2012 Niner Jet9 RDO Medium Available!

These come in SO rarely for open stock, and for good reason: they are back-logged about 5 months!  With that said, this one was ordered for a customer though we were able to snag him one a few months ago, which puts this one available for purchase.  MSRP is $2599 with the custom-valved Fox RP23, but if you want to do a complete build we'll knock it out of the park for you.

Don't miss this one, Tang won't be around long!  If this were a large, it'd be mine.

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.

NEW BIKE DAY! Niner Air9 with Shimano XT

This is starting to become a recurring theme around the shop, and I couldn't be happier.  Niner bikes have been rolling out of the shop with regularity and each one keeps getting better.

For this build we went to our go-to component gruppo, Shimano XT.  Performance, looks, and weight, XT has it going on.  It's not quite as light as some of the other gruppos on the market, but with brakes that cannot be matched and smooth shifting as good or better than anything else available, a price that's perfectly competitive, and good looks to match, it's the gruppo we've used as our standard to which other gruppos are measured.

Beautiful build, eh?  The white/raw color combo on the new Air9 PF30 is incredible and really draws a lot of attention.  No denying this thing looks good.

NoTubes Arch EX stock wheelset is a great value and adds a great amount of stiffness over the Crest wheelset while being only slightly heavier.  The big bonus: NoTubes has the best bead hook out there allowing just about any tire to be easily set up tubeless.

The Rock Shox SID fork used on this bike isn't the high-zoot XX World Cup version we've been using so much lately.  This SID RL still has very smooth travel, uncompromising light weight, and looks great with this frame.

Sag measurements printed on the stanchions make setup easier than any fork out there.

XT cranks have legendary Shimano front shifting.  Also legendary from Shimano is not being the lightest, but not sacrificing stiffness to anyone.

Shimano XT brakes have more power and better lever feel than any brake on the market today.  They aren't the lightest, but they do perform the best.

Shimano ICE Technology rotors keep things cool and performance fade-free no matter how you ride.

Looks are personal, but damn these levers sure are sexy.  The single-lever braking can't be beat.

No mistaking the model of this frame!  Niner never wants to leave anyone guessing, but most of their graphics tend to be subtle, or at least in small numbers.

Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 3

In this installment of my Lumberjack 100 follow-up, I'm going to cover the final bike setup I used.  Having ridden the course last year, I knew it was pretty smooth single track, but last year I didn't even manage 50 miles coming off of a cold.  I decided a hard tail was still the way to go, even though I was spending 8+ hours on the bike.

Looking back, a very efficient full-suspension bike probably would have been a better choice for me, but not by much.  The hard tail offered incredible climbing, but a full-suspension frame would have offered a bit more comfort on the last lap.  I did lose some time on the last lap from cramping legs, so I'm split on whether or not I could have made up for some of that lost time with more comfort.

Regardless, here's the bike from my 2012 Lumberjack 100 campaign:

Niner Air9 Carbon RDO frame, large, licorice.  PressFit 30 carbon bottom bracket, Rock Shox SID XX World Cup fork with 15mm Maxle.  This frame and fork combo is as light and stiff as anyone could hope for right now.

New ENVE 29er XC carbon rims came in slightly lighter than their claimed weight and much stiffer than anyone could have convinced me of.  After getting used to riding light alloy rims built with light spokes, it's amazing how stiff a set of 29er wheels can be when made from carbon.  Sapim CX-Ray spokes were used not because they are bladed, but because they offered the best platform for building and keeping the weight low.

American Classic hubs were chosen for their light weight and adaptability.  These wheels will most likely see some cyclocross duty and the front hub can easily be adapted from 15mm thru axle to a standard QR.

The tires may or may not have been the best choice, but I went with Schwalbe Furious Fred 29x2.0 tires.  They are shockingly light, hundreds of grams lighter than most other 29er tires, and they roll as fast as a CX file tread.  The down side was the low-volume casing which didn't offer the kind of float a 2.1 or 2.25 tire would have given.

Crank Brothers Egg Beater 11 Ti pedals were chosen again for their light weight.  Their ability to clear mud is great in cyclocross, but in a super-dry cross country race that didn't matter at all.

My favorite saddle of all time, but custom.  Fizik's custom program is awesome when you get in on it, it's quick and doesn't add an extraordinary cost to the saddle.  The Aliante has made it's way onto all of my bikes at this point, and even after 8+ hours in the saddle I didn't have a single saddle sore, no numbness at all, and no chafing.

The only cage anyone should trust, a King stainless.  King Ti is a nice touch, but it doesn't save much weight at all and gets really expensive.  The King stainless cage has a classic look and at $20 it has no match.  I've also never lost a single bottle when using one, which is the most important aspect.

Thomson X4 130x-10 stem has made it's way onto a number of my Niner bikes.  Puts me in a riding position I feel powerful and in control of the bike.  I also like knowing that it'll survive any situation I find myself in when on the trail.

Rock Shox has an excellent hydraulic lockout as part of the SID XX line.  I was skeptical at first, wondering why I'd need something other than a cable-actuated lockout, but once I used it I understood.  Smooth, light action to open your fork or lock it out.

Shimano brakes, XT to be specific currently.  They just can't be beat, and I've tried a lot of disc brakes.  Shimano has no equal in power, modulation, or ease of set-up.

