If you’re looking for a winter hardtail frame to build up without crippling yourself financially, here’s our pick of hardtail frames that come in under £500.
Winter is here and one of our top-tips for Winter MTB is to get yourself a tough, easy to maintain hardtail (read more about building up a winter hardtail here).
Whether you’re looking to build up a low-cost second bike, or leave your full bouncer in the shed over the winter and swap the parts across, you can’t go wrong with a hardtail that comes in under the £500 mark.
Strip down, lube up.
As the winter moves in and the trails get ever wetter, your bike is going to take an absolute pounding. With many modern full suspension bikes sporting multiple pivots, unless you’re cleaning the bike with a toothbrush at the end of each ride, those bearings are going to wear out quick.
If you can’t hack the garage time, it might be smart to invest in something a bit less maintenance-heavy.
Why not go hardtail?
Winter conditions see the speeds drop as the conditions worse, which means you don’t need all that multi-pivot trickery or the longest, slackest and slowest machine out there.
Trail centres offer a consistent ride and generally smoother going, you might want to go hit up a pumptrack or a skate park to hone the skills.
All these are tailor made for a hardtail.
You needn’t spend a fortune though. Many modern hardtails will take the parts off your full bouncer, making the swap easier and meaning you’re not having to get used to new parts while out on the trail.
£500 is the upper limit here, while not a small amount of cash, it’ll get you a solid hardtail frame that most will be able to afford by squirrelling away a few pennies.
Why not check out our winter whip article we wrote a few years back?
Dartmoor Primal (£230 at Slam69)
At £230, there probably isn’t going to be a cheaper hardtail out there that you would want to buy. We tested a Primal a few years back and our 17 stone test rider could not kill it depsite throwing everything he could at it.
Updated in the last few years to sport some more modern geometry and a hydroformed tubeset, the 2018 models adds boost spacing to that list.
The Primal will take 27.5″ wheels and tyres anywhere between 2.3″ and 2.8″, as well as forks between 130 and 160mm travel, making it a very versatile beast depending on how you set it up.
Reach is sensible, with a 430mm offering on the medium, and the head tube has been slackened again to give you a 65.5 out front. That is obviously dependent on what fork you run.
Buy online: 2018 Dartmoor primal £230 at Slam69
Buy online: 2017 Dartmoor primal £99 at Slam69 (XL only)
Nukeproof Scout (£399 at MTB Monster)
The Nukeproof Scout frame is available in it’s 275 or 290 guise, for a not-so-princely £399.99.
If you haven’t seen the likes of Elliot Heap and Luke Cryer slinging these things about then you won’t be aware of just how capable these things are.
With a hydroformed 6061 frame, 142 x 12mm dropouts, a 66 degree head angle and 72 degree seat angle, there’s not many places the Scout won’t let you go or parts that won’t fit from your summer full bouncer.
Reach is fairly short at 415 on the medium, but then so are the seat tubes, so going up a size shouldn’t be an issue.
NS Bikes Eccentric (£217.99 on CRC)
You might not first think of NS Bikes for aggressive 27.5″ or 29″ hardtails but that is exactly what the Eccentric Alu EVO offers.
At £289.99, it’s only fifty quid more than the Dartmoor if you’re looking for a frame to take bigger wheels.
The 27.5″ frame will take a 2.8″ tyre. Designed around a 130-150mm fork and a 65 degree head angle and a 425 reach on the medium.
In it’s 29″ guise, the Eccentric will accept 2.4″ tyres or 27.5″+ tyres up to 3″. Reach is slightly longer at 435 on the medium, and the head angle remains the same.
A nice touch is stealth routing for a dropper and other hoses and cables, making for a very clean frame.
Buy online: NS Bikes Eccentric Alu Evo frame online at CRC 2.75″ here and 29″ here.
Bird Zero AM Boost (£475 at Bird)
Bird’s Zero AM frame gets the boost treatment for 2018, will now take 2.6″ tyres and sports a downhill bike-worthy 64.1 degree head angle with a 160mm fork.
