Hardtail mtb frame for XC and gravel

[Chopboy]

I've been looking for a hardtail frame that has modern geometry (slack head angle primarily ~68deg). There seem to be a few on the market lately and I've been looking at the ones from SP Cycle. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the SP Cycle models, M05, M06 and M08? other than aesthetics of course. Other than some very minor geometry differences, they seem very similar. What am I missing?
If anyone has a recommendation for a hardatil, I'd love to hear it.
I'm planning on swapping forks between rigid option and a manitou R7 to swap between gravel and mtb trails.
Cheers,

[Zeus]

Hi
Quite happy with my Carbonda hardtail https://www.carbonda.com/mtb/cfm-1306.html
Mine has a 100mm Sid SL on and som xt gears, slx brakes, iolite carbon wheels w. Aspens and Newman bar and Enve post
Close to 9,5kg
Really good frame

[Ludo]

All the SPcycle are modern geometry and inspired by big brand offering. I have the M06 (Scott) and I love it, although it’s being taken apart for a full suspension build…

[Tijoe]

SP-M05 was released in 2022*:  Fits 29 x 2.2 tires
SP-M06 was released in 2023: Fits 29 x  2.45 tires
SP-M08 was released in 2020:  Fits 29 x 2.35 tires:  This frame has significantly different frame geo than the M05 and M06.

* I have a M05 I purchased several years ago.  This bike has become my multipurpose flat bar mtb when I install flat bars with my SID ultimate fork, or my rough terrain gravel bike with either a rigid or the SID Ultimate fork combined with a set of  "H" bars.   It has become my favorite bike packing bike as well.
(Hard to beat the frame's low cost combined with its under 1000gram weight!)

[Lotnik]

I think the newest one is M048 with UDH.

[Tijoe]

I think the newest one is M048 with UDH.

M048 was released in 2024.  Very very similar to M05 and M06 geometry.

[Chopboy]

Thank you!
The newer M048 seems to have some mixed feedback so far, a few failures noted to date on this forum.
The M06 seems to have been well received and has some miles under their tyres by now. It's around a 100g heavier than the M05, which isn't a lot to pay for the extra tyre clearance, so long as it's a robust option.

Thanks for the recommendation Zeus, The frame looks good, but I was hoping for a little slacker a head angle if it's possible.

[Deem]

Hi, see the dropbar mtb gravelracer which I’ve build. It still rocks. Last weekend I raced the UCI gravel world championships with this bike with really good results. I used the single speed narrow wide 48t front chainring and 10-51 12speed cassette. If you are not that strong I would suggest to go for a 46 front chainring. And without hills you can use 10-45 cassette.

Currrently I’m riding this bike with the same rims for gravel
rides. And use the tyres Schwalbe Thunder Burt Addix Speed Super Ground TLE 29 inch
57 mm / 2.25 inch with low pressure. It’s very comfortable and rides fast.

https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4623.msg74464.html#msg74464

I've been looking for a hardtail frame that has modern geometry (slack head angle primarily ~68deg). There seem to be a few on the market lately and I've been looking at the ones from SP Cycle. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the SP Cycle models, M05, M06 and M08? other than aesthetics of course. Other than some very minor geometry differences, they seem very similar. What am I missing?
If anyone has a recommendation for a hardatil, I'd love to hear it.
I'm planning on swapping forks between rigid option and a manitou R7 to swap between gravel and mtb trails.
Cheers,

[Chopboy]

Thank you for the recommendation Deem, Sounds like I owe Zeus an apology and need to reconsider my geometry preferences. That tantan FM199 you're happy with has a 69.5 degree head angle (when using a 496.3mm fork).
Doing some very basic maths, with the rule of thumb approach - 10mm A2C change = 0.5 Deg head angle difference I get around a 1 degree reduction from published with a 120mm suspension fork (Manitou R7) and approx 1.75deg increase in head angle when using an SP Cycle 471mm rigid fork. Either the Carbonada Zeus suggested or Deem's TanTan (Actually a little slacker than published due to the reference fork length) give a head angle around 68 degrees with an R7 and 70.8 with a rigid option. This seems a pretty reasonable switch between modes.
For reference, the SP Cycles M06 starts with a 67.9 HA which drops to 67 even with an R7, but only steepens to 69.7 with the rigid fork installed. This seems great for a hardtail, but maybe not quite steep enought for gravel racing?

48 tooth ring is too big for me, we've got hills and I'm no UCI WC level rider, aka, I'm not that strong. I think I'll start with a 38 and go up (or down) from there.

p.s. does anyone know how to insert a libreoffice spreadsheet table into a forum post?