Sklar Tall Tale Review: Exaggerated by Design

Additional riding photos by Joe Cruz

Having tested my fair share of mountain bikes, I’ve started to develop a pretty clear understanding of what I like and what I don’t. To start, my ultimate bikepacking bike frame material choice is high-quality steel, which I’d pick over titanium, carbon, or aluminum in most cases. Space metal has an undeniably lively ride quality, which is why I refuse to sell my Why S7, but it’s hard to beat the reliability and comfort offered by a well-made and good-quality steel bike. Here in the Pacific Northwest, a good chunk of the year is sloppy and muddy, wreaking havoc on bearings and pivot points, which has only solidified my affection for hardtails. Clearance for 29 x 2.6” tires is a must, a roomy main triangle is essential, and a few mounts are key when it comes time to go bikepacking.

What angles and fork travel work best for a do-it-all hardtail mountain bike will always be up for debate. However, time and again, our reviews have proven that progressive trail bike geometry is far more versatile than most folks think, especially when we look at hardtail geometry from five years ago. As someone who wants their bikepacking bike to handle steep and gnarly singletrack just as well as gravel roads and doubletrack, I don’t see a downside to long and slack hardtails as dedicated bikepacking bikes. I’ll take a slight hit in the cruisy, upright riding department if it means I can confidently ride more types of terrain. Modern 130-140mm travel steel hardtails will get you there and back again, but is there an invisible line that shouldn’t be crossed? When does a hardtail become unsuitable for trail riding and multi-day rides?

• 
• 

When the Sklar Tall Tale was announced last spring, hardtail fans across the web appreciated its curvy top tube, clean aesthetics, and modern specs. One thing that stood out to me was everyone’s comments on the Tall Tale’s geometry. Its uniquely long front end was the backbone of much discussion, and folks said they’d need to size down to achieve a proper fit. I threw caution to the wind and asked Adam if he had an extra-large Tall Tale I could try. At 6’1” with average proportions, I’m usually pretty confident when picking bike sizes, but I won’t pretend I wasn’t second-guessing my decision. Maybe I should have listened to the armchair experts.

Introducing the Tall Tale: Believe It

As Sklar’s first production mountain bike following hundreds of custom handbuilt frames, the Tall Tale had a lot to live up to. Its swooped top tube gives it that signature Sklar appearance at a fraction of the price. According to Adam, the reason most folks purchased custom bikes from Sklar was because an off-the-shelf version didn’t exist. He listened to each customer’s desires and ideal bike, taking bits and pieces back to experiment on bikes for himself. The benefit of being able to make a complete frame from start to finish in just a few days means Adam has been able to hone in on a design philosophy. That naturally carried over to his first US-made, non-custom bike, the Sweet Spot, which eventually would become the Tall Tale.

A “tall tale” is a greatly exaggerated story. For example: “The fish we caught was so big, it nearly sank the boat!” As expected, Adam explained it’s a reference to the feeling when you get to the bottom of a big descent, super excited, and tell all your friends an exaggerated story of how fun it was. It’s also a play on the word “hardtail,” and Adam let me know that he finds naming products incredibly hard.

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

So, what does Adam’s ideal hardtail mountain bike look like? The Tall Tale features a double-butted, air-hardened Chromoly steel frame, boost hub spacing, UDH-compatible rear dropout, ISO rear brake mount, 31.6mm seatpost with dropper post routing, and 73mm BSA threaded bottom bracket. Those who work on their bikes will be happy to see externally routed cables under the downtube with bolt-on cable guides and three-pack mounts for downtube cargo cages.

The frame features Sklar’s trademark curved/ovalized top tube, an in-house-designed chainstay yoke, asymmetrical chainstays, curvy seat stays, and size-specific fork travel ranging from 130mm to 150mm. The frame is optimized for 29 x 2.6″ tires, but 2.4” and 2.5″ tires also work well. It’s great to see rear rack mounts, and every frame size gets two bottle mounts inside the main triangle. The frame is kept neat and tidy, with no external braces or chunky gussets aside from a minimal seatstay brace and matching curved brace near the seatstay/chainstay junction and at the top tube/seat tube junction. I usually prefer clean frames with minimal reinforcements, but there’s something about all the Tall Tale’s curvy bits that feel more intentional—dare I say, custom. Maybe it’s because these details are inspired by Sklar’s custom builds, including John’s custom titanium hardtail and Tyler’s custom steel hardtail, which I photographed, pictured below.

