Tall Tale - Steel Hardtail Mountain Bike
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The Story
Mountain bikes are where it all began for Sklar. Through designing and building hundreds of custom steel and Titanium mountain bikes over the past decade, Sklar became one of the first small brands to push progressive modern mountain bike geometry. We experimented with those long, low geometry numbers and learned a lot about how to make a hardtail mountain bike incredibly capable, but also how to keep it feeling familiar - something you know how to have fun on. We found that you don’t have to sacrifice playfulness and agility in the pursuit of sheer speed.
Fast is fun, but fun is funner. There are lots of geometry tall tales out there, advocating for full progressiveness just for the sake of it. Our Tall Tale is informed by the most progressive geometry, but firmly grounded in the realm of fun and familiarity. While building all of those custom bikes Adam also learned a great deal about the materials that go into a bike. The tubing for the Tall Tale is made just for these frames with each butting profile, diameter and tube shape hand chosen to maximize ride quality and durability. This isn't your run-of-the-mill or off the shelf tube set but something that will actually flex into the trail and show you the real meaning of Steel is Real.
In designing and building hundreds of custom bikes, we had the opportunity to talk to countless riders about what they truly love in a mountain bike, and the Tall Tale is what it comes down to. The Tall Tale is a great tool for quick after-work rides with friends or for spending a whole day on big weekend adventures. It strikes a perfect balance between aggressive new-school geometry and the familiar capability needed for an all-day affair. It's not a 6” trailbike that blasts down hills but struggles on the ups, nor is it an XC race rig that ascends effortlessly but lacks stability on descents. Sklar has refined geometry and materials to create a mountain bike that does it all quite well. It hits the sweet spot for having fun out on the trails.
Design Philosophy
The Tall Tale is a simple yet capable bike. Capability comes from thoughtfully chosen geometry and carefully selected materials that allow this bike to be fun for all your mountain biking adventures. When it comes to simplicity a hardtail takes the cake and it is really the only choice for a rider who would rather spend their time out on the trail in peace than maintaining bearings or dealing with creaks as those oh-so-fun full suspensions do. Whether it's a quick ride before work for some speedy fun, loading up your fanny pack with snacks for an all-day weekend adventure, packing it up with bags for a multi-week bikepacking trip, or just spending a night in the woods – this is the bike for it all. Having one truly enjoyable bike encourages regular use, and this is precisely that bike. How sweet is that?
The Tall Tale is constructed using the finest available materials, ensuring a superior ride quality and durability. It boasts details like our in-house designed chainstay yoke for an optimal chainstay length, asymmetrical chainstays for a finely-tuned ride quality, and our distinctive ovalized top tube. Custom oval-butted tubing makes these joyfully compliant frames strong enough to take years of abuse. A fun steel bike you will want to keep riding season after season.
Tech Specs & Component compatibility
- Frame Material: Double butted, heat treated Chromoly Steel
- 148x12mm BOOST Spacing, UDH Dropout
- ISO rear brake mount
- Designed for 29” x 2.6” tires (most 2.8's fit)
- 31.6mm Seat post (stealth routing)
- 2 bottle cages in front triangle
- Triple cage mount under down tube
- Rear rack mounts
- 130mm travel size S, 140mm M, L, 150mm travel XL
- 73mm BSA Bottom bracket Shell
- EC34mm/44mm Headset
- Clearance for up to a 36T chainring (boost chainline)
- Full External Cable routing
Find Your Size
| Sklar Tall Tale | Small | Medium | Large | XL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STACK | 607 | 630 | 649 | 676 |
| REACH | 430 | 457 | 481 | 499 |
| EFF. TOP TUBE | 613 | 642 | 670 | 697 |
| HEADTUBE LENGTH | 88 | 95 | 112 | 128 |
| FRONT CENTER | 742 | 783 | 808 | 834 |
| BB DROP | 55 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
| HEAD TUBE ANGLE | 64.8° | 64.8° | 65° | 65.4° |
| EFF. SEAT TUBE ANGLE | 73.4° | 73.5° | 73.6° | 73.5° |
| CHAINSTAY LENGTH | 427 | 427 | 427 | 427 |
| A–C (FORK TRAVEL) | 543 (130MM) | 553 (140MM) | 553 (140MM) | 563 (150MM) |
| FORK TRAVEL | 130 | 140 | 140 | 150 |
| FORK OFFSET | 44 | 44 | 44 | 44 |
| WHEELBASE | 1164 | 1205 | 1220 | 1256 |
| SEAT TUBE LENGTH | 385 | 400 | 430 | 465 |
| STANDOVER HEIGHT | 700 | 708 | 739 | 820 |
| SEATPOST MAX INSERT | 190 | 207 | 236 | 271 |
Fit Guide
We often get questions about fit and strong reactions to the reach numbers on these frames. Reach, as an indicator of fit, does not take into account seat tube angle or head tube angle and due to the steep seat tube and slack headtube angle on these bikes reach makes them look longer than they are. the important numbers are your saddle height and distance from saddle to handlebar. Here are the saddle heights and saddle to bar reaches we had in mind designing the sweet spot, measured from the BB center to the top of the saddle center and from the tip of the saddle to center of the stem. Also please note these frames are designed to be ridden with a 30-50mm stem.
