Keepin' It (Real) Short

There is a new frame in the house. An Origin 8 Scout frame is in for review on Twenty Nine Inches. This is a budget frame, with a MSRP of $200.00. (I've seen on-line retailers selling this frame for significantly less than that though)

It is steel, of course, and yes- it is heavy. You are not going to "get it all" for $200.00 or less, but this frame does have some interesting bits. This is the second generation of the Scout, the first was flat black. This one has nice sparkles. The powdercoat looks sharp.

Some folks are really stoked about this frame since you can set the rear wheel up to get a sub-17 inch chain stay measurement. That is really short for a 29"er.

As you can see, the plate style drop outs are set up with a derailleur hangar for geared set ups and also feature built in tensioner screws. The disc brake mount is slotted to accommodate your chain tensioning for single speed use, or if you move the axle for a different wheel base setting on a geared set up.

Okay, here's the feature I am excited about. Removable cable guides. These are made in aluminum and screwed into the frame with Allen head bolts. Yes......the frame tubing itself is threaded! There is no brazed in inserts going on here. So, yeah......the tubing is thick, and that's where the weight is.

Still, I think this is a cool feature that some other companies should look into. (Although having removable hydro brake guides on a disc only frame is kinda weird, I'll admit that!)

The original Scout frame was criticized for its minimal tire clearances. This frame features a wider, (73mm) bottom bracket shell and is touted as being more accommodating to wider 29"er tires. Hmm.........I'm a bit skeptical just from my eying this up, but it could maybe squeeze in some 2.4"ers on narrower rims. We'll see.

So, I'll be doing this up as a single speed and more reports will be showing up on Twenty Nine Inches. Stay tuned.

And that's it for today. Short, sweet, and real.