Tanglefoot Hardtack V1 Frameset

Shipping will be calc'd after boxing and weighing.  Shipping will be invoiced separately in a follow up email.

The Tanglefoot Hardtack is all about stripped down simplicity. Only the sustenance you need to get you through the rough times. No fluff, no frills. To us this means a bike that can truly do everything*.  Gravel, commuting, technical mountain biking with rocks and berms and fun little doubles, long chill road rides, loaded old school touring.  The tire options are wide ranging.  For gnar mode run 27.5 x 2.6 on wide rims.  For chunky gravel or mud season fire roads wandering run 27.5 x 2.1's and fenders.  Wanna relive 2003? Put on some 29 x 2.1 tires and go race 24 hours of Big Bear.  If 2019 is more your speed, get some noize cancelling  700c x 55mm tires on a 29'er mountain bike rim.  Wait, there is more?  Do you long to ride but never win a heavily attended gravel race while wearing a plaid shirt paired with rapha bibs?  Hook the Hardtack up with some gravel rims and 700 x 42mm tires.  

12mm thru axles stiffen the frame and fork.  Stiff frames track better, with or without a load.  Frames that 'plane' can easily develop speed wobble, especially on rough terrain.  Flex is not your friend in anything except your elbows, knees and tires.  A long front end eliminates toe overlap at bay, on all sizes, even with platform pedals and muck boots.  Long front ends also help minimize ye ole endos, which is why mountain bikes have them.  We're sold on good dirt drop bars, so the Tanglefoot Hardtack has plenty of stack height thanks to the extended head tube.  Reach is kept in check with a super short reach Discord stem.

Higher bottom brackets offer log and rock and mud clearance on rutted woods tracks.  No clipping your pedal on tight switchbacks.  People think high bottom brackets are less stable.  This is FALSE.  They're more stable.  If they were less stable, then penny farthings would be unrideable, as would lamplighter bikes, or even old school 90's mountain bikes.  There is one downside, and that is standover is decreased with a higher bottom bracket.  We combat that with a sloping top tube.  

 The seemingly slack seat tube angle is the same virtual seat tube angle that 95% of all endurance road bikes have used over the past 100 years.  A road bike uses a 73.5 degree seat tube angle and a 25mm set back post.  The Hardtack gets your butt in the same position with a 71 degree seat tube angle and a 0mm offset post.  That 71 degree angle keeps your knees happy even if you want to run a dropper post (because all the good ones have no setback). 

The frameset and fork is built with oversized butted chromoly.  Stiff tubing combined with a high trail fork give you the stability you need when the terra gets gnarly, or when you want to bomb that dirt road with no hands and dance in the bliss of the moonlight.

Bikes should not be 5 year investments, or even 10 year investments.  A nice steel frame will last 25 to 50 years of hard use, and longer with some additional care.  The longevity of a good steel frame dictates that the bikes' use will change over time.  It might start as a gravel slayer, but in 20 years someone might pick up the frame and think: I need a nice commuter, or a touring bike to ride to Tierra Del Fuego.  The Hardtack has front and rear rack mounts for a Nitto Mark's Rack and R-10, or traditional large touring racks.  It can take full fenders front and rear.  You can swap the rear dropouts and run a 135mm QR wheel.  Switch between 27.5 chubby tires and 700c commuter or gravel tires.   The Hardtack is the Shure SM58 of bikes, the Pentax Spotmatic, the 8" chefs' knife, the 2003 Subaru Legacy of bikes.  It's made for the long haul, will work for a long time, and will likely outlast its original owner.  

Yes, you can run it with Alt bars.  We suggest Velo Orange Crazy Bars, Jones Full Loop or Nitto Jungle Runners depending on your shoulder width and arm length.  Pair it with. Gnome Hopper stem.  

Watch this review from Russ at Path Less Pedaled.  He liked it, and it doesn't even have a double crankset! 

Geometry charts under the 'geo' tab here. 

*except downhill runs, trials, free riding, that sort of thing.  By anything, we mean anything that doesn't require a red bull sponsorship to be interested in.  

 What's in the box?  Frame, Fork, cable guides for bottom bracket, rear modular drop outs for 142mm rear thru axle, bolt on thru axles.  

Spec type stuff:

Normcore 1 1/8 headset.  

100 x 12mm front hub

142mm x 12mm rear hub.  Can get 135mm drop outs if you wanna play it fast and flexy.

IS mount fork for 160mm or 180mm rotor.  Post mount rear for 160mm direct or 180mm with adapter.  They use the same brake!  Just a different adapter.  

73mm threaded BB.  

27.2 mm seatpost.  Seat tube has dropper routing.  

3 pack mount on top and bottom of downtube, and seat tube.  

3 pack mounts on fork legs

Fender mounts front and rear

Rack mounts front and rear for old school big ass racks OR Nitto R-10 out back and Nitto Mark's / Obento up front.

We already talked tire clearance.  

MTN EN rated for the gnar gnar.  

Not made for a triple or double.  You can set it up with one, but you are on your own with that.  We've done it, works fine, but it's a hassle and a time suck.  1x drivetrains work great.  I'm a retro grouch, and I endorse them.

Not made for a Rohloff or belt drive.  If you want to have a go, you are welcome to it, but it was not in the design parameters.