Viewing 40 posts - 721 through 760 (of 2,144 total)
  • Anyone ridden the Mojo Nicolai yet?
  • Speeder
    Full Member

    Is anyone relatively short riding a Geometron I’m a bit over 5’7″ with a 29-30″ inside leg and am considering one of these if I can manage to wangle a cash payout from the insurance co following the theft of my trail bike.

    Would even the Long be too much? I was riding a Medium 2010 Tracer with a 35mm stem, offset bushes and the seat quite far forward and that was about as long as I’d felt comfortable. I’m no racer and this’d just be used for occasional razzing about and uplift so it may be overkill. Having said that my DH bike is/was (it doesn’t get built up much) a Keewee Chromo 8 and that was one of the longest bikes ever at the time and I’ve never had a problem on that with the seat in the fwd position – kind of mimics this geo to an extent I guess.

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    I think the long (aka small) would suit you perfectly but there is only one way to find out and your profile says you are not too far from Mojo. I’d probably also wait for a response from chainline as he must have seen dozens of people on these bikes by now and I’ve only seen one

    Shandy
    Free Member

    The Long should be fine. First impressions are usually a bit deceptive, once you are on the bike they don’t feel anywhere as long as they look.

    If you get the chance just demo one at BPW, then you will know for sure. I’ve had mine nearly a year now and Mojo have been really helpful all the way through.

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    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    Speeder – Member
    Is anyone relatively short riding a Geometron I’m a bit over 5’7″ with a 29-30″ inside leg and am considering one of these if I can manage to wangle a cash payout from the insurance co following the theft of my trail bike.

    Would even the Long be too much? I was riding a Medium 2010 Tracer with a 35mm stem, offset bushes and the seat quite far forward and that was about as long as I’d felt comfortable. I’m no racer and this’d just be used for occasional razzing about and uplift so it may be overkill. Having said that my DH bike is/was (it doesn’t get built up much) a Keewee Chromo 8 and that was one of the longest bikes ever at the time and I’ve never had a problem on that with the seat in the fwd position – kind of mimics this geo to an extent I guess.

    Deffo talk to Chainline, but for me, the bike is less about massive length and more about centring you in between the wheels. So while the numbers seem huge, the bike itself feels much more normal. Consider the “Long” as “Small” – my “Longest” has an extra 80mm reach on my old Large Nicolai Ion, but the feel isn’t that different when you sit on it at first.

    Shandy – Member

    once you are on the bike they don’t feel anywhere as long as they look.

    Yes, exactly

    Speeder
    Full Member

    My only real concern is being too stretched out and not being able to comfortably loft the front wheel. Guess I’ll need to book a test to try one out. First things first I’ve got to convert that figure to spend at Wheelies into a cash payout. 🙂

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    I’m 5’8″ (172cm) and have ridden a long/small. Not stretched at all, borderline needing a longer/medium maybe but I don’t think so. The wheelbase is long and this can make the front harder to lift but really, if you are interested in getting one, you should get a ride on one. Forget all your preconceived ideas and just try it. Like so many others I was surprised at how normal the bike feels and this may be a little disappointing when you are expecting it to be radically different. My overall impression as a mediocre middle aged rider is that I loved the bike even for my mincing around. Give it a couple of years or so and I think there will other bikes with similar geometry as others copy

    Chainline
    Free Member

    Speeder, you are spot on for a Long/S. One guy your height is on a Longest/M but thats no different to me being on Longest at 5’10”, neither of us are normal in that but as a straight question I would say Long is ideal for someone your height.

    However I back up Shandy, ride them. Not just the size you think will fit. Also ask Mojo to set up both bikes with the same cockpit, you may need to use a 30mm on the Longer and 35mm on the Long and a change in bar roll/headset spacers and saddle position but you can set up both bikes to be close/the same in fit, they will just feel slightly different. Not quite so relevant in a car park test but if you test ride it is.

    Having said all that, I’m confident that if you went with a Long based on car park fit, you would not give another thought to wonder if you wanted something even longer..