• 
• 

Like all of Sklar’s production bikes, the Tall Tale is available as a frame only for $1,199, with a Cane Creek Helm fork for $2,298, and in complete builds ranging from $4,979 to $7,700 and beyond. Custom builds are also available upon request. Adam sent a take on the most affordable GX Mechanical build my way, which took on all my trail riding and bikepacking duties for the last few months, including a six-day bikepacking trip in southern New Mexico.

• 
• 

Why The Long Face?

As mentioned in my intro, the sheer length of the Tall Tale caught most folks off guard when it was first teased. So, let’s dive into the geometry first. As Adam puts it, the Tall Tale is designed around “modern yet familiar geometry” suited for everyday trail rides, long bikepacking trips, and everything in between. It has short 427mm chainstays, a 64.7° to 65.4° head tube angle depending on the size, a ~73.5° seat tube angle, and a long wheelbase. What sets the Tall Tale apart from other modern hardtails is a relatively slack effective seat tube angle that sits between 73.4° and 73.6° across the entire size range. When adjusted for 25% sag, it’s closer to 74/75°, which is still a degree or two slacker than the Pipedream Moxie, Transition TransAm, Pipedream Sirius, and Esker Japhy. It’s a similar story for the head tube angle, which sits at about 66.5°. It’s is still slack, but maybe not quite as slack as others in this category.

The Tall Tale’s reach is significant. It’s a long bike, whether you’re looking at sagged or unsagged numbers. Recalculating for sag, the Tall Tale has over 10mm on the Esker Japhy, which is bumped to nearly 30mm at sag. It’s longer than the Transition TransAm and right on trend with the Cotic SolarisMax and Pipedream Sirius S6. Sklar makes it clear that the Tall Tale is best ridden with a super short stem, and I can see why.

The Tall Tale’s front center (the horizontal distance from the bottom bracket to the front axle) is the longest I’ve ridden. Considering the reach and length of the Tall Tale was a popular discussion point when it was launched, I thought it would be helpful to hear from Adam on the reasoning behind this. To Adam, the front center is one of the most important dimensions to determine how a bike will handle. The Tall Tale uses a long front center to increase overall stability paired with a slacker headtube angle and short stem (30-50mm) to put the rider’s hand in a comfortable spot in relation to the saddle.

• 
• 

I ended up on an extra-large frame but could have also found comfort on a size large. The drawback of running a 150mm fork on a hardtail mountain bike is a significant variation in geo numbers and fit as it travels through the suspension, unlike a full-suspension mountain bike that sinks into a rear shock. Of course, being seated and running through the entire fork travel is highly unlikely. For me, since I’m already at the tail end of the extra large frame at 6’1” with a 33” inseam, I had to make a few adjustments, such as sliding my saddle forward, and I was able to try it out with Sklar’s swept-back PBJ bar, but more on that later.

Finding my Groove

Even with a short stem, I won’t pretend like the Tall Tale isn’t a long bike. It feels long, a characteristic of modern mountain bikes that I’ve grown to appreciate and prefer. However, I didn’t feel too stretched out, which is a reason why folks shy away from long mountain bikes, especially if they’re planning multi-day rides.

A delightfully high stack height (the vertical height between the bottom bracket center and the top of the center of the head tube) did a standup job at keeping me feeling balanced and centered on the bike. Its length meant it took more effort to maintain traction and weight on the front wheel, which isn’t unusual for modern mountain bikes. The only time this caught me off guard was when I would get lazy on long rides, shift my weight backward, and remove some of it from the front of the bike. At that point, the front end had a tendency to wander.

• 
• 

In what the mountain bike community calls a “ready position,” with balanced weight and elbows bent, the Tall Tale had a comfortable, planted feel. I was surprised at just how comfortable I was pedaling, considering the 150mm travel fork up front, but my first few rides had me confident I wouldn’t need to make many tweaks to be ready for a bikepacking trip. While riding unloaded, this translated to heaps of traction on steep climbs, confident cornering, and the bike holding its line assuredly on the descents.

