This Just In: Felt's 2013 Nine Line Up!

In 2005 I decided to give mountain biking a try.  I built my own bike for the experience, but within a handful of rides I realized the bike I built was too small.  When I started the search I was intrigued by 29ers, but at the time there just wasn't much available.  Tire selection was slim, wheel selection was slim, there were only a couple of forks out there to buy.  I made the plunge and picked up a Salsa, and from that day I've never gone back.

29ers offer the ability to roll over objects better than a 26er, they seem to fit me better at 6'1" because I feel like I am sitting "in" the bike rather than "on top" of it, they offer increased traction, etc etc.  But in the last 7 years 29ers have come a long way, rather than being a niche they now dominate the XC market in the midwest, and for good reason.  The frames have gotten lighter and stiffer, the geometry has been dialed to make 29ers more agile, component selection was exploded, the list goes on.

2010 brought a number of new models to market, the first one I was really excited about was the Niner Air9 Carbon.  It offered light weight, incredible stiffness, unmatched (even to today) drivetrain flexibility (single speed, BB30, PressFit30, GXP, BB90, etc), and all of the "new" mountain bike standards like a tapered steerer tube.

For 2012 Niner introduced the Air9 Carbon RDO which was a massaged version of the Air9 Carbon but shaved weight in a number of places for increased performance.

Felt saw what was happening in the market and for 2013 is not just meeting the expectations of XC racers everywhere but introducing a few new things as well.  The flagship Nine FRD frame comes in at a staggering $2900 but offers a claimed weight of 900g for the frame and utilizes TeXtreme carbon borrowed from Formula 1.

Felt was missing the boat with their previous Nine compared to the competition, even though it was a very nice frame.  It's a sell that the old frame didn't have a tapered steerer tube or oversized bottom bracket but still had a price tag rivaling the most expensive frames.

This new FRD frame, at 900g, is going to blow people away.  The best carbon money can buy, the best engineering available to our industry, and Felt has turned their F1 into a mountain bike.  This thing should be a rocket!

Niner carbon hard tail frames only gave me two real headaches: rear mud clearance and cable routing.  If Felt can nail the geometry Niner has gotten so good at, their new frame will kill Niner.  Felt's clearance around their tire is MASSIVE and comes without the "mud shelf" Niner carbon frames have.

Regarding cable routing, mechanics, wrap your head around this: fully lined and guided internal routing for front and rear derailleurs!  You riders may not care about this much, but when I spend an hour routing housing through an Air9 Carbon I tell myself I'll never do it again!  Let's hope this routing is as easy as Felt is making it sound!

I wish I could give you a first-hand ride report.  Our Felt rep said he spent some time on one and the new Nine was good enough to get him to forget he was riding a 29er, which is a huge compliment coming from a die-hard 26er rider.  It's only a matter of time before some of these new Nine frames and bikes are kicking around the store!

More info can be found here and here.

Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 2

Part 2 is going to follow through a little photo montage of the weekend.  There are huge chunks missing since I wasn't taking a ton of pictures while racing (duh), but let me share a few things:

First, the pre-ride.  This time I DID have my phone with me to snap a couple of shots of the course.  Much of it looked just like this.  There were a few miles of sandy fire roads, and a TON of singletrack.

My wife was kind enough to grab a couple shots of Kenda course tape.  What we do without pictures of course tape!?

We missed some shots of the mass-start, which I can't help but to assume was fun to watch.  400 or so people buzzing down the road on knobbies at 25+ mph had to be kind of neat.

Luckily there were a few shots snapped coming in after lap 1.  Think it was a but dry and dusty out there?

Here's Rob coming in after lap 2.  Still in good spirits, it's all about getting out for lap 3.

Barry Wicks is a nice dude, but when someone is able to win a 100 mile MTB race in under 6:30 and have a smile on their face at the end I just want to punch them.

And then there's me, rumbling through the finish at 8:27.  Exhausted, but I had a great time up there.  I'll be back again.

Niner Carbon Air9 RDO - FIRST!

You may have seen this first on Bikerumor.com, but our order was in first.  Yes, that's right, there's only one shop that can claim getting the first Air9 RDO, and that's us.  A large, licorice version of the complete bike with XTR, American Classic 29 Race wheels, SID World Cup XX fork, and a Niner cockpit.

If you want it, speak up.  Only 50 are being made in the first run and they're all sold.  Demand is expected to be like the Jet9 RDO, which means the wait will be looooong......

Rear brake mount has been moved inside the stays.  This is said to allow Niner to use less material to reinforce the stays, reducing weight.

The CYA bottom bracket system was left behind on this model and instead uses SRAMs PF30 system.  30mm spindles are lighter and stiffer.  The system also allows for a full carbon bottom bracket shell, saving more weight.

Niner has done away with the previous Air9 Carbon cable routing and instead uses a full housing run.  You may not care about this, but I am thrilled.  After having built a dozen or so Air9 Carbon frames, this is HUGE.

This is the color of our forthcoming Air9 RDO, LICORICE!  While the green is something sexy, green just doesn't work for me.  I'd love to see this thing in Tang eventually.