Hardtail advice - Stanton

Hools

Likes Dirt
So I'm about to start the process of putting together a hardtail. I'm looking for something to complement my full suspension bike, which is a Turner Burner. The Turner is 650B with 140mm of travel out back and 150mm up front. The hardtail I'm thinking of would be more trail/XC focused. I'm thinking steel, and I'm thinking 29er with about 120mm of fork. Have done a bit of research and have pretty much settled on a Stanton Sherpa. My questions for the Rotorburn community are:

1. Who's owned a Stanton? Are they as good as they look? They've had good reviews from the mags but what does that mean?
2. Does anyone who rides a 29er hardtail wish they had a 27.5 instead?

Thanks for any advice
 

Daniel Hale

She fid, he fid, I fidn't
i started on a 29er Ht, bought a 26 then am moving it now to 27.5..goldilocks -we have some tight busg sngl trk though -not open flowing stuff. gor ease of swapping wheels 27.5 makes sense, if you doa rim, flat you can just flick the over to the other bike. having rd, mtb, CX, SS, + kids bikes have a fairly uniform wheel size makes heaps of sense, means i can swap stuff out easily
 
I've a Stanton Slackline in my quiver of bikes (have also owned a lot of steel hardtails over the years) & it is hands down my all-time go-to bike. I mean, I love my other bikes but not in the way I love riding my Stanton though. Nice clean frame detail, great angles, & by far & away the bike I predominantly spend my time riding because of how capable it is as a trail bike. So much fun. 3+yrs of giving it a tonne of beans & not one moment of resentment on it. Not an "if I were you" moment here, but I'm with Hale- get yourself the Switchback instead. Great angles that you'd happily pedal around all day, compatibility with your Turner wheelset & dealing with Stanton being a breeze (Dan Stanton's awesome to deal with) are big pros. Know the next build I do will be a Switchback.
 

Hools

Likes Dirt
I've a Stanton Slackline in my quiver of bikes (have also owned a lot of steel hardtails over the years) & it is hands down my all-time go-to bike. I mean, I love my other bikes but not in the way I love riding my Stanton though. Nice clean frame detail, great angles, & by far & away the bike I predominantly spend my time riding because of how capable it is as a trail bike. So much fun. 3+yrs of giving it a tonne of beans & not one moment of resentment on it. Not an "if I were you" moment here, but I'm with Hale- get yourself the Switchback instead. Great angles that you'd happily pedal around all day, compatibility with your Turner wheelset & dealing with Stanton being a breeze (Dan Stanton's awesome to deal with) are big pros. Know the next build I do will be a Switchback.
Yeah, I hear you. I love the 27.5 wheel size, but for some reason i'm thinking 29er for more long distance and xc style riding. Good to hear the your experience with the Stanton is so positive. They certainly look the goods. I cant find another steel frame that I like the look of as much.
 

stirk

Burner
I also agree with Daniel, keep both bikes as compatible in parts as you can so if one component has an issue on bike A but you want to ride bike B you swap the parts over and can always have bike A or bike B available depending on your mood/trails.
 

SF Trailboy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Damn you. I really want a Stanton again now. I ride a 29 steel ritchey p-29 hardtail and choose not to get the Sherpa at the time as there was no stock and the tall head tube meant I would of needed a new fork for which I didn't have the funds... I am now about to buy a new fork.... The question becomes do I fund a new frame as well.

Steel is awesome FYI...
 
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aanon

Likes Dirt
Bumped into a fella on the trail with a Sherpa 29'' and he loved it.
I have been on a steel 29er hard tail for 10 months now and have not considered chopping it in for a 27.5, love the big wheels on a hardtail, If I had a 27.5 I would probably say the same thing though.
My dually is a good ol' 26''.
 
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XYGTHO

Likes Dirt
Sure is handy and your probably sick of hearing it to have same wheel size. I swap the wheels now and then between my Santacruz Chameleon and my 27.5 Trance.

