Got a Paradox V3, with a 150mm Pike Select, full SLX drivetrain and SLX quad brakes, Fox transfer dropper post, One Up Carbon bars with 35mm rise, 32mm length Raceface stem, and 2.60 tubeless Honcho Terevail tires on carbon Raceface wheels. It is a wonderful bike so far. No matter the terrain.
I love Banshee, some of the best looking frames on the market if you ask me. As more of 27.5” guy I’ve had my eye on the Enigma since it was released 👌👌
Me too. I love my paradox V3. I have one major issue is with the curve in the seat tube, it limits the dropper to 150mm. I would love to put on a 180mm or longer. next is a minor issue the seat tube material is a bit thin so the seat post is flexy and squeeks if not greased up properly. But its a shreder for sure.
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy I run my Banshee V3 as 27.5 x2.8 Front and 2.6 rear. it rides just fine. have had 29ers on it before but perfer the 27.5, I don't find the bottom bracket too low or the geo bad at all, plus size are not too much smaller than a 29 x 2.4 or so ... I would like to give the Enigma a try and see how a bike designed for 27.5 ride in comparison but the paradox goes both ways just fine.
Thanks for the comment, big fan of your channel! I love the ESD, and it probably would have been the fourth bike in the above $3,000 category! I personally prefer hardtails with a slightly higher BB and steeper HTA than the ESD, as I like the bike to feel closer to a dirt jumper on the trails. That’s just personally preference though, the ESD is super rad!!
Nice!! I raced enduro with a guy on a steel norco frame and boy was it a gorgeous bike! Only properly rode it a couple times but it definitely put a smile on my face!!
Nice list. One thing about the Middlechild is it’s capability to run plus tires. I run a true 3.0 x 27.5 on my steel V2 with the dropouts slammed at 415mm(!). Not many frames can do that. The Ti version is on my bucket list!
The 2023 Marin San Quentin 2 has a new frame with new geometry. It fixes your biggest complaint of the frame having a long seat tube. The new San Quentin would probably be on the top of your list with the changes.
I built a hard tail from a Lyndsey titanium frame about two years ago and it’s so much fun and super easy to ride mostly anywhere. It’s lower weight too which help with throwing around too. You don’t need extreme suspension like everyone thinks to have fun. I ride a ton of Pennsylvania trails so you tackle everything too And I don’t use a dropper 😊
Nice to see another Lynsky rider in the comments. I built a Pro29 up last year and have been riding/racing it ever since, had it out today as a matter of fact. 🙌🏁
Bear pawl hubs are proving to be tough as nails. I built a set into some rims for a customer in mid 2021 after he kept burning through drivers on his previous wheels. He thrashes the pants off his bike and is forever in for repair work. After about a year and a half on the bear pawls, no busted drivers, no axle damage. Only had to replace a bearing a few months ago, about October 2022. Can attest, they hold up
Great list, I ended up getting a growler 40 about a month ago on sale for less than $1500, absolutely love the bike. I was considering a Canyon Stoic but couldn't beat that value on the growler!
What a steal!! Ya I’d definitely take the Growler over the Stoic, the growler has a lot shorter seat tube and higher bottom bracket which makes it feel more like a DJ/BMX which I prefer
After a ride this week end within a dirk trail. The growler does great. Very great. Only downside, it is that some dirt goes into the suspension bearing, it was not enough damp-proof. Some dirt goes into there.
I can fit a 175mm dropper on my m/l Roscoe. The bottle cage mounts don't bother me, but I'd like a shorter seat tube. That aside, I freaking love the thing. I custom built it with all nice parts. It jumps super well and rides terrain well outside of regular trail territory
Thank you! Yes, it was definitely a contender! My only real beef with that frame is the seat-tube water bottle mounts that prevent you from running a long travel dropper post. Other than that it’s super dialed!
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy yeah, not an issue for me at least. I drilled those bolts out on both my bikes. Pitty for the warranty, but I do prefer a dropper.
I looked long and hard for a new hardtail. Went for a Production Privee Shan steel frame. 160mm Yari, 11 spd Slx, Hope 4 pots, 27.5 wheels It is the best bike I have ever built up and ridden
Surprisingly KONA HONZO ESD didn’t make your list 🤔 , absolutely love mine and super capable Hardcore Hardtail with great spec and almost as capable as my Enduro bike on the DH 😎🤟
I really wanted to! But decided to only include three bikes over $3,000. My only quip with the ESD is the super low bottom bracket, but other than that it’s 👌👌
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy yeah agreed with the BB , as I seem to have way more pedal strikes 🙄 Besides that the only thing I upgraded was a One Up Component 210 dropper post 😜
They don't come anymore aggressive than the On One Hello Dave. Quality components and crazy aggressive geometry. If you haven't heard of them then it's worth looking them up.
