Steel Hardtails

Quebec-based Panorama Cycles just announced their first hardtail mountain bike, the Taïga, which is designed around a Reynolds 725 steel frame, 29 x 2.6″ tires, sliding dropouts, and a modern build kit. Find details and ordering information here…

Released as a 29” alternative to the incredibly versatile Hayduke, the Esker Japhy is a chromoly steel hardtail with 29+ tires, a 120mm travel fork, and three value-packed builds to choose from. We’ve been testing the mid-range Japhy J2 for the last few months to find out what it’s capable of. Find the full review here…

Just released, the new Sonder Signal ST takes their aggressive 29er hardtail platform and builds it around a 4130 Chromoly Steel frame for fast, flowy, aggressive riding. Find photos, build options, and specs here…

Announced today, the new Kona Honzo ESD is a long, slack, big hitting trail machine that’s designed around a chromoly steel frame and a 150mm travel fork. Find photos and the complete build kit here…

The Marin Pine Mountain has seen some considerable updates for 2020 and is now based around 29 x 2.6″ tires and has a slacker front end, and possibly features the most mounts we’ve ever seen on a steel hardtail before. Find all the details here…

Rick Hunter has been making bikes for over two decades. All the while he’s been tinkering, hacking, and fabricating interesting ways to carry gear on his “Condor Tours,” railbike debacles, and other such far-flung bad ideas. We had a chance to catch up with Rick at his workshop in Bonny Doon, California…

Niner’s latest SIR 9 is the company’s third iteration on their cult classic hardtail. For 2017, it retains the high-end Reynolds 853 tubeset for which the bike is known, infusing its new frame with an up-to-the-minute geometry, all the latest industry standards, clearances for 27.5+ tires, and a host of bikepacking-friendly braze-ons. Given that the company is based in Colorado… it only seemed fitting to it out on the technically demanding and physically challenging Colorado Trail.

In the latest Rider and Rig, we check out Michael Dammer’s Surly Karate Monkey bikepacking rig as used on the Colorado Trail, plus its awesome farm-made leather framebag…

Niner has just released the latest drool-worthy steel hardtail with a bikepacking predisposition. The all new Niner Sir 9 was reengineered from the ground up with a mount-laden Reynolds 853 steel frame that fits 27.5+ or 29er wheels and tires…

We were obviously happy to see a bikepacking rig win the top award at NAHBS 2016… and we’ve been drooling over this steel 27.5+ hardtail ever since. So here’s a detailed look at the build kit, and a QA with Black Cat’s founder, metalmaster, and builder, Todd Ingermanson.

Shredding my own dragons with a suspension fork, trail-worthy geometry, 3” tires, and a bike fit for turning rough trails into fairy tales.

In 2010, I rode through Baja, Mexico on a Surly Long Haul Trucker. On our first off-pavement excursion, Nick and I pushed our bikes through long sections of sand and washboard. It wasn’t fun. We needed bigger tires. After this experience, we stuck to Highway 1 and pedaled past all the dirt tracks, wondering where they might lead. There is a lot more dirt than pavement on the peninsula. Five years later, Baja was still a huge question mark. This winter I came back with an Advocate Cycles Hayduke.