The Tall Tale’s double-butted, heat-treated Chromoly steel tubing is custom-designed by Adam. Everything from the tubing diameters, profiles, and butting specs is created from scratch and then produced in Taiwan. Typical production frames from big brands (think Surly and Salsa) compromise on tubing specs to keep prices low and durability high. Using higher-spec tubing doesn’t affect durability but sheds unnecessary weight and allows the designer to tune the ride quality of each frame size. Adam said that the tubing the Tall Tale uses is almost exactly what he would use for his US-made frames, except better because, as a solo framebuilder, he didn’t have the ability to design tubes from scratch.

I wouldn’t say it had the ultra-smooth ride quality I experienced with the Mason Raw I tested, which was made from premium Dedacciai and Reynolds tubing, but it wasn’t far off and in line with the Esker Japhy. At times, the rear end felt a little stiff, which might be because the chainstays and seatstays are somewhat chunky, but we can’t forget there’s a big 150mm fork leading the way, so it’s safe to say the Tall Tale was built up to accommodate the type of a riding a long travel hardtail can handle. While riding trails, I enjoyed how supportive and responsive it felt underneath me. The XL frame felt like it was designed to handle big people, and at around 200 pounds, I’m not exactly small. The Tall Tale didn’t waiver on slippery rock rolls and drops, and the compliance of the custom-tuned frame came alive on technical trails.

• 
• 

The Tall Tale’s big fork is a clear indicator that it can handle more than gravel roads and doubletrack. Working in conjunction with its slightly slacker seat tube angle, even as the bike pivots through its suspension, the seat tube angle doesn’t ever reach a point of being “too steep,” a common discussion point about hardtails with steep seat tubes even before adjusting for sag. Despite feeling slightly less responsive on climbs, I can’t say I prefer hardtails with steeper seat tubes. I’ve ridden a handful of hardtails with a seat tube angle similar to the Tall Tale, including the Salsa Timberjack and Panorama Taiga, and I find they’re all comfortable for long rides and lots of pedaling, which is my preferred type of ride. Of course, that’s where the similarities end because the Tall Tale is a different beast as you move forward. I traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to see how these findings would translate on a loaded bike.

A Tall Tale on the Monumental Loop

The Monumental Loop is a stunning bikepacking route, and I suggest everyone with the opportunity to ride it to do so. What stood out to me was the sheer variety of terrain and landscapes the route traverses. I was half expecting a lot of the same—big open views and relatively flat terrain. The number of times the route transitioned from wide-open spaces to rocky canyons and smooth gravel to chunky doubletrack was absolutely mind-blowing. This also meant the route served as a great testing ground for the Tall Tale.

Looking at the bike’s geometry, length, and 150mm travel fork specced on my test bike, it’s not unreasonable to assume that it’s best (only?) suited for rowdy singletrack riding. While I agree a 150mm fork is overkill for most bikepacking hardtails, I’d argue that the Tall Tale’s long front end, reasonably slack head tube, and not-so-steep seat tube angle make for a comfortable all-day ride. The long wheelbase dished up plenty of traction, allowing me to navigate steep climbs and descend confidently. The generous 1,256mm wheelbase on the XL build I’ve been riding is considerably longer than even the longest hardtails I’ve tested, like the Revel Tirade and Chromag Surface Voyager. There are hardtails with longer wheelbases, such as the Transition TransAm Logan reviewed, but they’re typically specced with super steep seat tubes. According to Adam, he found going steeper than 75° wasn’t comfortable for long rides or bikepacking. From what I’ve experienced, I agree.

I left the bike set up as Sklar sent it, other than the matchy-matchy polished dropper post, and it was surprisingly comfortable for long days in the saddle. Knowing the route better, if I were to re-ride it, I’d likely swap the Ritchey Classic Riser bar with its 9° backsweep for something with a touch more sweep, such as the Hunter Smooth Move (15°) or my all-time favorite Mone Light Bar (12°). This would provide a slightly more relaxed riding position without sacrificing the length and stability of such a long bike. Long bikes can be comfortable, too!

• 
• 

Unsurprisingly, the Tall Tale’s sturdy frame managed the weight of a reasonably heavy bikepacking setup with ease. With nights below freezing, we were loaded with cold-weather gear and about four liters of water per person. The stout rear triangle didn’t flinch under the load of a Mica Rat Tail rack, two bottles, and most of my sleep kit. It felt just as stiff and responsive as it did unloaded, and the weight of a large handlebar roll helped add some traction on the front wheel without making the handling feel floppy.