Definitely have, great bikes! It’s actually a bit too hardcore for my personal taste haha, I like a hardtail to still feel nimble and poppy. But in terms of pure speed the Hello Dave is hard to beat!
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy Planet X in the UK had a 1 day flash sale just before Christmas and had them up for £999. Complete with GX groupset, rockshox reverb dropper and pike forks I had to get one. Although for an extra £50 I went for the Lyrik fork instead. Great bike for the UK winter slop though 👌🏻.
I'm glad to see the Commencal Meta HT & Marin SQ in your list. 911th subscriber here. Lots'a love, cheers, & Mabuhay, from tropical Philippines! #RideOn #KeepBiking
I just saw, that’s awesome! They made such a huge jump in seat tube length that I misread it for 475 and was bummed that they only lowered in 10mm, but they lowered it 110mm!! That’s freakin awesome 🤘🤘
Gotta love the hardcore hardtail! I have a Kona Unit ('20 model) singlespeed that I put on a -2 degree headset and a 120mm yari fork. Worked surprisingly well. Definitely has the higher BB. I like the new geometry much better. The original 68 degree headangle combined with longish reach made the front end plow in corners. Axle to crown on the original fork is 470mm and the yari is 543mm+13mm headset cup which adds up to a 86mm increase in a-c which means new head angle is around 62 degrees and seat angle went from 75 to 73. I agree with you that a super low bottom bracket is not always ideal. As the bike grows in length the BB can be slightly higher to clear obstacles better and to better weight the front. I also have a new Mmmbop frame that Im building this year!
Getting my middlechild this week. So pumped. I was primarily riding 26ers for years then 29ers were like the only Hardtail option when I needed a new bike and absolutely hated trail riding my 29er. (Im 5,4) anyways after researching for years the MC is the one. Can’t wait
Ragley mmbop 2021. I built it with carbon wheels, 4 pot-brakes from shimano, oneupv2 240 dropper, and 160mm tuned yari fork. I can tell you, this thing is a blast, and frame only costst 450€ :)
Got myself an Nukeproof scout frame recently. About to throw some budget to intermediate parts on it. Half of them used. The plan is to build a bike for iffy weather conditions.
as a long time hardtail uk rider, we do t really consider alloy frames as hardcore hardtails, alloy frames fatigue and are harsh, steel or titanium is the only material for a hardcore hardtail
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy Some people have priorities in their life and others simply can't afford to spend money unnecessarily. I come from a road and track background and almost all my bikes were custom built. But what I found in my 40 odd years of racing was that cycling was inclusive. Unless you were a triathlete. I seriously feel that your comment was uncalled for and unnecessary.
Sorry about that, meant to imply the opposite; that you don’t need a ti or steel hardtail for it to be good. I’ve never had a lot of extra cash floating and have never felt like a mid-tier aluminum bike has held me back. I’m thankful to now receive free gear from the brands I partner with, but I’ll always stand by the notion that a skilled rider can do more on a $1,000 hardtail than most guys can do on their $5,000 carbon enduro bike
Great advice on bikes. Honestly any of this bikes will get you on the trails with a big smile on your face. I am a proud owner of the 2021 commensal Meta HT/AM essentials and I could not be happier. The bike absolutely rips great quality build and great customer service if you have any issues. I know you mentioned the height of the seat tube and before 2021 a lot of people complained about it and actually commencal lowered the seat tube length by about 1" and my medium size bike has a 150mm dropper that I have it all the way to the bottom and when going downhill it gets out of the way with no issues at all. The bike is absolutely fun and if anyone is looking at this bike check out the pink bike review they this on this bike and they absolutely nail it. Cheers and see you on the trails!
7:58 Ragley MMMbop: Pros: Geometry is good Deore RD and cassette, so smooth shifting, this cassette shifts much smoother than the Sun Race. I would love the head angle, I ride a Geometron G1 with 62.5 deg, so that's only 05ddeeg difference. Cons: Chain stay length is the same across all sizes, which means different balance point, handling for each rider. Not enough sizes, riders over 180cm need a larger size than they offer, I am on the last size with an longer stem, which is an compromise, would have to slam the stem, get a tall riser bar, to increase the effective reach, so a larger size where I could get effective reach around 490 would be great. Some riders had issues with pedals falling off on Deore cranks. Brake rotors are resin only, Shimano resin pads have a bad bite, wear fast, but the rotors won't handle metallic pads well, they overheat easily, at least with me riding and braking.
