Feeling the itch for a change so what to replace the El Mariachi?

- 29'er
- more modern geo
- Steel (Ti's generally out of budget)
- Tidy sliding dropout or EBB - will mostly be run Singlespeed
- Up to 120mm fork friendly - may run it rigid

Would love to build a new frame but that's a project to many at the mo.

Thoughts?

Pipedream sirius?
Surly Karate Money? (Or Krampus even)
Salsa timberjack?
I think Sonder do a steel broken road with slidey drop outs...

When my el mariachi cracked i got a kona unit. Can be set up ss and rides very nicely. Not as light as the el mariachi though if that matters.

Brother Cycles Big Bro steel framer, I absolutely love mine. Run it rigid and with 100mm Reba fork, super comfy short or long distances
Salsa Timberjack I like the look of too
Broken Road in steel would be nice, I have the Ti frame, but if the steel is as comfy It'll be a joy to ride

Is this any good for you?

https://planetx.co.uk/products/titus-si ... nture-bike

I have a Planer X ti framed bike and it's great

Some Olsen's still on banana

https://www.bananaindustries.co.uk/coll ... UynIInKVWz

Singular Swift

I'd like to give another vote for Pipedream Sirius.

But... in the last months I've seen a few crumbled downtubes (at the cable mounts).
Alan (Finlay), ever so responsive in the process of helping out with a frame, apparently not at all responsive (months 'till replacement) asking questions clearly indicating it must have been "your fault" ("did you jump it"). Of the few cases, one rider was 65 kg and really not messing about (true sense, not as the saying goes)... all cases from early Sirius(ses) though.
Now I spat out the bad news, here's the good news;

The frames are so well made, I dreamt of my former Moxie (V1.5) not too long ago.

Surface is was well treated I'd be surprised you'd find rust even after years of use (unless you damaged the high quality paint job/ED treatment). I made some significant dents and scratches (crashes, tight riding between rocks etc.) in top-/ down tubes and chain-/ seat stays but never managed to scrape down to the bare steel. Mind, the Moxie has heavier tubing than the (early) Sirius. Moxie was rather light for such a long steel frame and the flex in the front triangle significant (but added to the incredible fun and grip) and whilst I don't know what's on with the Sirius today, the early versions were even lighter than the Moxie, whichm as I experienced, dented rather quick.

Sold my Moxie after about 5 years due to me being not capable to accept that a hardtail is just that and not a full susser. Moxie replacement was a Starling Twist (2 years, not happy) and now building up a Bold Linkin 135. This is the kind of bike the Moxie can be pitched against. Back to back timing on smooth Alpine trails saw me going 10 - 15 % slower. On rougher single tracks it grew to 15 - 20 %. Trails around Leukerbad, Karl knows some of them.

I guess it's similar with the Sirius. Never rode it, but it must be a very good frame. Just hast to be. I'd love to try one (if I wasn't so messed up).

Currently it's between the Sirius & the Unit.

Sirius - small front triangle, limit frame bag size & reports are the rear end is quite stiff.
Unit - a bit hefty

Not fan of horizontal dropouts - sorry Surly

Olsen, by all accounts Banana acquired their stock by less that favourable means.

Big Bro, Broken Road & Swift are too slack in the seat tube. I need to be further over the BB, inline post gets me partially there.

If only Salsa made a Steel Timberwolf! Ti version is way too spendy.

Fussy bugger aint I.

Moff wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 5:04 pm Fussy bugger aint I.

'At's okay. Loads of solid choices around. Allow yourself to be fussy.

Regarding the stiffness of the rear end on the Sirius; if it's anything similar to the Moxie, there's compliance coming from the front triangle. Harsh on vertical hits, but lovely compliant on rough off camber corners or even just flat turns.
You can always use a thin rigid (eg Ritchey) seat post or a dropper post (which tend to have more flex) and a seat post sleave (to reduce the seat post diameter).

I rode across Iceland 4x in pure comfort, despite some decent washboards, thanks to flexy seatposts.

For what it’s worth, I own an el mariachi, bought something “modern” and “progressive” and didn’t like it at all.

The geo of the el mariachi is not fundamentally different from the surly offerings or the Big Bro. My main gripe with it is the tyre clearance and lack of mounts, so I’ve got a (much heavier) krampus to fill that hole.

Sour cycles pasta party looks a good fit, if you can get one here (there is a UK dealer for Sour). EBB, progressive xc geo but not silly, 74 degrees seat angle is reasonable?, up to 120mm fork, looks nice and is customisable, integrated seat collar. Only minor downside is it has a flat mount rear brake, why?

I had an elmariachi off Ben of this parish. Loved it but always found it short in the TT.
Nearly replaced with a Sirius, but went for the new Cots Solaris in the end. Wasn't sure if I'd get on with the 'modern' geometry but really love it.
No sliding drop outs though so not sure if this is of any help at all