Tall Tale - Steel Hardtail Mountain Bike

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. A Sweet Spot, if you will, for having fun out on the trails.

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.