Mountain Biking - Longest head tube in a xc type bike.

Who makes an xc type fs bike with a tall head tube? Don't need a lot of travel, 100 or 120mm will be fine.
I saw a geo chart for K2 Base 3.0 showing a 200 mm head tube but can't find much info about the bikes. Anything else out there? tia

How tall are you? What size bike are you looking for? Why do you need an extra-long headtube?

Head tube length is not very indicative of the stack height on MTBs due to headtube angles and axle-to-crown fork length variation driven by fork travel and especially wheel size. (Obviously, 29er fork > 650b fork > 26" fork.) These 3 things vary far more than road bikes, which you can tell a lot about based on HT and eTT length.

The biggest MTB I have seen in person was a 6'6" guy riding a 23" Trek Superfly 100. It was a massive bike, but it fit him. I'm only 6'0" for reference. Looking at Trek's site, I now see that bike has a 14.5cm head tube.

Anyway, I agree with Grimlock. I think you could be chasing a ghost. Have you been to a shop and ridden 21" - 23" bikes?

Kona, in the mid-90s.

I had Litesapeed build me a custom Pisgah with a 160 head tube. With an uncut 80mm Fox fork, I'm left with 1" of spacers.

I'm only about 6'2" but have long legs for my height. I use uncut steer tubes on my road bikes and the head tubes are 220mm on both bikes.
I had 2 hardtail mtbs and they both had long head tubes but that was long ago.

I rode a 1998 K2 for 9 years or so until the frame broke, then I bought a cheap KHS. I have about 60mm of spacers under the stem and it could be even higher to be more comfortable. The steer tube is about 270mm.

I think Specialized had a 180mm head tube on the Epic in 2011 but I never got a chance to ride one.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u308/bigjohn53/019.jpg

How about using 3" riser bars?

How about using 3" riser bars?

It's crossed my mind. The KHS needs some new parts and I was thinking of a new bike instead of spending money on the old one which doesn't fit quite like I like.

35 degree stem: http://www.origin-8.com/?page_id=91&short_code=Pro+Pulsion+Universal+Riser&prod_model_uid=7241&cl1=STEMS

Stem Raiser: http://www.origin-8.com/?page_id=91&short_code=X-Tra+Lift+Stem+Riser&prod_model_uid=5356&cl1=STEM+PART+%2F+RISER+%2F+ADPTR

The pic of your bike does help. I would not use a steerer extender on a MTB. (I wouldn't on any bike, but especially a MTB which will be crashed by nature.) A +35 stem doesn't help much when the stem is super short like that.

I would say that you're far enough outside of the bell curve that really you have only two options:

- increase flexibility
always a good thing, for bicycling and general well-being, but it takes a lot of work.

- have a custom frame built
unfortunately, there aren't any FS custom frames that are affordable, that I've ever heard of. tsunami is making hardtail 29ers starting at $800, but I'm guessing you won't want to give up the shock. and some custom jobs end up a nightmare...

I agree on the extender, too scary. The stem is actually 100mm, hard to tell in that pic.
The flexibility isn't going to improve, had enough back issues already.
I thought about a custom steel hardtail but I do love the rear shock.

I know the trend is short head tubes and the stupid frames just get longer when you go from large to x large. I demoed a Rize 120 and I thought it was a great bike except the bars were too low and it's more of a hassle with the Lefty. I was on an XL and later I found the Large has the same head tube.

I guess I'll try to find a K2 Base 3.0 to sit on and see if the 200mm head tube does what I think it should. Don't mind switching parts if the frame and rear suspension can last a while.

I really haven't looked into 29ers.

btw thanks for the thoughts and understanding. I've had trouble fitting road bikes for years until I figured out the geometry I like. Most people don't believe everyone can't just grab a bike off the shelf.