do.

I don't have a mountain bike. I don't know what I like to ride.

The trails around here are a good mix of shale single track. There are a couple very technical climbs that probably gain no more than 50' vertical that I can't do on a cross bike with a 40-42 low end. I also can't quite ride down some of them. It's means I can only ride 95% of the stuff around here.

That would be fine but my near future (next year) is probably going to have me moving to either Grand Junction, Summit County, Bend OR, or St George UT. So yeah, things get quite a bit more interesting off road there.

I ride alone and I am a minimalist in a lot of ways. That's my attraction to full rigid. I could probably get talked into a suspension fork depending on the weight penalty, dead set again FS.

Leebo

Just built a New Krampus for bike packing, it's awesome. 33 brazeons. Running the new 8020 XT's with 180 rotors. 2x11 sram, 26/36 front, 46-11 in the back. Sweeeet. Dt swiss 350 front and rear, easton arc 40 mm rims. Da bomb. Wouldn't change a thing.

bonsai171

Definitely understand the minimalist thing. For your situation it might be good to wait and buy what you want based on where you end up living.

I used to ride a lot of rigid mtb when living in East Atlanta, but wound up doing more gravel, road, and fixed gear riding when we moved to the west side of Atlanta. Of course, Ymmv.

Dave

Ryder1

I've had full-suspension, soft-tail, hardtail, rigid, 26, 29, geared, and SS. I've always wanted a geared rigid ("GR") but never enough to buy one. It seems odd that it's such a distinctly unpopular set-up for mountain biking.

For trails (not gravel/paths), I'm a 2-bike guy: a rigid SS and a "trail" bike (front suspension or more). A rigid SS is my must-have because it's cheap, light, low-maintenance, great fun, and satisfies my minimalist instincts. But I live in Phoenix where trails are super rocky and full-suspension is the norm (though rigid SS isn't uncommon). Like elsewhere, GRs are an oddity. Don't they have advantages? You can sit on a GR and climb stuff you can't on a rigid SS, but your back will suffer and besides, seated climbing is preferably done with full-suspension. You can go faster on a GR than a rigid SS, but lack of suspension limits how far you can push it. Also, the price of name-brand carbon fork is more than a Fox Rhythm, so why not get a hardtail? And if you have the means, current full suspension bikes do everything REALLY well. That leaves GRs in no-man's land, for myself and the industry.

Meanwhile, I'm far less of a roadie. I just have one, for commuting, canal/gravel riding, occasional road riding, zero racing. It wasn't expensive. It has platform pedals! If your attitude towards off-road riding is like my attitude towards pavement, a GR like the Unit X makes sense. It allows you to get off road, explore, bike camp, etc., at a fair price with low-maintenance.

JonathanGennick 

I think I share some of that minimalist w/you. Two of my favorite bikes to ride are rigid, and one is a singlespeed that isn't even technically a mountain bike but I often grab it because I like it and especially the simplicity of it.

Rigid works on my local trails because of our terrain in general, and because our more recent trails are machine built.

seat_boy

If you're going to go rigid, commit and go Jones! Not suspension corrected, so you can't run a sus fork.

qclabrat

awesome, I almost picked up a Jones with a Truss fork the other day
Love the workmanship