Rogue Panda Designs was nice enough to whip up a custom frame bag for the Tall Tale, strategically sized to leave the seat tube bosses free for a bottle cage. While full frame bags have their place, the Tall Tale already has a generously sized main triangle, so I opted to have a standard bottle cage accessible for day rides. This configuration worked well. The only downside was that the wedge-shaped bag wasn’t quite long enough to accommodate all my tent poles. One quirk I noted during my initial bike setup was that the seat tube’s bottle bosses on the XL frame weren’t perfectly in line. The lower mount is pushed down due to the seat tube’s curve, which made mounting a bottle cage a little awkward. I tried using washers as spacers but ended up bending the lower mounting hole of my bottle cage to match the curve of the seat tube.

Want Some Sweep?

Unlike Logan, who has found bliss on bars with 15-20° of backsweep for all types of riding, I’m not a complete convert. I enjoy some sweep now and again when I’m riding non-technical terrain and want to be comfortable and upright, but a bar with more than 9° of backsweep usually doesn’t find its way onto my trail bikes.

For those riding technical trails—a big part of what the Tall Tale excels at—there has been some chatter recently about handlebar grip/hand position in relation to the steering axis. In other words, folks have been experimenting with what it feels like to have a neutral steering axis (hands in line with the steerer tube) and a negative steering axis (hands behind the steerer tube). The Tall Tale came specced with a short 35mm stem and a 9° backsweep on the bar, which puts my hands almost right in line with the steerer tube. This setup was the most familiar to me and felt the most natural when riding steep trails and singletrack. For me, I find minimal sweep offers the most control and allows me to compress and pre-load the fork.

However, on the Monumental Loop, which has only a few sections of singletrack and chunky descents, I almost wished I’d swapped out my handlebar for something that offered more sweep, rise, and comfort. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how more backsweep would feel on such a long bike. I ran this by Adam after my trip, and he said I should give it a go, so I did. It seemed fitting to try the Sklar PBJ handlebar with its generous 28° backsweep and 40mm rise, which I’ve enjoyed for casual urban adventures and basketpacking.

As expected, I found the increase in backsweep had some adverse effects on my overall bike control. Unexpectedly, I found that the traction and stability of the front of the bike were improved when pedaling seated. Some reports claim a negative steering offset is best for riders who lean back, helping the bike hold a line. This is precisely what I experienced running the PBJ bar on the Tall Tale, and for everything except riding technical trails, I enjoyed it. It transformed the Tall Tale into a more comfortable ATB-style bike but without ditching the length that makes it feel so solid on all terrain types. I wouldn’t say it was better at anything when compared to a low-sweep bar, but it allowed me to relax my riding position, which was often shifted forward to control the front of the bike. My theory is that the Tall Tale’s roomy front end leaves more room for experimentation, especially bar width, hand position, and stem length. I can’t imagine having as positive of an experience on a shorter bike, which would have felt cramped with a 28° sweep bar.

• 
• 

Take what you want from that little experiment, but at a minimum, I hope it expands your notions about progressive, modern mountain bikes. In my experience, there’s much to like about a bike like the Tall Tale for both trail riding and bikepacking. What makes it a good trail bike carries over to bikepacking and vice-versa.

Build Kit and Pricing

The build Sklar sent is a slightly upgraded version of the $4,979 USD GX Mechanical build. It features a SRAM GX Mechanical 1×12 drivetrain, RockShox Revelation RC 35 fork, DT Swiss M 1900 wheels, and a KS LEV Integra dropper post. The stock build also comes with a Paul Boxcar stem and White Industries headset, which feel a bit out of place to me and increase the total price. Instead of SRAM brakes and Maxxis DHF/DHR tires, my build came with Shimano 4 pistons and Teravail Honchos.

I have no real complaints about the component spec and believe Adam does a good job selecting parts. I eventually swapped out the Honchos, which weren’t holding up for me, for some Vittoria Aggaro tires. This ended up being a great move, and they performed great on a variety of terrain in New Mexico and for some unloaded rides back in the Pacific Northwest. I also swapped the stock dropper post out for a limited edition silver PNW post, but that’s only because I had it, and it matched the handlebar. Can you blame me? It was refreshing to see consistent and accurate tire clearance in the rear triangle, with plenty of room for a true 29 x 2.6” tire and about 0.5” of clearance at the seatstays and chainstays.