RSD and Commencal is definitely my choice on this list. I have a Dartmoor 4x 26-inch wheel, very playful, no issues with taking it to enduro tracks, or rough rock gardens.
7:09 San Quintin 2: Pros: Nice Deore RD, smooth shifting, clutch. Comes with a dropper post Good geometry Rockshox air fork with rebound damping, compression adjustment. KMC chain which work. Cons: Sunrace cassette, which will have issues with sharp teeth, ramps, and bent cogs, teeth, at least how I ride. Chain stay length is the same across all sizes, so the balance point will be different. But things I don't know: hub engagement. nipples used in the wheelset.
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy I forgot to mention the chain stay length stays the same, that's another con, 425, which is very short. but shorter means more grip, but also less easier to make a skid. I am curious what you did not like. I've not tried one. a silly thing is Marin spec's 780 on every size. I need 800mm, so will many other riders, better too wide than to narrow, as you can cut it.
Like I said in the video, my biggest quip was the high seat tube and low stack. Thankfully they’ve made some pretty big changes on their 2023 model that was released just a day or two after I posted this video haha!
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy another thing I forgot to mention was the flat brake mount, which can mena compatibility, clearance issues with some brakes, and rotor size might be an issue too. definitely possible to have the seat tube lower, chain stays too, and top tube, lower stand over height.
They’re still post mount, just mounted within the rear triangle. The sit a little inside of the tubing as well, so I doubt there will be clearance with most calipers.
I'm happy with my Nukeproof Scout 275 Comp. The difference between the advertisement and the truth. The bike came from the Bikester, the price was 18xxEur, the brakes are not Shimano instead of that 4pistons SramDB8. The crankarm is Raceface, and the cassette is SunRace. I checked, these parts pretty same prices, than the Shimano parts. And, yes, this bike at now, for me seems indestructable. Actually Nukeproof. :D
Gonna be getting the 29” San Quentin 3 once they come in stock in my size at the site I get a military discount on. With the 15% military discount it will end up being $1595 shipped. For the spec of the San Quentin 3 $1595 is a steal imo
Killer deal! I did a full review of the 29” version on the 99 Spokes channel, check it out! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PVCnX6NrSUQ.htmlsi=Wb4lCidFrW3evhYg
Superior XP 929 Polygon Xtrada 7 Salsa Rangefinder Poseidon Norton Last but not least, and my personal ride, Norco Torrent A2 HT. All I did was upgrade the fork to a Marzocchi Z1 Bomber Air.
That’s awesome! I started on a full squish too-a Giant Reign-but made the switch to a hardtail after about 6 months on that bike and haven’t looked back!
I have a 2022 Kona Honzo with a set of Chinese carbon hoops and DT Swiss hubs. Having used mostly SRAM drivetrains for years, I'm really impressed with the Shimano Deore 11 speed. I know the bikes you featured have more aggressive geo. so the Honzo is more all around Trail category. I can't complain!
@ridingwithjoshandwendy so far so good. Me and my buddies have ran rims from Light Bicycle for years. I've never had a problem with them. I'm thinking they probably build rims for other brands too.
I went for a Whyte 629v5. Love the Whyte although not getting these newer goes at 65degree head - too slack now. At sale price of £1,200 an absolute bargain
I normally ride park but when I am hurt, sore, or taking it easy, I ride green/xc to recover. Therefore, I have a Diamondback Mission 1 and upgrade to a Status 160. The XC is a L due to the longer wheelbase.
Nukeproof 290, not a beefy as I hoped. Cracked the seat stays after 3 years and 2000mi of use. Replacing with a Paradox v3 hoping it will handle my 200lb butt better than the nukeproof. Loved that Scout, will miss it.
nice that you mentioned ragley they're so underrated just got a big al 1.0 2022 for less than 1,200$ I guess it was a black Friday deal. Love it, it feels super stable, climbs much better than my meta essential 2021.
Hi Josh! Been looking at either a Ragley Marley 1.0 or 2.0 or the mmmbop. Could you give me your opinion on those? I’m new to mtn biking, would appreciate your input.