    Read this, it’s my friend from Italy who wrote a blog on the experience, he is your height. We are off to the Back Country Pyrenees tomorrow, should be fun…

    http://aadm.github.io/2016-01-10-nicolai-mojo.html

    rockitman
    Free Member

    Just discovered this thread & although I haven’t read every post (apols, there’s a lot to get through) I thought I should post a few thoughts as I’ve been racing DH all season on a Geometron. Here’s some key learnings for anyone who’s interested…

    So, background is that at 6’ 6” I’ve spent the last 5 years on a quest to find a DH bike that fits. I’ve been through a lot of bikes. The closest I got was a prototype Orange 225 that was custom built for Ben Cathro but much to my dismay it snapped at the headtube 6 months in. Last season (in despair) I went to see Chris with my XL V10 & he modified it (the shock) for me to try & make it fit – shorter shock meant it permanently sat in the first inch of it’s travel which made it longer. It was much better but still too small “it will always be too small”. Whilst I was down there getting the V10 set up I rode a Geometron & I just didn’t want to give it back. We were testing on the DH tracks near their building & the Geometron was the nuts, like a whole other world. At last, I didn’t feel like I was fighting to stop myself going OTB all the time. A few weeks later I bought one (in Longest) for trail riding.

    At the end of the season Chris rang me & said “I’ve got this frame that I think might work for DH…”. I think it’s one of the original Geometron prototypes that he made. It’s got a 60 degree head angle & a 1380 wheelbase. It’s bloody huge. Unsure how much rear travel it’s got, maybe 175mm but Chris has set the rear shock up & you’d never know it wasn’t a DH specific frame. I raced down Val Di Sole on it a few weeks ago at Masters Worlds & never felt the need for any more travel so…

    Anyway, I’ve been racing it all season & my results have improved significantly. Last year I finished the season 21st in the Vet category at the BDS, this year I finished 7th. In July I took the trail Geometron out to the Alps & raced the Mega. Last year, on the modified V10 (with a dropper) I made the Challenger race, this year I made the Pro race. So it’s definitely working. But, as mentioned by others it takes a bit of effort & commitment to ride it. Having spent year hanging off the back of bikes, fighting going OTB on the steep stuff it’s a complete change in rider position & it’s bloody hard to get your head around. You have to weight the front wheel. You have to push it into the turns, you have to put it where you want it, other wise it will run away from you. The most dangerous run of the day is always the first run as you can’t “just potter down”, you have to put some effort in. The other thing I’ve found is that you have to use your head when you race it. You can let it fly on the straights but you have to back it off a bit on the corners if there’s no berm to catch you.

    There’s a few things I’ve done to work on the fit, the main ones being 820mm wide bars & 155mm cranks. The bars came about because being so tall my span is also pretty massive. I read something about measuring your hand width when doing a press up in the most comfortable position & mine was 840mm. I tried the bars at 840 but it was a bit too big to turn. The cranks, well with the low BB I was getting a lot of pedal strikes so I gave the 155mm Canfield Brothers cranks a try & they haven’t been off since. Tried them on the trail bike & it’s fine if you’re out in the Alps for a week with a gondola but noticeably spinney if you’re on a 4hr Peaks ride.

    The thing I’ve played with most though is stem length. I started the season on a 25mm stem but midway through I switched to 45mm for some flatter tracks & to help getting my weight over the front end. I got comfortable with that but a consequence of the 820mm bars is that I could only find them in 15mm rise & the final 2 races of the season were on steep tracks – Val Di Sole & Llangollen so I jacked the front end up with some stem spacers. This brought the bars back a bit so I went to a 60mm stem. I’ve got used to that now but it’s kind of buggered up my plans for next season. I’ve been looking at the G19’s that Jack’s developed with Chris / Nicolai & I fancy one but the reach on the XL is 25mm less than the current bike. Given that I’ve been running a 60mm stem I can’t go much beyond that so I’m probably just going to stick with what I’ve got.

    Anyway, unsure if that’s of any use to anyone on here but… let me know if you’ve got any Q’s.

