Hi all, my first post so be gentle with me, I have had a little go at those bike packing things Stuart likes punish us with.
So, I fancy trying one of those clown bike things. They were all the rage on the BB 200 and I feel I am missing out . It could be why I was so useless on the BB 200 but I doubt it , just a good excuse to buy another bike.

Being only about 5'7"ish, which ones should I be looking at. I was thinking of building one up, so a frame would be a good start, unless I find a offer I can not refuse of course.
I am riding a 16" Cotic Soul at the moment and like the way it rides , so what do you all think ?

Cheers Slacker

Being a 5'7" *P.O.R.G myself I can say that something in 16" flavour should be fine. At present I have the lovely orange Inbred and a Haro Mary. Both are 16" frames and both have fairly short TT, something which I'm a great fan of ... long legs / short body.

It would seem that 29" On-Ones have a shorter TT than the 26" versions ... I suppose it's not really surprising given that the wheelbase will remain pretty much the same. It does mean however, that a 29" wheeled On One fits me much better than a 26" wheeled one of the same size.

If my pockets were deeper then I'd be looking towards Salsa but they're not so I'll have to stick with what I've got.

* Person Of Restricted Growth

Thanks Stuart that's a good start.
I have been looking at the Salsa wondering if it was worth the extra over the inbred .
I will have to look at the specs again .

I'm also liking the Surly Ogre - http://surlybikes.com/bikes/ogre Pretty much do anything with it.

Yes that is nice, but I am not sure it's worth £100 more than the monkey. The only difference I can see is a couple of extra mounts for mud guards, can you enlighten me if you see other ones please.

I have had a few on-ones, the scandal is probably the best mix of great bike vs value for money that they do, if you have a bit more budget look at salsa, I've got a fargo which would work quite well with flat bars for the long legged/short bodied types, works great with drops for normal people

If you are currently riding kiddie sized wheels on a 16" then a 16" 29er will be fine.

Thanks Mark, what's the scandal like comfort wise, been on steel for a couple of years now and its fine.
not sure I could go to ali but they have changed.
Is it a all day bike or is that why you went fargo .
The weight is appealing . My cotic is just over 4lbs and it rides well but the p7 before was heading to 6lbs and I did not like the ride as much it just felt dull but the cotic seems more lively if you get my drift.

Have had a go on a soul and they do ride very well. I got rid of the scandal and went to a ti29er, then wondered why I had bothered for a while. Ride comfort on the scandal was very good, the ti is better but not by much at all, not sure if it was the frame design or just another by-product of having proper sized wheels though. I got the fargo for trips like the bb200 and because I was fed up keep putting gears on and off the ti which is now permanently singlespeed.

I have a Singular Gryphon which is a lovely ride. Due to its unusual take on things (29er, drop bar'd, steeply sloped TT, long HT) it makes some peoples eyes bleed.

Still, I wuite like having that affect

Don't know how medium Salsas measure up but if they come up smallish, this would be an ideal distance/bikpacking bike ... much cheapness too.

http://www.singlespeed.nl/catalog/produ ... cts_id=853

I've gone Salsa .
After much thought I have gone for a middle of the road frame in a nice green colour.
Thanks for all your help and advice.
Just need to test it out on a big ride, any ideas ??? :?:

Yes but which model Salsa?

el mariachi , steel.
I like steel for comfort and am happy with my soul so thought that was the way to go, but was tempted with that full suss you mentioned.
I would of gone 2nd hand but as you may know small 29ers seem to be in short supply, not sure if that's telling me something but order is in now . Picked up some reba's with tapered head tube for 150 off sadtrack under a year old so should be good start. Working out which headset I needed was a bit of a pain as with the 44mm head tube and tapered steerer. So you need different sizes top and bottom, fingers crossed I have got it right.

Cheers

el mariachi , steel.

Ooh very nice too ... if anyone who's a little bigger than Slacker and myself is on the lookout for a quality 29er frame, you could do worse than mosey over to crc and type 'NINER' in the search box ... trust me, thank god I'm a short arse

I believe this is in your size: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=73939

You can thank me later

Na ... too many bouncy bits