Both great bikes!! The part spec on those is pretty similar, and very good for the value! The Marley will be a bit more agile/nimble, and better for flatter trails and at the dirt jumps. The Mmmbop will be better for steeper, faster, enduro-style riding
Level is Srams 2pot brakes, G2 should be 4 pot as it means Guide Gen 2. I know a lot of the fat bike mtbrs like Sun Ringle wheels. You should take a look at the Cotic BeFe Max and Sterling Mur Mur hardtail. Both are legit hardcore hardtails & super beautiful looking bikes. Plus, I hear these two frame are less harsh compared to Chormag.
I really wanted to! But decided to only include three bikes over $3,000. My only quip with the ESD is the super low bottom bracket, but other than that it’s super rad!!
For me, the problem with droppers and seat tubes is that there's always stuff in the way like a bend, the outlet for the dropper wire or the bottle cage mounts you mentioned. Especially the outlets drive me nuts as they have no reason being so high up the seat tube...
If you are looking for a bike under 1,500 the radon cragger 7.0 is a great option if you live in europe it is a german brand and the parts on it are great for the money. It costs 1.300 euros on bike discount and the parts are so good you can even buy a 'better' frame and still spend less than a complete build from nukeproof or rsd with almost the same spec
Thanks for letting me know! I had never heard of it, but just checked them out! Like you said, a great bike for the value, but a little more XC oriented than I tend to prefer.
11:04 2022 Nukeproof Scout Comp: Pros: Geometry is good The chain stay length changes trough the sizes., 2021 model does not. Deore RD and cassette, so smooth shifting, this cassette shifts much smoother than the Sun Race. External routing, apart from dropper post. sizing is decent too, I would go for XX-Large, I am 181cm. then effective reach would be about the same as on my current bike. Cons: Some riders had issues with pedals falling off on Deore cranks. on some models they have Nukeproof hubs with 10 deg engagement, I wish it was quicker. I find 8 to be just enough to not be annoying, so the DT Swiss option will be quicker, but not a lot. but I guess it's fine. things I don't know: The tyres look promising.
Weird to hear about the pedals, haven’t heard that before! And yes, high engagement hubs are 👌👌 But it’ll be hard to find sub 10 degrees on a bike under $2,500
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy threads failed, I saw a video with a guy that had a Polygon Siskiu D7 he thought he overtightened them, but that takes crazy amount of torque to do, so unlikely user error. But don't remember the name of the channel, and could not find it even searching trough the watch history. I had the same issue with M552 cranks, happen to two sets. few weeks old bike. also not a fan of cranks with a spider as a part of the crank arm, cus you can bend it, and will be screwed if it fails. So in my opinion spiders as a part of the crank arm it self is stupid. I managed to twist some, I did some riding i na school yard, some track stands, then tried rear wheel hop, and it bent. But I don't know if the Deore crank uses the same weak alloy. But seeing issues like this on low budget cranks is not a surprise. But of course riding with loose pedals will destroy it, but if threads are not to spec on pedals or crank it will fail too. But The I have Deore M61000 SGS rd on my bikes, no issues so far, but jockey wheels are noisier than the ones with bearings, but also get noisier once dirty, so cleaning them from time to time and it's fine.
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy true. but engagement will sure be better than super cheap junk hubs. But definitely not go for worse than 10deg. But overall the Nukeproof seems to be a great package for the price.
My "hardcore hardtail" is a 08 Norco Ryde one25 with a 150 mm bomber z1, sun s-type wheelset, deore m5100 rear derailleur setup as a 7 speed (because freeride 🤘) shimano hg cassette 13-32t, running a few KMC chains because I hot wax, kenda tires, NS district bars, cult vans grips, seal flip stem in the downward position, Hayes 203 front disk and 160 rear 49n women's perch saddle, VP501 pedals, Amazon parts cranks are IXF, roadnado carbon seatpost and brakes, Ztto chain guide Lizhaumil chain retainer Styx 36t chain ring, play seat clamp. I think that's everything. I want to upgrade to a Norco Torrent eventually
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy steel is reel! 💪 . The torrent S1 is for sure on the list for me. The NS eccentric chromo is also on the list. I sold my 2015 NS suburban and have regrets. 🐸
So do you have saddle time on ALL of these bikes that you're reviewing and suggesting or are you just basically reading Geo charts and parts spec lists?
I’ve sadly only ridden about half, and only owned two. So yes, my take is based primarily off of geo, spec, and third party reviews, as well as my own ability to interpret that info with close to 10 years of riding aggressive hardtails. Hopefully I didn’t come across as misleading, I tried to make it clear which bikes I had rode and which I hoped to.
I'm in the price category of a little more than 1k. I looked at the Cannondale Habit HT2, the Canyon Stoic and the Roscoe 6. Which bike would you recommend? A store like REI would give you service and warranty.