Shimano XTR rear derailleur.  After 8+ hours and countless shifts in the sand, it still worked perfectly.  I didn't miss a single shift all day and after a quick wipe-down with a wet rag the derailleur looked brand new.

There you have it, my 2012 Lumberjack 100 race rig.  I'm not sure what 2013 will see me riding, maybe a Jet9 RDO or a Felt Edict 29?  We'll see.  If my fitness comes in better next year than this year, I'll probably go full-suspension.  Use my fitness to get me up the hills and let the extra squish get me downhill faster.  If my fitness comes in the same or less, I'll probably use a hard tail and hope it climbs fast enough to make up for that lack of fitness.

Welcome To My World....

I have seen some of the beautiful views my friends have posted from their offices downtown. Perched in a high rise, overlooking the lake or the loop, through huge windows sitting in fancy office chairs.

Here I sit, on the ground floor, on a Park Tools stool, at a desk I built. But I have an incredible view of two custom Independent Fabrication frames I designed, a Lynskey Cooper and a Ridgeline monstercross, a Boo cross frame, a handful of Niner bikes and frames, and the first publicly available Cielo Sportif Racer SE.

It doesn't get any better than this.

The Weekend Office

This weekend was sweet.  Saturday was a nice day at the shop, steady and smooth.  Everyone working, but under control.  Not so busy that we can't really take care of people the way we want to, yet busy enough to keep us from standing around.

Then came Sunday.  With expected temperatures in the high-90's and a lot of miles to log on the trails, I stocked up with a ton of fluids.  My bike was set to only carry two bottles, but I had two more Iron Cycles bottles as well as 1 liter of water and 32oz of Gatorade in my car.

I set out with Derrick who was riding his new Niner Jet9 RDO.  This was only his second or third ride on it, and having a new baby at home his training has been limited, but once the trails get twisty that dude is fast.  He's been raving about the Jet9 RDO and how fast it is in rough stuff, but watching him carve was impressive.

Within a couple of miles I knew I couldn't take his lines.  My Air9 RDO is sick-fast, but it won't eat up the bumps the same way his Jet9 RDO will, so I have to duck and weave a lot more where Derrick can just point and shoot.

We ran into Ted Burger and David Pilotto about 20 minutes in and did some miles with them.  Cemetary Loop and heading North-East with those guys was a blast.

After we had knocked out an hour, we shot back to the car for more fluid.  We ran into one of Derrick's friends who gave us a nice tour of some new trails I haven't seen before, then we hit Swallow Cliffs.  8 miles of gravel with a few nice climbs.  We hammered those, rode a few more miles, then it was time for Derrick to depart.

Back to the cars and we have over 3 hours done.  I make my way over to Speedway for a refill on water and Gatorade as well as some Gummy-Savers.  I'm feeling not so bad, and head back to the trails.  Another 12-14 miles and it's time to get off the trails.  I start to really feel it on the climbs and catch a glimpse of some goosebumps.  Not good.  Too much heat, and even though I have gotten about 120-140 oz o fluids in, I'm not sure I have gotten enough.

Just shy of 60 total miles, 50 of it on single-track, and I'm cashed.  Here's the cockpit that was staring at me for about 5 hours:

I'm loving this Air9 RDO.  Coming off of the EMD9, the bottom bracket stiffness doesn't seem like a huge jump, but front-end stiffness is noticeably better.  The frame is also significantly lighter, something like 550g lighter (1780g for the EMD9, 1230g for the Air9 RDO, both weights include all hardware).

A real nice, in-depth review is coming sooner rather than later on the Air9 RDO, stay tuned....

On Test: 2012 Niner AIR9 Carbon RDO!

We were high on the list for this bike, but since we had the parts and needed only the frame we ended up getting bumped a couple times.  No problems, though, because she's here now and she's beautiful.

Out of the box we weighed everything that was different from the EMD9 this is replacing.  When going from the EMD9 you not only swap to a carbon frame, but the headset is now integrated instead of a Zero Stack pressfit.  Honestly, I dig the pressfit headsets, but it's incredibly easy to change bearings with an integrated headset, so I'm not too broken up about it.  Also, the integrated FSA headset is roughly half the weight of the Cane Creek pressfit that was in the EMD9.

Also different from the EMD9 is the bottom bracket standard.  The EMD9 uses a standard English-threaded bottom bracket where the AIR9 Carbon RDO uses a PressFit30 bottom bracket.  This opens up the possibility to use lighter BB30-compatible cranks and larger tube junctions.

We'll have a first-ride review coming very soon, as well as apples-to-apples weight comparisons and some build notes coming very soon.  Stay tuned....

In Stock: Niner Air9 Alloy!

These things are starting to roll in, and out, of the shop on a pretty regular basis.  Medium is still extremely hard to come by, but we're starting to get some large frames in stock, just waiting to be built for you!

We'll include a new Shimano XT or SRAM X.9 rear derailleur with each frame purchase on in-stock models.

Current stock:

AIR9 Alloy - Tang/Black - Large
AIR9 Alloy - White/Raw - Large
JET9 RDO - Black - Large
AIR9 RDO - Black - Large

Need a large frame?  We can help!  Medium and small frames coming soon.....hopefully.....