As a devout hardtail fan, the dream frame will always be titanium: a material that lasts superbly well, and allows the framebuilder to design in pretty much whatever properties they want. If ever you wanted a totally custom bike that would last a lifetime, you'd make it from titanium. But at the moment there is a quiet surge of 'budget' off-the-shelf titanium hardtails appearing. I say 'budget,' because whilst the Morning Glory is a bargain by titanium standards, £750 is still a lot by most people's idea of a hardtail frame.

Casting an Eye

So what are first impressions like? Well, running an glance over it in the garage, it's obvious that the bike's built for taking a bit of stick: a brace of gussets and transfer plates at the head tube tell you that the kid gloves can be left at home. There are a couple of minor oddities about the frame: the fully-welded transfer plates and the rear-facing seat tube clamp both seem to go slightly against the ideal, but in practice I suspect neither are of any consequence at all. Other notable features are the slightly oversized tubes of the main triangle and the high junction of the seat stays at the seat tube, which is a matter of taste.

Turning the Pedals

My test loop for this bike was a local route on the South Downs, a couple of hours long with very little in the way of big drops or proper technical riding (try and find me a big rock round here). So maybe not the place for the Morning Glory to show it's best - but it's all I've got for now, so it'll have to do. The first climb is on tarmac and the first trait of this frame is immediately apparent: It is very, very direct under power. It feels like climbing on a stiff aluminium back end - exactly what's wanted for climbing smooth stuff, though it gives me reservations about how it'll feel off-road.

On the Downs, it's suddenly obvious that the steering on this bike is quick. In part thanks to the 80mm stem and Race Face Prodigy bars, which are slightly narrower than I'd normally use. But the head angle also feels very 'XC' - enough to make me wonder what happens to it when you start using up all 5" of travel.

The thought of the head angle leads me instantly to realise why this bike feels a little strange to me: the seat angle. 73.5 degrees is slightly steeper than normal, and it's surprisingly noticeable. The bike feels very short from saddle to bars, and the angle of my legs seems rather straight.

These angles lend a slightly odd feel to the bike. It climbs like a goat, make no mistake, especially when seated where the steep seat angle really plays its trump card. Fast downhills are more of a mixed bag: When you stand up on the Glory - and I don't know how the seat angle can affect you when you stand up, but I can't think what else is causing this - you feel very forward on it, despite the shortish stem. I like my weight a bit forward much of the time, but this really does put you on the front; the rear wheel was quite skittish at points. Together with the fast steering and the short feel of the bike, the net effect is that it's - how to put this? - nervous. This isn't as such a bad thing, it's something I'd get used to and maybe come to love, but the Glory is not a bike for a novice rider. If you're going to thrash this thing and get the most of it, you'll need to know what you're doing - but it will pay back when you get it right. Being so far forward, I'd suggest it would benefit from a highly directional and aggressive front tyre, rather than the Continental Verticals it was wearing at the time. You have no choice but to corner aggressively on this bike, and it needs something that will bite hard.

The Build

For what it's worth, the build of the bike was probably fairly typical of its target audience. A Fox TALAS RLC provided the 5" of travel (I did wind the fork right down to its 85mm setting but it was as if I'd stuck a BMX wheel in the front of the bike - not recommended), Hope M4s served as anchors, steering was courtesy of Race Face Prodigy, Transmission was a mix of XTR, XT and Deore, headset and hubs were Hope and rims were F219s. A typical hard-riding setup with a posh fork, basically. I swapped the SPDs for my flats, and used my Roox seatpost with Flite saddle as the Race Face XY was just a wee bit short.

It's put me off M4s: the front dragged continually (and usually with an annoyingly incessant squeal), whilst the rear with its 145mm rotor was if anything less powerful than a decent V-brake. I'll stick with my Avids. And the fork was unimpressive too, despite fiddling with the damping dials - but then suspension takes time to set up, and a two-hour ride hardly seems a fair basis on which to judge it.

But enough of the kit - I'm not reviewing that, other than to comment that with this build, the bike didn't feel particularly spry, something which I suspect is largely attributable to the rims. Anyway, back to the frame.

Lumpy Bumpy

During the ride I gradually eased off the tyre pressure - I run mine fairly soft normally - until it got to the point I'm used to, where the tyre bottoms out when I go over a sharp bump while seated. All this was in an attempt to bring some compliance into the back end. But to my surprise, it didn't. Bearing in mind that this bike was kitted out with the same tyre as my Inbred, and the actual post and saddle from it, the back end was noticeably harsh. Looking at the frame, three factors may well be contributing: first is the longer seat tube (19.5" compared to the 18" on the Inbred - but remember the bikes are almost identical in length so this is a fair comparison) which of course means less seat post flex. Second is the high meeting point of the seat stays, which may have a minor bracing effect on the seat tube extension, though I doubt it's significant. And third is that steep seat tube angle again: the steeper the angle, the less flex in the post. Of course fourthly, the seat stays may be quite overbuilt, such as the chain stays feel. But whatever the prime cause is, you certainly get a kick up the arse on this thing.

Bringing it Home

So at the end of the ride, my thinking was that this is a bike for people who want a hardtail that climbs superbly. On technical stuff, the forward position and steep angles are absolutely perfect, even with the short stem, whilst the stiffness of the frame gives instant response under power. It's hard to think of an obvious improvement in terms of climbing. Yes, that's with a five inch fork. You can have that travel and motor up hills.

On the descents, the bike is certainly very lively. Given my height (a sniff under 6' 5"), an extra 10-20mm on the stem and an extra inch or two on the bars would help. The head angle is great, although I remain curious about what happens to it on trails which constantly soak up the full five inches of travel.

For untechnical cross-country work, the steering is superb, livening up trails and giving pin-sharp handling. The seat angle, however, reduces reach (fixed with a longer stem I guess), and the stiff rear end contributes further to keeping you wide awake on the trail - this isn't a bike I'd pick for a long-distance ride. On singletrack, however, the bike turns instantly into corners - again suggesting that it needs a more directional front tyre.

The Conclusion

Overall, despite the fact that it's not my cup of tea, I have to say this is a superb and quite unusual bike, but it's carved itself a definite niche. It's easy to see that if it matches what you want from a frame, you will love it to death. If you're looking for the magical compliance of titanium, or a bike with conventional geometry, look elsewhere (with my height I don't think I could live with the seat angle, nor the unforgiving rear triangle). If, however, you want to be first up the hill and excited on the way down, take a look at the Morning Glory. It may just be what you've been waiting years for.

Big thanks to Mike at Dialled Bikes for letting me test this bike.

And so to the caveats. I didn't have much time with this bike - enough to work out what was going on, what it was good and not so good at - but not enough to become accustomed to its idiosyncracies. And, as a glance in my garage shows, I'm probably a bit set in my ways in that I at least think I know the sort of handling that I like. Moreover, some of the things I didn't like about the bike aren't helped by the fact that I'm so tall - those of you who bear less of a resemblance to an orang-utan may not find the shortness an issue. So by all means take what you will with a pinch of salt - I've tried to be as objective as I can and factor out my own riding style as much as possible, but hey - I'm just a normal guy who owns a few bikes he likes: I don't review bikes often enough to be able to adjust instantly.