    Here’s a pic – think it’s the only bike that doesn’t look like a clown bike in photos 🙂

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/m7e9or0zpbohdo6/_DSC8173_DxO.jpg?dl=0

    Chainline
    Free Member

    rockitman, nice story, your issues are easily solved, ping me an email but in summary..

    Your bike is almost the same as mine, the std G16 is DH able and runs up to 175mm rear travel (what yours is most likely and Chris recommends the One Vision team run with 180mm at the rear) and up to 200mm front Chris assures me is ok (its what Jack ran to begin with)

    There are longer sizes in the G16, the XL and there will be a…XL well, call Chris about that one..

    For £500 notes (I think that’s still the custom charge) you can spec your own, no more 60mm stem..the DH bikes have less reach as Nicolai in their wisdom, whilst going for it in every other way specced a 74deg ST not the 77 -78 of the std bike which is what we expected it to be

    So you could go custom with a 78deg ST on the G19 and get all of your desired reach back, you could also extend the ETT to the length you want for the exact reach you obviously want which may also alleviate the need for the 820mm bar or allow you to go to a higher rise 809mm minaar bar, thats if the XL or the …XL are too long or short for you.

    Alternatively you could extend the ETT on the G19 to get the reach but from experience that’s not the best solution. The DH bike is a tad shorter to accomodate the steep tracks but clearly thats not so great if you are really big.

    You could customize the G16 to do the same thing, as that is what you have really, but there would be less mods required to the G19 for the travel and purpose (they should have gone with the right SA in the first place 😉

    In short email me or talk to Chris and you can be on the right size bike.

    I’m with Chris in the Pyrenees for a week from Saturday but I’ll pick up emails when service allows can’t say if Chris will, probably.

    rockitman
    Free Member

    Hey Chainline, cheers for this. Yep, emailed Chris this week & he suggested trying XXL G16… Custom G19 tho… Hmmm 🙂

    A few quick Q’s you might be able to help with.

    – Can you just explain how ST angle affects the reach? I aways thought reach was horizontal distance between centre of head tube & centre of BB?

    – The figures on the Nicolai site for the G16 – are they in low mode or high? Also, no XXL figures despite being able to order one, do you have?

    Gotama
    Free Member

    – Can you just explain how ST angle affects the reach? I aways thought reach was horizontal distance between centre of head tube & centre of BB?

    It is. But if you steepen the seat tube whilst maintaining the same ETT you naturally increase the reach.

    rockitman
    Free Member

    Ah right, have just sat here playing with 2 pens on my desk & I suppose it does. Hadn’t thought of that 🙂

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    @chainline

    Boom, this build is coming together – can’t wait to receive my frame. Ordered it with frame and all parts anodized matt titanium. LARGE as the base geo, but with extra low top tube. I’m 188cm/6,16′ with regular proportions and 75KG including gear.

    If running the 180mm fork:
    1. RENTHAL APEX 33mm or 40mm stem?
    2. RENTHAL Fatbar Carbon with 20mm or 30mm rise?
    3. RENTHAL 760, 780 or 800mm bar width?
    4. ENVE 70Thirty HV or 60Forty HV front wheel

    Hope your trip is rocking, cheers from Norway.

    Christoffer

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    Shame you couldn’t get over to Mojo for a demo christofferbraathen, getting to try different set ups back to back would have answered those questions for you. Rather a long way from Norway unfortunately

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    Haha, yeah, I know. But part of the fun is to research and dream up that “ultimate” dream build you know. Think this is gonna be one solid bike. Looking at 13.5 KG in LARGE with pure performance parts, no ridiculously light but under dimensioned parts. Not too bad, but a big step for one that usually goes all in on weight. Build looks like this now:

