The Genesis TARN, the Hornet ;)

The Genesis Tarn, in 2018 frame set flavor, easy to recognize with it's full carbon rigid fork and revamped frame bases and distinctive colors

Made of Mjölnir steel, here's the description from Genesis : 

Mjölnir
(700-900 MPa)

AKA ‘Thor’s Hammer’ and pronounced ‘Myol-n(ee)r‘ (rolls off the tongue, eh?). Genesis’ double-butted, cold-drawn, seamless, Taiwanese chromoly tubeset also goes by the aliases of 4130, Cr-Mo and Chromo. It’s a like-for-like replacement for other, identical branded chromoly tubing and ultimately means a saving can be passed onto you via either a healthy price drop or a little more room for up-speccing elsewhere without sacrificing performance. The starting point for many a tough, affordable steel frame.

It's a very modern MTB frame, with many refinements :  

Boost oversize axles (15x110 front, 12x148 rear)
29 and 27.5+ wheel capable (up to 3" !!!)
Reinforced rear derailleur hanger
Internally actuated adjustable seat post compatible
Tapered head tube

But with nice standard features : 

BSA threaded bottom bracket
External hoses and housings paths
Headset with external cups

It's a very good balance of stiffness, comfort and durability.

The front rigid fork it's quite weird in 2019 ??? But it's also a good way to : 

Save money
Save weight
Save (service) time 

Also, I like to ride different ;)

And comfort can be achieved with the larger tires, I found two nice pairs of wheels for my Hornet : 

Classical 29", fitted with 2.1 o 2.25" tires, nice from gravel roads to easy tracks

Large 27.5+, fitted with 2.6 or 2.8" tires for tougher tracks (can go up to 3" but I find it difficult, at least visually)

The 29" wheels are Shimano SLX Hubs paired with Mavic XC421 (21mm internal width)

The 27.5+ wheels are SunRinglé Duroc 40 (36mm internal width)

For the transmission, I benefit from a very nice Deore XT setup I found for cheap : 

2x11 setup, with 26x36 front and rear 11-42 or 11-46 cassettes

Nothing to say about ... well, it's great, effective, very dependable and serious, everything you could expect from Shimano.

An important "detail", that is commonly a source of trouble is the bottom bracket. The Tarn being smartly made with traditional threaded BSA BB, the obvious choice is a nice reinforced one. But stop thinking about spending hundreds, look thoroughly at Shimano's catalogue, and you'll find in the Saint's line the BB80 : 

As you can see, the BB80 has a double sized thread on the crank set side, where's the major torque is applied. That way, when you set it, with the adequate spacers, you still have plenty of threads in your frame !

Finding nice brakes was a bit more tricky.

I'm about 200 pounds and I would like something very capable, and lurking in the different catalogues I finally found the best bargain, the Shimano MT520, a cheap version of the 4 pistons XT (made for cheap e-bikes that needs that extra stopping power).

The MT520 calipers gets the same frame pads as other Shimano 4 pistons, but at about half the price or even lower !

The levers are the MT501, with the same efficiency as the more expansive ones, with the servowave master cylinder, metal lever, you just get rid of the quick adjusters. Not a deal breaker for me.

To get the best versatility and crossing capability, I set a KS eTen adjustable seat post, actuated trough a simple lever, there's enough housings hanging around for me yet, with 100mm of travel, I find it very effective for tricky descents.

At least, I had to set a saddle on it, even being a Brooks fan, leather won't be at is best being regularly wet ...

Also, being a rigid bike, and maybe not used for very long trips, a more comfortable saddle could be a nice choice.

I ended with a SMP TRK Gel, a definitely comfortable and safe saddle.

The design is quite weird, but the result is great !