HARDTAIL HE

Right on cue, Yorkshire-based Stif has a new steel hardtail to see you through winter

This is the time of year when hardtails come into their own, when the trails are perpetually sloppy and your bike gets a full-on mud bath every ride out. In time-honoured tradition, we

Brits want something a little more invigorating in the dirt and a little less labour-intensive when it comes to the post- ride rubdown.

Just in time, then, comes this new 29in trail bike from Stif. Called the Squatch, it promises less time cleaning and maintaining and more time schralping. It’s everything you’d expect from a British hardtail, from its steel frame and 64° degree head angle to its short-offset (42mm) Rockshox Pike fork with 130mm travel – the optimum suspension for a hardtail, we reckon. It also happens to be in stock, not something you can say about plenty of desirable hardtails right now.

Balancing this slack steering angle are modern reach numbers, with the size large Squatch measuring in at 480mm. Stif has gone down the short chainstay route for the Squatch – they’re 430mm long – while the seat angle is a perky 78° to help it climb more easily. It’s also a bike that has a super-low bottom bracket height – at a claimed 293mm, you’ll be doing well not to bonk your pedals at least once a ride… just about right then for maximising your cornering pace.

Stif is rightly proud of the Squatch’s new frame. It’s made from high-end 4130 chromoly steel tubing, all of which is bespoke to this bike. It uses Stif’s own 12-Bore chainstay bridge design – basically two little pieces of tubing welded vertically into the driveside chainstay close to the BB shell. Stif says it offers the perfect