    Nicolai ION-G16 – Large
    Anodized Titanium – Matt Black Standard Decals Underside of Downtube
    Extra Low Top Tube
    Fox Racing Shox Float X2 – F-S – 222 x 70mm (175 mm travel)
    Fox Racing Shox 36 Float HSC/LSC FIT Factory – 27,5″ – 180
    Fox Heritage Decals – Stealth Black
    Trickstuff Direttissima Brakes – L: SRAM  R: I-Spec II
    Trickstuff Front Brake Adapter PM-PM+43 (CNC) 
    North Shore Billet Fox Fork Cable Guide for Fox 36 – Black
    Trickstuff Dochle-Disc– 180mm – High-gloss polished
    Trickstuff Dachle-Disc – 203mm – High-gloss polished
    Sapim Aero Bladed CX Super Spoke – Black 
    Sapim Aluminium Hexa Polyax Nipples – Black
    Renthal Apex35 – 33mm
    Trickstuff Ringli Headset Spacer Kit – Champagner
    Fox Kashima Top Cap
    Renthal Fatbar Lite Carbon35, 7 Backsweep, 5 Upsweep – 30mm 
    Ergon GD1 MTB Downhill – Slim – Frozen Black
    ControlTech TiMania Seatpost Clamp – 34.9mm
    BikeYoke Revive – 365mm/125mm / 435mm/160mm – 31.6mm
    Triggy + Stand Alone Clamp
    Fizik Gobi M1 
    Jagwire Mountain Elite Sealed Shift Kit – Frozen Grey
    Jagwire Mountain Elite Sealed Shift Kit – Frozen Grey – For Dropper Post
    Shimano XTR 11-Speed Casette CS-M9000 (11-40T)
    KMC X11SL Ti Nitride
    Shimano XTR Mechanical Shadow+ Rear Derailleur RD-M9000 – GS
    EnduroBearings XD-15 Ceramic Rear Derailleur Jockey Wheels – Vanilla
    KCNC Shimano Pulley Bolts – Gold
    Shimano XTR Mechanical Rear Shifter SL-M9000-R 
    absoluteBLACK SRAM OVAL BOOST 148 Traction Chainring – 30T
    Praxis Works Lyft Carbon – 170mm
    absoluteBLACK OVAL BASH GUIDE ISCG05
    Mavix Crossmax XL Ti Pedals 
    Chris King ThreadFit 30
    Chris King InSet 2
    Onyx Racing Products MTB BOOST – 148/12mm Thru – 28H – ISO – HG Aluminium Hub Shell with Steel Pins
    Onyx Racing Products MTB 110/20mm – 28H – ISO – Antifreeze Green/
    ENVE M Series 60 Forty – 27.5 – 28H – HV – Black REAR
    ENVE M Series 70 Thirty – 27.5 – 28H – HV – Black FRONT
    Maxxis Minion DHF – 27.5X2.50WT – 3C MAXX TERRA – 3C/EXO/TR
    Maxxis Minion DHRII – 27.5X2.40WT – 3C MAXX TERRA – 3C/EXO/TR
    Token Products Presta French Valve Caps – Anodized Black
    Extralite BlackLock 12.3 B Maxle “Boost” 182 
    ProTi Assorted Bolts Eloxated Titanium

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    Why the weaker wheel on the rear and tougher up front?

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    I’m absolutely sold on these things. But, I’m now a full time bike mechanic. So I can only have one if they offer very favourable trade prices to low level grunts like myself.

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    @honorablegeorge

    Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I do think the front wheel takes a harder beating than the rear, that is more a “follower”. Wanted to save weight where possible, and it might be “enough” with the 60FORTY on both front and rear. On the other hand, the 70THIRTY HV is more suited for a 2.5-2.6 tire to increase traction on climbing, an the front could be a tad slimmer and more precise. Curious – what’s your thoughts?

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    My thought would be just the opposite – that the rear wheel takes a lot more beating than the front because more of your weight is on it (less so on the Geometron than most bikes, but still.

    If I was putter a higher volume tyre anywhere, it would be up front, but I’d want a tougher rim/tyre out back

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    The Mavic wheelsets seems to go for a wider rim on the rear wheel, but again, your take is interesting, and just as logical. I’ll research some more of-course 🙂 Thanks for the input.