Small - 64-69 CM saddle height, 44.5-51 CM saddle to stem. Rider height 5'4-5'8"ish
Medium - 68-74 CM saddle height, 50-53.5 CM saddle to stem. Rider height 5'8"-5'11"ish
Large - 73-79 CM saddle height, 53-57 CM saddle to stem. Rider height 5'10"-6'1"ish
XL - 78-82 CM saddle height, 56-60 CM saddle to stem. Rider height 6'-6'4"ish
These numbers are just rough suggestions. Please double check and ask us or your bike fitter or send is an email if you have any questions or concerns.
Complete Bikes
We offer complete bikes! Each one is built to order from the ground up here at our shop in San Francisco. These builds present our vision of what Sklar frames were designed to do. Looking for something different? We are happy to sell you a frame and see how you make your vision come true :-)
- Getting you on the correct size bike is our priority! Have any questions? Please do not hesitate to reach out. After you place your order for a complete we will follow up to confirm sizing.
- Once sizing is confirmed we order your parts and then assemble your new bike and box it up to ship to you. To ship a bike we remove the front wheel and the stem from the fork. It is a very simple job to reassemble but if you are not confident with this reassemble-age we recommend taking it to your local bike shop. It should be about a 10 minute job for a pro.
We know it can sound tricky but we do this all day every day, so please reach out if you have any questions about the process or anything else. We are always happy to chat!
Build Kits
Eagle 90 - $5250 Complete
This build features the Eagle 90 mechanical drivetrain. No recharging batteries here and a reliable fun bike.
- Fork - RockShox Pike Select
- Shifter - SRAM Eagle 90 Mechanical 12sp
- Derailleur - SRAM Eagle 90 Mechanical 12sp
- Cassette - SRAM XG-1275 10-52t
- Crankset - SRAM Eagle 90 165 32T Ring
- Bottom Bracket - SRAM DUB
- Wheels - Astral Serpentine
- Brakes - SRAM DB8
- Tires - Maxxis DHF/DHR
- Stem - OneUp
- Seatpost - OneUp V3
- Headset/Spacers - White Industries with matching tapered spacers
- Handlebars - OneUp Alloy
- Grips - OneUp
- Saddle - Ergon
- Cables/Housing - Shimano SP-41 stainless
- Bottle Cages - Sklar Titanium
X0 Eagle Transmission - $8800 Complete
Light, precise electronic shifting built around all of our favorite parts, carbon wheels and a very nice fork.
- Fork - RockShox Pike Select
- Shifter - SRAM X0 Eagle AXS Transmission wireless
- Derailleur - SRAM X0 Eagle AXS Transmission wireless
- Crankset - SRAM X0 165mm 32T Ring
- Bottom Bracket - SRAM DUB
- Wheels - ENVE M6 Carbon
- Brakes - SRAM Maven Ultimate
- Tires - Maxxis DHF/DHR
- Stem - OneUp
- Seatpost - OneUp V3
- Headset/Spacers - White Industries with matching tapered spacers
- Handlebars - OneUp Alloy
- Grips - OneUp
- Saddle - Ergon
- Cables/Housing - Shimano SP-41 stainless
- Bottle Cages - Sklar Titanium
Tall Tale FAQ's
What size wheels/tires can I run?
The Sweet Spot is designed around 29 x 2.6" tires and that is what we recommend. 2.4 and 2.5" tires are great as well. We do not recommend running 27.5" wheels on this frame because it will make the bottom bracket super low and the tire clearance won't be in the right place. We totally understand why you might want to run 27.5" wheels on your MTB but those reasons are also things that we baked into the design of this bike, so we think you might still like it :)
What size headset/crownrace do I need to order?
The headset is EC34/28.6 upper, EC44/40 lower with a 1.5" crown race.
What is included with this frameset?
All frames ship with a seat post clamp and thru axle included.
Where are the framesets manufactured?
These frames are built in Taiwan
Can I run a rigid fork?
