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.

On Test: Crank Brothers Egg Beater 11 Titanium Pedals

After spending a few years riding Egg Beaters I decided to give SPD's a try.  I had to return a couple pairs of Egg Beaters after breaking them, so I thought a change was in order.  Sure, Egg Beater pedals are light, and they shed mud incredibly well, but if they break in a race neither of those things matter.

When changing to SPD, I saw no reason to start mid-level and went straight to XTR.  They offered a secure engagement like nothing I had used before.  The audible click was almost as positive as the actual snap I could feel when clipping in.

A couple of years down the road, I felt the urge to get something lighter.  No, the XTR isn't a pig, but there are many lighter options out there.  With The Lumberjack 100 looming, I decided to go big and try out some Egg Beater 11 Ti pedals.

Since the pedals had been redesigned, my hope is that the few issues I had with the previous generation pedals had been remedied.  At a claimed 174g per pair (176g according to my scale) the new pedals are a full 130g lighter than my M-980 XTR pedals.  Yeah, they are close to half the weight of the XTR.  That's no small amount, by the way.

Out of the box, the fit and finish are top-notch.  The blingtastic nature of the Egg Beater 11 fit well with the theme of my Niner Air9 RDO which is built to be super light, and perfectly race-ready.

Mounting them was uneventful, as it should be.  Bad news would ensue if your $425 pedals don't thread in nicely.  Setting up cleats is a process for myself, I set up cleats for others frequently, but on my own shoes can be a challenge.  Once happy with the position, I started logging some miles.

To date I have about 600 miles on these pedals, almost entirely off-road.  The pedals haven't been subjected to too much mud, though they've seen a little water.  The pedals have seen a lot of dust, though, with the dry conditions we've seen this year.  600 miles in and they spin perfectly, adjustment is as it should be.

A true test of these pedals comes next weekend at The Lumberjack.  Until then I plan to log a few more short and sweet workouts to keep my legs fresh and my mind on the pedals.  Once Lumberjack is done these pedals will see cyclocross duty.

Much more to come....