    Gotama
    Free Member

    Are you sure christoffer? I always thought the mavic wheels were set up narrower at the rear as the likes of nico and Fabian barel (and I think Chris porter) like additional lateral flex in the rear wheel, nothing to do with strength. By going enve you’re ruling out flex albeit you may get more movement in the tyre sidewalk with the narrower rim.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Gotama – Member

    Are you sure christoffer? I always thought the mavic wheels were set up narrower at the rear as the likes of nico and Fabian barel (and I think Chris porter) like additional lateral flex in the rear wheel, nothing to do with strength

    They do some with skinnier rears… The Enduro wheelset frinstance has IIRC a 21 front and 19 rear, and less spokes in the back. And they make fake ones available to their sponsored riders that look the same but use the stronger, wider rim and spokes front and rear 😆 Couldn’t tell you whether Barel used this, Joe Barnes definitely did though and I saw Cedric Gracia getting a stock one replaced with the beefier one. Bit cheeky tbh.

    Rears definitely have a harder life imo, exactly because they’re the follower. (I remember seeing Chris Porter’s own bike had a crossmax enduro on the back but an SLR on the front)

    Gotama
    Free Member

    Rears definitely have a harder life imo, exactly because they’re the follower

    Yes, me too. In fact I have a particular knack of smashing them into the wrong side of the landing on doubles 😳

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    So, yeah, I now agree with you – my mistake. Wheelbuilder will swap them. ordered with NICOLAI logo laser engraved on the ONYX hubs:-)

    Now the crank…
    THM Carbones M3 MTB (Proven, and one of the stiffest – no 170mm)
    Tune Black Foot (unproven – no 170mm)
    Race Face Next SL G4 (proven – OK 170mm)
    Praxis Lyft M30 (not proven, but probably a solid product – OK 170mm)
    B.O.R XM557-1X Boost (super solid, similar to Race Face alu, but lighter – OK 170mm)

    Any thoughts guys – maybe just stick to the basics and go solid. The Hope and the Race Face Alu is to heavy – trying to hit 13.5 with solid wheels and that wild ONYX rear hub that weighs a ton.

    Peace,
    Chris

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Is the next sl proven? Mine were the previous version, the pedal inserts came loose- they denied it was a known issue while saying they’d fixed it for the new ones which was a good trick, but who really knows til they’ve been beaten up by owners more- I’m sure they thought the last one was strong enough too

    Gotama
    Free Member

    Depending on how you ride isn’t it more Sixc territory rather than Next which is more XC/trail orientated?

    And I don’t know how the weight (apparently 665g with axle, cranks and 32t chainring) stacks up but what about the new Rotor Hawk cranks?

    Really looking forward to seeing your build Chris as it sounds pretty pimp!

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    Ah, those ROTORS, in real metal – soooo nice. I completely forgot about them. Thanks. Really like them. You’re right about the territory, but the matter of fact is that there is no difference in needs between the two types of riders . On XC, weight is important, hence the higher priced products. At the same time, they are the ones that demands stiffer stuff to not loose W, so that makes for great products. When weight isn’t that important, the products become cheaper and the “burlier” parts is something that just comes along naturally with that. I actually think the markup on XC weight-weenie stuff is lower than on “enduro” components. Should we go ROTOR maybe? HAHA, I feel like a kid with LEGO.

    Thanks for feedback/chat folks – always nice.

    By the way…. ANTIDOTE Carbonjack. O H M Y G O D! But I think it’s time to try something NEW, not just nicer. Geometron it is!

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    665 grams VS Tune Black Foot at 370!!! There is a difference. The Praxis Lyft M30 with AbsoluteBlack is 447. Not to bad, and probably higher quality than Race Face. But CINCH is nicer than SRAM 3-bolt DM system.

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    And…. it makes it more “German” – if that’s a good thing?!?

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    I’m just really attracted to this thing as well. Hmmm…

    Gotama
    Free Member

    The ‘german’ aspect is one of the reasons I’ve always wanted a Nicolai. But going back to cranks and happy to be wrong here but isn’t the super light weight stuff achieved through thinner walls. So whilst the race face next might be as stiff for (for arguments sake) beasting up a hill, when it comes to smashing down a bike park you’re going beyond the designed useage and the thinner walls will allow flex whereas the burlier sixc will remain as stiff as when beasting up the hill. Clearly the worst outcome is a crank snapping because you’re landing a 20ft gap on something that wasn’t designed for it. As I say, I’m no expert, that was just my understanding of how these things work.