Have 160pikes on the trance and the 140mm revs on the hardtail with dual position so can go to 120mm also. Trail tyres on the hardtail and wide tyres on the dually. But the hardtail is awesome fun on the knarlier trails also, and good to be able to put the chunckys on the HT for some fun. And the trails tyres on the dually for the long rides where you just don't feel like your arse getting hammered, or events like 3 or 6hour races.
 
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Hools

Likes Dirt
Sure is handy and your probably sick of hearing it to have same wheel size. I swap the wheels now and then between my Santacruz Chameleon and my 27.5 Trance.

Have 160pikes on the trance and the 140mm revs on the hardtail with dual position so can go to 120mm also. Trail tyres on the hardtail and wide tyres on the dually. But the dually is awesome fun on the knarlier trails also, and good to be able to put the chunckys on the HT for some fun. And the trails tyres on the dually for the long rides where you just don't feel like your arse getting hammered, or events like 3 or 6hour races.
I get what you guys are saying. I do see the obvious benefits of being able to swap wheelsets, tyres etc. I guess I'm more interested in the performance of the 29er vs the 27.5. I don't race, so am more looking for the fun all round trail bike that I can do some distance on. I am leaning towards the big wheels at the moment, just want to be sure I'm not going to regret it. How different is the 27.5 on long XC and trail style rides? Will a 27.5 steel hardtail ride like a 29er but with a bit more agility?
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
I'm gonna disagree with every one else here. Yeah it's nice being able to change wheels between bikes and all, but you'd essentially be building a bike for the same purpose as you're dually. Having two bikes for the same trail so to speak.

From what i could see the 27.5 stanton is more of a am/endurbro style, being able to run 160mm forks and whatnot. (I petsonally believe anything over 120mm feels horrible on a hardtail, the bike seems to get sucked into its travel. And head angle changes get pretty drastic on full compression).

Whereas the 29er is a more single track, xc style bike, which seemed to be what you're after. 29" wheels are pretty bloody good on a hardtail for this kind of riding, you'll appreciate the added rollover with a rigid rear end.

Personally I'd go the 29 wheels, with 120mm forks. I have a dually for the gnar, why would I need a hardtail too?
 

bikeyoulongtime

Likes Dirt
If I were in the market for a HT, I would look for 27.5+/29 - I have a 27.5 trail slaying dually, I would want my hardtail to fill a different niche/make me ride a different way. If i break something on one bike, I just hop onto the other one :) So I'm basically seconding Ultra Lord here.

Actually pretty happy with the contrast of a CX bike and a 160mm bruiser right now. Totally opposite ends of the 'how to approach a given trail' spectrum.

back OT, stanton are on my wishlist for HT frames, should I ever get a chance to build another one. they certainly look the goods!
 

Hools

Likes Dirt
Ok. Fairly decided but I need a push. The current Stanton Sherpa has QR rear hub spacing (10 x 135) with room for a 29 x 2.3 tyre. The new one due in July has 12 x 142 with more room out back.
Should I wait? I don't really care about the hub spacing but wouldn't mind being able to run a 2.4 rear tyre. Any thoughts?
 

bikeyoulongtime

Likes Dirt
Ok. Fairly decided but I need a push. The current Stanton Sherpa has QR rear hub spacing (10 x 135) with room for a 29 x 2.3 tyre. The new one due in July has 12 x 142 with more room out back.
Should I wait? I don't really care about the hub spacing but wouldn't mind being able to run a 2.4 rear tyre. Any thoughts?
wait :) and buy a robert axle project thing to go with it if you ever plan to tow anything (https://robertaxleproject.com)

I shouldn't have looked at this thread, spent way too much time on Stanton's web site over the past few days :/
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
buy now because waiting sucks.

2.3 is huge anyway, don't need no semi fat thing slowing you down.

Flick em an email and see if its a schwalbe 2.3 or maxxis 2.3? Big difference.
 

SF Trailboy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Out of interest are they going to run out the 135x10?

How are you shipping - their option is like nearly $300 from memory, have you investigated your own courier? I know that Cotic is only $160.

