The Nordest Sardinha 2 is the subtle evolution of an affordable off-road bikepacking project that bike builder Pedro Jerónimo has been refining for several years. At first glance, it’s a simple rigid steel mountain bike with room for some massive tires. But from its production debut in 2018, to this update that offers attractive pre-order pricing, the Sardinha geometry & carrying capacity makes it a versatile trail bike that is just waiting for you to throw some heavy bags over it to set off on an adventure…
Nordest Sardinha 2 steel 27.5+/29er MTB bikepacking bike
Based in their Portuguese roots where sardine (sardinha) merchants who would roam from the coast up to villages in the harsh Nordeste region selling fish out of the saddlebags on their pack animals, comes the Nordest mountain bikepacking bike.
Designed to be loaded down with gear and able to cross harsh terrain, the new Sardinha 2 gets more burly for loaded backcountry trail riding.
What’s New in Sardinha 2.0?
While the bright yellow Sardinha 2 looks much like Nordest’s original bikepacking mountain bike, down to the sardine-inspired logos, it is more adventure-ready than ever. The biggest capability upgrade is actually the addition of gussets under both the top & down tubes at the headtube. While Nordest sells a rigid fork option with the Sardinha, the bike is suspension corrected for a 100mm fork, and approved for use with a 120mm fork. Nordest has seen many Sardinha riders looking to get up to some aggressive trail riding with the bike, whether or not on loaded bikepacking trips, so those little reinforcements broaden the bike’s off-road capabilities for just a few extra grams.
Beyond more burly suspension fork possibilities, the new Nordest Sardinha 2 can just haul more, as well. Especially useful for those building up with their own suspension fork (or the new Lauf fork option), the Sardinha 2 adds an extra 3-pack of anything cage mounts to both seatstays now too. That adds up to four 3-pack sets of mounts with those above & below the downtube, plus a seattube pair of bottle bosses, toptube bag bosses, and mounts for both a rack & full coverage fenders in the rear. If you get the steel fork too, you add fender, rack or low-rider rack mounts, and a 3-pack of anything cage mounts on each leg as well.
One last update, internal dropper post routing, for when your bikepacking adventure rides get especially steep. Or in reality, Nordest acknowledges that most rides aren’t loaded bikepacking rides. And every mountain biker now knows how nice it is to have a dropper on pretty much any trail ride.
Geometry & Tech details
Geometry hasn’t changed since the Nordest Sardinha’s debut, which probably isn’t a bad thing as it already had an expedition-ready, modern trail inspired long & slack setup – designed around a 70mm stem.
The slack 67° headtube, steep 74.5° seat angle & short 430mm chainstays are stable in rough terrain, yet still fit up to 27.5×3″ or 29×2.6″ wide monster bikepacking tires.
The made-in-Taiwan double-butted 4130 chromoly frame gets Boost spacing, interchangeable rear alloy dropouts, threaded BB, and features full-length external cable routing. It uses a straight 44mm headtube to fit either the 1.125″ steel fork or modern tapered suspension forks with an external lower headset cup.
Claimed frame weight increases about 10% to 2750g (size M/L) with the added reinforcements and extra braze-ons.
Nordest Sardinha 2 – Pricing & Availability
Nordest Cycles has sold-out all of the originals, and has now opened up pre-orders of the new Sardinha 2 to share some savings. Three general options are available…
Get the frame only for 500€ (to save 75€),…
Get the frameset for 644€ with frame, fork & headset (save 155€), or…
A frame+Lauf set for 1414€ with a 60mm travel Lauf TR Boost fork (150€ savings). You can even pre-order the rigid for 145€.
All frames/forks are available in either glossy black or yellow paint jobs, with sardine-inspired graphics. Pre-order now for August 2020 delivery.
