I wanted a modern trail hard tail mountain bike that would still take racks and tow a trailer. I have kids, you see... so I sold my full suspension bike last spring and I picked a Salsa Timberjack NX in 2018. It’s modern geometry and can take racks, droppers, and different kinds of hubs. That model in particular had a QR 141 hub so it can clamp a trailer hitch like normal, but with option parts from Salsa it can take thru axle 142 or 148 hubs. It carries a standard rack but awkwardly, the Salsa racks are better for it. So I barely ever used it with a kid seat like I intended, also because they’re twins so the trailer works better. Salsa is sold at REI and they ship to store for assembly. Prices went up on Timberjacks this model year due to SRAM Eagle and dropper posts.

I also compared Surly Karate Monkey... it was rigid plus last year, but I just missed the orange color I wanted, only black was in stock. This year it has a suspension fork, a good one. Surly Krampus contended but couldn’t take the rack over the huge wheel. Also shopped Trek Roscoe, limited in hubs but takes standard racks, and Marin Pine Mountain. The Roscoe was out of stock nationwide but I confirmed on a nearly same or identical X-Caliber frame the rack and hitch would work normally. I did test ride the X Caliber but it felt sort of old fashioned with its shorter handlebars and longer stem. The Pine Mountain wouldn’t take a dropper and carried its rack pretty high.

The common thread here is these are all very versatile frames that can be 29ers or 27.5+ and built for either grinding or shredding, but they are all 100% mountain bikes. The modern take on a 90’s MTB.