Yes i'm being tight...
 
The bag on the 2.4 is going to be freakin huge. You building up a burly brute of a 29er or a versatile & capable HT?

For the record, anyone who says their dual suspension trail bike is the same as riding an equivalent angled HT, & suggests they function even remotely the same, is either smoking crack, has forgotten to take their meds or spends too much time on a computer looking at bike porn instead of riding. Each to their own but I flat-out disagree with the sentiment that HTs offering anything more than a 120mm up front are horrible to ride- anything 160+ then yeah, starting to get into some funky handling characteristics, but anything under that is 100% about technique or absence of. Yep, you do need to ensure that you're setting your fork up A1 to avoid diving into your travel unnecessarily etc but ultimately it comes down to technique & the way the rider is positioning their weight which determines how hard you're diving into that travel.

Bottom line is that whichever Stanton frame you go with, it'll be a fun bike, & your technique will improve outta sight, particularly once you apply it to your duallie. A pair of DP RS Revs that allow you to flip between 120-140mm will be the way to go. Likewise if you're happy to wait then maybe consider doing so if it means you'll be able to pick up the 12x142 version with the extra room in the stays...with that said there are some killer deals going on Hope's 10x135 EVO hubs etc & Hope will be continuing to service the 135mm market for another 10yrs at least (straight from the horse's mouth). Great thing with Hope is that it's virtually tool-less & the 10mm-thru axle end caps are super easy to swap over etc. DT Swiss are producing some nice lightweight thru axles to suit, as too American Classic.

As per SF Trailboy, the shipping (w insurance) by Stanton was $268- looked at organising my own courier etc but the pricing with insurance blew right out.
 
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Fatherpaul

Likes Bikes
I had a Sherpa for about a year. I used it for mainly xc / trail riding with some am stuff. It was the bike that converted me to HT riding coming from dualies (3 stumpjumper fsr's) as it was a blast. I eventually sold the frame and swapped the parts over for a more aggressive HT frame being the Canfield EPO.

I had the Sherpa set up with a Pike at 120mm with Chinese carbon rims, 2.25 tyres tubeless tyres and a Syntace hi-flex seatpost. The most important thing for any HT is to have a good fork. I sometimes think the performance of a fork on a HT is more important than the frame itself. The Pike was perfect as it was stiff, didn't dive under brakes and kept the front wheel on the ground at critical times like steep terrain. You need to remember that with a HT at speed over the rough stuff the back wheel skips over the bumps as compared to a dualie, so control and braking is reduced a bit. The Sherpa had no problem with this as it is a very stable frame because of a slack front angle, 29" wheels and steel cushioning frame. High volume tubeless tyres set at a reasonable psi also provide some cush as well as a flexy seatpost. The other thing you will need to do is toughen up your arse to stay seated over the light stuff so as to keep the load off your thighs. Hovering over the seat unnecessarily on the light bumps will make you fatigue earlier (well it did for me anyway). This took me about 6 months to get use to. Overall a HT makes you a better rider as it forces you to move your body a little which for me makes for a better ride. You will be surprised at how smooth it is at speed for a HT.

I am no expert but I found the best features of the frame to be the slack head angle, steel cushioning frame and simple but impressive looks. A little extra weight as provided by steel makes a bike more stable anyway. The rear chainstay length is not too short or long. The areas I didn't like was that is had a higher than quoted bottom bracket even allowing for the Pike at 120 but then again I never had any pedal strikes with that bike. The frame is also a little heavy than quoted on the website from memory about 2.36 kg for a medium.

Shop around for the frame as I got mine out of Biketart in the UK which had free delivery at the time. Cheers.
 
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Hools

Likes Dirt
Thanks Fatherpaul and everyone else. I'm sold on the 29er Sherpa. The new version comes out soon with internal stealth routing, more clearance for up to 2.8 tyres and will be £599. I'm not going to wait for it, if I can get the current frame on sale I will. Cheers.
 
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