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    The thing is that I’m coming from that disease called “fat-phobia” in the XC world. Haha. It’s just bollocks on a bike like this. But the Rotor is in fact heavier than XTR, which should be a plenty stiff and solid crank for this type of riding. Besides, I’m not the best jumper, and weigh 70 KG, so not toooo scared.

    For now, I think the Praxis Lyft looks the most tempting in the Carbon realm, and the BOR in metal. The Rotor is INCREDIBLE, but would probably just have bought the REX then, at 550 grams. That is probably a better crank than the BOR, even though it’s Spanish 😉

    duir
    Free Member

    I have absolutely battered the last gen XTR and the latest on my Geometron here in the Lakes. I’m a fairly big lad, they are very strong cranks. The previous XTR cranks survived my last two bikes. Couldn’t imagine ever putting carbon cranks on a Geometron!

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    OK, that’s the drop. You got me officialy “metal” hooked. Need to dive into this alu-crank nonsense you’re hyping and get my self a shot 😉

    AluHa

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    christofferbraathen – some of your build choices seem a little odd to me, although of course you are welcome to build your bike however you like! However I’m of the belief that weight in the middle of the bike is a lot less important than weight at either end. With that in mind I’d not worry too much about 100-200g of crank weight and instead I’d get rid of that Onyx hub and XTR cassette for a DT240s and SRAM cassette probably saving you 300g+ in unsuspended weight.

    Chainline
    Free Member

    You will notice the extra weight of the xtr cassette over a Sram XX1 or similar, likewise the hub. Huge difference to the suspension where sprung weight will only enhance its performance.

    Chris’s suspension this last week looked sublime in no small part to the 2kg of lead he was hauling near the BB.

    christofferbraathen
    Free Member

    @stevet1 and Chainline

    I do see your point, and I have been very reluctant to go down the ONYX route due to weight, but they just have their aluminium HG drive shell out this week, reducing weight by 75g down to 427g. Still a hulk, even compared to a CK, but that sprag clutch….

    The XTR cassette is purely due to myself not really getting along with XX1 compared to Shimano, but I completely agree, they have NO competitive cassette options, neither range, nor weight. Maybe I need to change my mind… Now your messing up my build – damn you 🙂

    The crank issue is mainly just playing with options, not seriously thinking about the Tune – they never deliver on usability/quality in my opinion. Much more tempted by the Rotor, the BOR or the Praxis.

    Luckily I’m in time to switch around the hub configuration and legitimize the ONYX by swapping for XX1 cassette – no Eagle.

    Thanks a million for chiming in guys – always fun to discuss pros and cons. Frame is 14 days out – can’t wait. EXT Storia, possibly LOK version will be available to test once build is complete – I’ll report on that. Take a look here: EXT Storia Had the ELEVENSIX, hoping this might be better.

    But soooo eager to try the MOJO X2 Fox – if it holds up to all your praise, it might knock this out of the water.

    Christoffer

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    reducing weight by 75g down to 427g.

    Holey moley. Sorry but 200g extra at the rear hub could not persuade me no matter what benefits you think you will gain from the clutch.

    Chainline
    Free Member

    I use XX1 cassette but Shimano gears/shifiting. All fully compatible in 11spd.

    Chainline
    Free Member

    The last few (literally) 2016 GeoMetrons in each size are available now so S(Long), M(Longer), L(Longest) and XL (Longesterer)
    Get in touch with Paul at Mojo (or me if you’d prefer, but purchase would be through Mojo) for pricing.

    In addition there will continue to be differentiation between the Mojo G16 and the Nicolai G16 going forward.

    Nicolai were less keen to implement some changes that Mojo felt were appropriate given the specification of bikes going out and feedback from customers.

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