Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • Nicolai Helius AC…… Why? Or why not?
  • WhatafackinLiberty
    Free Member

    Hi does anyone have or had one of these? Any thoughts / experiences appreciated. I had my heart set on a Ventana but now I’m dithering over a Nicolai Helius AC.

    ta.

    andy

    Kbrembo
    Free Member

    Have a look at the Nicolai Section on MTBR..

    ridethelakes
    Free Member

    I demoed one a few months back. Very nice bike, well made, lovely welding and looks nice. Its impressively stiff for the weight too.

    The ride is good but I found it a bit uninspiring. I know that sounds a bit vague but I didn’t really have long enough on it to get to the bottom of it. Maybe it was such a neutral handling bike that it did everything well but didn’t blow me away and to pay that much for an ally frame it would need to really rock. If it was cheaper I think I would have got one which probably sums it up.

    Great options on them, you can change pretty much everything: angles, cable routing, dropper seat post guides, crud catcher mounts and then there’s custom colours…

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    steve_b77
    Free Member

    I’ve got a CC an to be honest it’s one helluva bike.

    Brilliant all day/marathon kinda ride with adjustable travel from 129 down to 89mm, covers most things with ease other than full on blasting through rock gardens.

    If you can afford it I’d say go for it as they’re very very well made.

    Customer support is good over here in the UK too.

    WhatafackinLiberty
    Free Member

    Thanks guys. Am I right in thinking the cost of the frame is excluding the shock, therefore £1700 + shock??

    steve_b77
    Free Member

    Yup, this be true, but you can do all sorts for nothing extra like play with the Geo. etc.

    Go for extra love too, tasty 😆

    ianpinder
    Free Member

    I’m on my forth nicolai, currently have the helius am and the ufo st.

    Excellent quality, massive range of options, and very confidence inspiring, i can see what ridethelakes means, they just handle everything you throw at it some times this can feel nutral but you just need to ride faster.

    IanMmmm
    Free Member

    Got two Nicolai frames on order at the moment. A Helius AFR, which is currently being built up and a custom Argon CC 29er, which hasn’t arrived yet. Build quality is second to none, and every report I’ve heard suggests that they last forever, and if not Nicolai replace them pretty much without question.

    WhatafackinLiberty
    Free Member

    Possibly a bit too rich for me I think, albeit the quality is very good. I think I’ll have to stick to the handmade American junk 😉

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    Yup, this be true, but you can do all sorts for nothing extra like play with the Geo. etc.

    If only! Customising the geometry now costs a whopping £600!

    You get a huge range of colours to choose from of course; always the hardest thing to decide.

    A mate of mine tested an AC recently (HeiHei) and made comments very similar to those of ‘Ridethelakes’. I have an AM and for me the stand out feature of the bike is something I call ‘integrity’, by which I mean the frame has a sense of strength, stiffness and accuracy that comes from a frame that has been welded together with a very high degree of accuracy and is perfectly aligned.

    It’s a really hard thing to convey in words but for example on extremely rough ground, the frame remains completely composed and goes precisely where you want it to.

    The only other bike I’ve ever ridden that gave that same feeling was the original Pace RC100.

    nicolaisam
    Free Member

    I have had a Nicolai Fr and now have an ION-st cant comment on the AC but both of my Nicolais have been brilliant,well made and mega stiff.I will be ordering another very soon.Lots of options to make it even more interesting,and always trying to chose a colour to finish it is a nightmare.

    heihei
    Full Member

    Yep – Ridethelakes has it nailed for me. It’s an awesome all-round do-it-all bike if you just want to ride one bike for everything. Trouble is for me the” jack of all master of none” applied – it didn’t inspire in any one area.

Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

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