Hello Dave Is a Solid Steel Machine Meant to Destroy Trails for a Bit Over $2K

If you've read the above statement, you understand that the bike before you is built out of nothing more than steel. Yes, steel, and before you go on about how this material may be outdated and all, since we were kids, bicycle building technologies and techniques have grown to put steel back on the proverbial map.

Material and techniques aside, a few properties of steel still make it a favored material for some bikes. One prominent feature of steel is that it will first bend on a molecular level before breaking, whereas aluminum and carbon fiber first break before a visible bend is witnessed. Did I mention that you can build some very affordable bikes from it?

For example, On-One's Hello Dave comes in with a price of 1,700 GBP (2,225 USD at current exchange rates), and once you start hearing about the sort of gear you'll find on it, you may end up asking yourself if the manufacturer is making any profit on the transaction. But, before we get there, let's take a look at what On-One did with the frame.

Great, it's steel, but what else? It's double-butted steel. And then the crew also composed a sort of geometry that looks weird for sure. However, there is a method to On-One's madness. For the medium bike, you'll find a headtube angle of 62 degrees, so rather slack. But to counteract you leaning far back on the bike, a seat tube angle of 77 degrees is in place. Coupled with a reach of 48 cm (18.9 in) and a wheelbase of 129.6 cm (51 in), you should be getting a feel for how you'll be sitting on this bike.

Adding even more value to this bike is all the secondary gear. For example, the drivetrain is tuned to just 12 speeds and is provided by Sram with components from their Eagle lineup. This includes an SX chain, a GX crankset, a PG-1210 cassette with 11-50T, and a GX rear derailleur. Sram continues their presence on Hello Dave with hydraulic disc brakes clamping down on Avid Centerline rotors with 160 mm (6.3 in) and 180 mm (7.1 in) diameters. Just so you know, I've seen setups like this on bikes twice this price.

Since Dave is a hardtail mountain goat, one component that is essential is the fork. Since Sram is the manufacturer responsible for most of the bike's inner workings, it makes sense to continue with the addition of a RockShox Pike Select fork with 150 mm (5.91 in) of travel. That's all tuned to rock 29 in tires.

Speaking of tires, this is another component that you'll rely on for vibrational dampening, and a pair of Panaracer FireSport with 2.35 in cross-section should do just fine. If you're not happy with this feature, you'll have money left over to pick up the rubbers you prefer.

Even though On-One didn't take the time to prepare the frame for internal cable routing, they're still keeping up with modern trends by making Hello Dave dropper post compatible. With this gear and a steel frame, a medium-sized trinket weighs around 14.5 kg (31.9 lbs).

As for On-One, what is there to say? This crew is run by Planet X, a bicycle and component manufacturer that's been around for more than thirty years. That's the sort of experience that's poured into each Hello Dave. Something to consider if you're looking for a new MTB that won't leave you questioning your hobbies.