Slap a 150mm fork on and you might not even notice that the head angle has jumped to 64.5 degrees.
With a 451mm reach on the ML size, the Zero is definitely at the longer end of the spectrum but will allow plenty of room to manoeuvre when things get steep and fast.
Coming in at £475, we’re at the upper limit of this list but there aren’t many other frames that offer downhill geometry on a hardtail, so if that’s what you’re after, then the Zero AM is the one for you.
Buy online: £475 for the Bird Zero Boost frame at Bird’s website
Commencal Meta AM (£350 at Commencal’s web shop)
Commencal’s Meta MT AM will take 27.5+ and 29″ wheels, and a fork between 140 and 150mm making it one of the most versatile frames on the list.
Sporting a 6061 triple-butted frame, a tapered head tube and a max rotor size of 180mm, there’s nothing missed by Commencal on this one.
With a 65 degree head angle and a 420 reach on the medium, the Meta sits somewhere in the middle ground of the geometry stakes, but should provide a balanced ride in most conditions as a result.
Coming in at £350.23 for the frame alone again sits the Meta comfortably in the mid-table on this list. If the numbers work for you then it’s still a steal.
Buy online: Commencal Meta HT AM £350 at Commencal.
Orange Crush (£399 at Start Fitness)
Sitting at the very upper limit of the price point of this list, the venerable Crush from Orange comes in at £500 on the button.
For 2019, the frame gets a Boost rear and blown stays to accept larger tyres, other than that, Orange, like Bird, have left the Crush well alone.
So with that you get clearance for a 2.6″ tyre on 27.5″ wheels, a 64 degree head angle with a 150mm fork and a 434mm reach on the medium.
The Crush sports a custom butted 6061 tubeset, 148 x 12mm Boost spacing and internal dropper routing.
A pricey option, but if you’re a fan of the Halifax brand and want to stay on point, well, there’s no other option.
Buy online: Orange Crush frame £399 at Start Fitness.
Pipedream Sirius (£399 at Pipedream)
The first on the list to be made out of 4130 CroMo steel, the Pipedream Sirius 4G is the latest iteration of this Scottish hardtail.
Normally outwith the price point of this list, the Sirius 4G is currently going for a steal at £399.99 on their site.
The Sirius rocks 65.5d head angle running on a 140mm fork with the large sporting a 439mm reach. A low 64mm bottom bracket drop means it corners on rails and can take 27.5″, 27+ or 29″ wheels with tyres up to 2.8″.
If you’ve got a bigger budget and you want the beardy pedigree of steel, you can’t go far wrong with the Pipedream. You can read the full review here.
DMR Trailstar (£425.19 at ProBikeKit)
Truly a British icon, the Trailstair was the original do-it-all hardtail and the most recent iteration continues that trend into the 21st Century.
Another frame that would normally be at the upper limit of the price point for this list, but thanks to the lovely folk at DMR, the £500 price tag is currently at £320.
You get a 4130 CroMo frame, tapered head tube, stealth dropper routing, and space for 2.8″ tyres.
A 418mm reach on the medium is sensible, and a 66 degree head angle with a 150mm fork means this is still just as good an all-rounder as it ever was. You can read our DMR Trailstar review here.
Buy online: DMR Trailstar frame online at ProBikeKit.
Cotic BFe (£499 at Cotic)
Ben tested the latest incarnation of Cotic’s BFe and found it to be quite the beast out on the trail, in a good way, that is.
A 4130 CroMo frame with a Reynolds 853 downtube, a 449mm reach on the medium, and a 66 degree head angle makes the ride quintessentially Cotic.
For anyone that hasn’t been interested in keeping up with the latest trends, Cotic do make a 26″ version of the BFe and the 27.5″ version will take 26″ wheels with a 3″ tyre, or 2.6s with a 27.5″ wheel.
If you want an aggressive British hardtail and that feel that only steel can give you, you will have to pit this against the Pipedream to see which comes out on top.
Buy online: Cotic BFe £499 at Cotic.