You can’t go wrong with any of those! If you want the maintenance/warranty/etc. support from a local shop then I’d go with the Trek. If you’re pretty bike savvy already then it’s hard to beat the value of a direct to consumer bike like the Canyon
Definitely is, should have just made a top 20 list haha! The seat tube is a bit on the long side for my taste and the water bottle mounts in the seat tube prevent you from running a longer travel dropper. Other than that it’s pretty awesome!!
Those are two very different bikes! The Meta will be a lot more similar to your current San Quentin. Be sure to look into the geometry on each before making the buy. I have a video where I explain my preferences on geometry if you want to check that out!
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy yeahh im agree with you.META HT geometry are more similar with my bike but different with KONA HONZO geometry and more slack head angle also.
Nice. Good list bro. I am also a hardtail fan, I just wonder why is that Dartmoor Bikes is not on this list. I have watched a lot of videos about good hardtail you can choose in 2023. I am riding the 2022 hornet pro by dartmoor. I think it deserve a spot on this list.
I’ve had a lot of people bring that up! I’d heard a little about dartmoor, but they’re sadly not super common here in the states. What do you like most about yours?
you can check on them, I think they deserve a spot on the list. I think they are in the game for many years from Dj to freeride. I think there so underated on the scene. I think commencal is so Overated but it is a good brand too.
Hi im Olsson here from Singapore. Not sure which category my bike falls in. but just sharing.. im riding a Pipedream Moxie MX3 chromoly 4130 frame with sliding drop out.. awsome shred machine... can check it out .. yeah loving ur videos...👍😍
@@syms85 The Roscoe 8 has a SRAM GX drivetrain, which is rock solid (it's what I have on my Marlin 8), so no worries there. The fork won't be quite as plush as the Roscoe 9's Fox Rhythm 36, but the RockShox 35 Gold is no slouch, either. I recently bought the Roscoe 9 because I wanted the higher end fork and the wider gear range (Shimano 10-51 cassette verses the SRAM 11-50 on the 8); that, and I think the Roscoe 9 has by far _the_ best off-the-shelf paint scheme in the industry!
I applaud you for bringing light into the HCHT's 😎. But what's wrong with the Sun Ringlé wheels on the RSD middlechild Ti? They're light and extremely strong, come in i36 (Duroc 40) and are aluminium
Thank you for the feedback, Ya I was probably a bit too harsh. I honestly have only ridden cheap OEM Sun Ringle wheels, and so have a bid of a bias. Thanks for filling me in!
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy I have a Hayduke custom built up with XT, Fox, Renthal and RF parts and two wheel sets.27.5plus and 29. I have a Japhy custom built up as a SS . Both steel frames because they ride so awesome.
Good video. You seem to like hard-tail's where I want to bring my full-sus. Will you be making a list of trail hard-tails ?(66.5 hta, 2 pot brakes, less robust frame) If hardcore hard-tail's are more your thing; np.
Ya, I’m a bit of a masochist in the sense haha 😂 And if there’s interest I definitely will! It’s further outside my area of expertise, but it’d be good way to expand my knowledge.
I rode hardtails from 1983-1997. The geometry made me feel like I was going to be launched over the handle bars, and many times was! First modern geo hardtail i got was the RSD middlechild 64.5 hta and also the Santa Cruz Chameleon 65 hta. You feel so safe and in control going down the steepest stuff. They climb great, do everything great, and your super confident if it get gnarly. 66.5 starts to go back in the wrong direction.
I agree completely! Now please go tell this to my dad, sounds like your around the same era, and he still insists on his 68 degree HTA XC race bike for casual trail riding 🤷♂️
@@ridingwithjoshandwendy If so I'll likely buy the frame and build it out with parts I have on the Meta HT and a few of the upgrades I'd like. The Meta I got is a 2019 so it's far from new haha
Haha I love ALMOST everything about that bike except the seat tube bottle cage mounts that prevent you from running a long travel dropper post, which is a must for me.
Thank you! And me too! I’ll be doing a lot of hardtail content on here, starting with a deep dive into a newly released model that I’ll be dropping tomorrow!
Hi, what's your opinion about new ON ONE Wrekker? Will you make a video about this particular one and some similar super slack bikes? I am interested what's your thoughts.
That’s a hell of an aggressive bike! And an insane value for a titanium bike too. If you’re top priority is speed and stability than I’d go for it! I personally prefer hardtails that are a little more playful/agile, with shorter chainstays and a slightly steeper head tube angle. And yes, I could definitely do a video like that at some point!