• 
• 
• 

Build Kit

• Frame 4130 Chromoly Steel Steel, XL
• Fork RockShox Revelation RC 35, 150mm
• Crankset SRAM GX 1x
• Shifter SRAM GX Eagle Mechanical 12-Speed
• Derailleur SRAM GX Eagle 12-Speed
• Chain SRAM GX Eagle 12-Speed
• Bottom Bracket SRAM DUB BSA, 73mm Threaded
• Rims DT Swiss M 1900
• Hubs DT Swiss 370
• Tires Teravail Honcho 29 x 2.6″
• Brakes Shimano Deore, Hydraulic
• Brake Rotors SRAM Centerline 180mm
• Handlebar Ritchey MTN Comp 10D Riser
• Stem PAUL Boxcar
• Seatpost KS LEV Integra
• Saddle Ergon
• Headset White Industries
• Grips Ergon GA2

• 
• 
• 

• 
• 

• 
• 

No matter how you spin it, $5,000 is a lot for a steel hardtail, and it feels a bit on the high side as the base-level stock build. It’s safe to say that Sklar’s smaller order numbers contribute to the final price of his complete builds. It would have been ideal to see an entry-level build under $4,000, which is where Esker, Neuhaus, Transition, Cotic, and others start. Thankfully, Sklar offers custom builds with a $2,000 deposit, so it’s possible to assemble a more affordable complete bike. Adam said it would be feasible to put together a $3,000 build, and he’s also working toward offering more affordable components as part of completes, which should help bring the price tag down. As a new production bike brand with small batches, these improvements take time.

• 
• 
• 

There are a few little details I’d be remiss not to mention. When I was setting up the bike and on my first few rides, I couldn’t get the seatpost to stop sliding down no matter what I tried. It got to a point where the minimal clamp Sklar sent with the bike snapped and broke. Eventually, I picked up a dual-bolt seatpost collar that solved my slipping problem, but I’m unsure if it was caused by the seat tube or the seatpost itself. There was also a big gnarly burr inside the seat tube’s dropper post port that would bite into the housing and make adjustments difficult. Another detail I noticed was one of the downtube bottle mounts doubles as a home for the bolt-on cable guide, which can make installing three-bolt cargo cages a little finicky. I’d expect to add a couple of spacers or washers on the holes without the cable guide to align everything. Routing the cables inside the main triangle or providing dedicated offset cable guides would get around this.

I ran some of these details by Adam. Specifically, I asked how the learning curve has been transitioning from custom bikes to production bikes, essentially adding more hands to the frame production rather than just his own. Adam explained that while mistakes can still happen, the framebuilders in Taiwan making the bikes are the best in the business, and having a direct line of communication means mistakes can be addressed quickly. While he could individually check every single frame himself, it would substantially increase the price, so he’d prefer to make changes over time, keep pricing affordable, and ensure that Sklar will still be around to support customers for the long haul.

Who’s It For?

Similar to what Logan said about the Pipedream Moxie or Cotic SolarisMax and what I wrote in my review of the Chromag Surface Voyager, the Tall Tale is yet another bike that might not immediately present itself as a bike for bikepacking. The big fork, especially on the larger sizes, is a curveball. However, as we’ve said before, long geometry is surprisingly effective for bikepacking, and I think it has a lot to offer as a fully functional bikepacking rig and a rowdy hardtail for singletrack.

• 
• 

If your idea of the perfect hardtail means not shying away from the terrain ahead, the Tall Tale is a safe bet. Some folks might be disappointed not to see sliding dropouts, and although I like to see them for on-the-fly singlespeed conversions, I’m not one to play around with a few millimeters of chainstay length. In that regard, I appreciate the Tall Tale’s simplicity. With some more aggressive tires, it feels like the perfect hardtail for sloppy winters in the PNW, and it also turns out to be a surprisingly capable bikepacking bike.

I appreciate that Sklar included a handful of mounting points, including rear rack mounts, which are often omitted on comparable hardtails. Sklar’s iconic curved top tube helps create a spacious main triangle that begs for a big frame bag, and external routing and standard specs make it easy to take care of. It’s an aesthetically pleasing bike that has started more than a few conversations at my local trailhead, where carbon full suspensions reign supreme.

• Model/Size Tested: Sklar Tall Tale, XL
• Weight: 33.1 pounds (15kg) with pedals
• Place of Manufacture: Taiwan
• Price: $4,979 USD
• Manufacturer’s Details: SklarBikes.com

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...