The short answer: No
The long answer:
This frame is designed around a 130mm-150mm suspension fork. Most rigid forks are correced for 100mm or suspension, meaning a rigid fork will be 30-50mm shorter than what the frame was designed for. For that reason we would not recommend running a rigid fork. If you are looking for a rigid hardtail that can handle a 100mm-120mm fork, check out our PBJ Frameset.
What suspension fork should I run?
Travel:
We get this question a lot. In order to maximize ride quality and standover, the "base setting" is 130mm of travel for size Small, 140mm of travel for Medium and Large, and 150mm of travel for the XL. Can you run different amounts? absolutely. I run my size Large with a 150mm fork and love it. A longer fork will raise your bottom bracket, make the handlebars higher, head and seat tube angles a little slacker... and the opposite for going shorter. In our experience, 10mm either way isn't a huge deal. 20mm is where you start to notice things and going more travel is a little less noticeable than going less.
Offset:
Most suspension forks these days are available in 44mm or 51mm offset. We recommend a 44mm offset fork for all frame sizes of the Tall Tale, but a 51mm offset fork will also work just fine. A 51mm offset fork will provide slightly more active handling, as opposed to the stability and straightline confidence of a 44mm offset fork.
Fork offset is the difference in the location of the dropouts compared to the imaginary centerline that is projected out of the head tube. Offset determines the "trail number" on the bike, which is a key indicator of how a bike will handle. Theoretically this whopping 7mm of difference between 44mm-51mm allows us to build a bike with a longer front center while keeping the trail number in check (not too floppy, because we have to make the head tube angle slacker on long front center bikes in order to locate the handlebar in a comfortable riding position). That said, 7mm is probably also the amount of tire deflection you get just sitting on your mountain bike.
How is the Tall Tale for Bikepacking?
The Tall Tale is an amazing bike packer. The frame has plenty of room for a frame bag, triple-boss mounts under the down tube for extra water or gear storage, and 4 bosses on the seat stay to mount a rear rack if that is what you like.
What are the rear thru-axle dimensions?
The Tall Tale comes equipped with a rear thru-axle. If you want a replacement, here are the correct dimensions:
Rear: 178mm, 12 x 1.0
Customer Reviews
After riding this Tall Tale for a few months I can confidently say that this is an amazing trail bike! climbing up tight steep switchbacks seems to be it's happy place. It just goes where you point it. Descending is controlled and confidence inspiring. I built it with a 50mm rise bar to compensate for it's lower stack and my longer torso and arms. Love this bike for single-track/ hand-cut trails.
Longtime hardtail devotee...the Pipedream Moxie opened my eyes to what I could ride with a long, slack front end. It was a shredder and I cleared things I wouldn't have tried before but the geo was not optimal for getting to/from the trail and general riding. After trying unsuccessfully to find that balance on a few other frames, I scored with the Tall Tale. Most hardtail frames make you choose between being a good setup for going up/down the steeps or cranking out miles on the moderate stuff. This proves you can have your cake and eat it, too. There's enough slack to feel confident going downhill, but not so much that it compromises staying on your line while going up. I appreciate the more moderate seat tube angle, too. I ride 99% from home and a slightly more relaxed position makes the whole ride more enjoyable--not just the trail portion. The ride quality is nice, too. It's not the snappiest accelerator I've ridden in this style, but it's pretty darn good. Although this is not a light frame compared to carbon, the weight of the bike has never crossed my mind while riding. That's to say that I don't feel like it's holding me back in any way. Bottom line, I'm very pleased with everything this bike does. If it helps others decide on sizing, I'm 5'10" and chose the large over the medium, which is not a decision I would have considered had I not experienced the Moxie, but it is absolutely the right call if your riding involves steeps. I'm using a 35mm stem and feel the fit is right on. I also went with a 130mm fork, FWIW. The one thing I didn't care for is totally cosmetic--the color. My frame began life as a Pumpkin Pie, but a big nod to Ollie at Dark Matter Finishing for turning it into more of a sunflower.
Thanks so much for the review, Jason! Awesome to hear that you are loving the bike! That color is super cool too
Capable, comfortable and fun as hell. Pretty sure my short travel full sus is a goner.
I love this bike
Couldn’t be happier
Coming from a yeti sb100, could not recommend the Tall Tale more! My check list included a bike that I could service myself and clearance for large 29" tires. I have no doubt I could fit most 2.8s in this frame. Everything was great, easy build out. Only thing I wish it had was bottle cage screws that did not protrude into the frame and stop the dropper post from going in farther. If your thinking of buying this frame just do it. You will not regret it