So… in my quest to find the right full suss for me i rode the mentioned bike on the wall trail at afan. Here are my thoughts. Coments encouraged.

1. Steep head angle, even with 160mm up front.
2. Actually climbs like my hardtail. I would argue i would have ben quicker on the miserably up hill skyline trail the day before. (Felt like my bones had rattled apart by the end)
3. I am not skillfull enough.
4. Heavy… at 4500ish worth of bike i would expect it to come in well under 30lb.
5. Stiff… take from that what you will.
6. Having had this thing encourage me to ride into 2 different trees leaving me with a black eye and an upper torso tht looks like i am a prune man i will probably bee forced to get all armoured up as well…
7. It is better than i am.

Other frames i am considering include mojo sl, 575 + the obvious big names.

My biggest niggle is the weight,will i regret spening 2grand on a frame which will probably not build up much under 30lb even if it is h shizzle in every other way.

Worth mentioning it is my first full suss ride ever.

Thoughts and opinions welcome.

Dom

mine is anywhere between 31 and 35lb dependant on build / where i’m riding.

it’s a brilliant stable frameset – lots of lateral stiffness.

i suffer pedal strike too much on mine.

however – build quality has been excellent [2 years old in nov].

they are heavy as they are super-stiff. awesome overall machine with ideosyncracies 🙂

about 32.5lbs in this guise

I forgot to mention pedal strike,although i have to admit i put that downto my riding style.

Have you guys ever had other full sussers?

Dom

Heavy… at 4500ish worth of bike i would expect it to come in well under 30lb.

Just cos it’s expensive, don’t mean it’s going to be light.

Coogan – are you sure? I thought that was the privilidge of those spending lots of money on such items!

Nicolai’s are bombproof but not light but this sacrifice is out-weighed by the superb strength and amazing ride/build quality.

Loads more Nicolai stuff over Here

If lightweight is your goal I would look somewhere else.

It’s a lot of bike for a first full susser!

Go test ride as many bikes as possible then choose.

Good luck!

“Coogan – are you sure? I thought that was the privilidge of those spending lots of money on such items!”

Privilege of buying a completely hand made frame with a 5 year warranty…. 😉

If you ride those types of trails then i think you would be better looking at an AC,will easily build to 30lbs or less.
The AC is similar to the 575 and sl all are 140mm ish bikes and are a lighter frame.

Fair point… and i hadn’t realised how attrocious my spelling has got since ive been using spell check!

5 years eh… thats a lot of warranty!

Im planning on riding as many as i can before buying,probably in time for next summer.

Coogan – are you sure? I thought that was the privilidge of those spending lots of money on such items!

Why? Depends how you spec it. It is a 160mm travel bike after all. Can’t see much point in that much travel sprinkled with lightweight parts to get the weight down. Get a more suitable frame.

Get an AC with custom geometry to slacken the HA. With good parts it will come in under 30lbs.

I reckon the AC is a great do-it-all bike but therefore a bit jack-of-all trades, master of none. The AM is more heavy-duty, although have ridden with guys who have done all-day rides on them (and the FR) without too much problem. Mate of mine is going from an FR to an AC for a lighter ride.

Just ordered a Mojo HD….turns up tomorrow or Wednesday…nuff said!

Again,good points well made. 160mm is quite a lot for the riding i do normally. But i did push the shock to 90% in 150 mode at the weekend… have to find somewhere with the ac to try. Anyone got one?

Again,good points well made. 160mm is quite a lot for the riding i do normally. But i did push the shock to 90% in 150 mode at the weekend… have to find somewhere with the ac to try. Anyone got one?

Bloody mobile internet.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/chillispics/5003263339/]Lovely new Toy![/url] by [url=http://ww

Had mine a couple of weeks now,love it! Pedals well,descends well,mega stiff,handbuilt in Germany,true it’s not silly light but if that’s what you’re after you’re looking at the wrong Nicolai, look at an ac with air suspension front and back,easily doable under 30lb.

I’ve never weighed mine, I’ve always thought the weight thing to be a slippery and often (within reason) pointless slope. To me 3 or 5 lbs here and there is good to lose as long as you can keep everything else that you like & want. Having said that I did build my AM up with a chance of keeping it light & nimble up front & in the turns, while keeping it tough & strong. So, lovely plush 2010 DT Swiss XMM 150 fork and DT Swiss M1600 wheels. The head angle doesn’t feel steep at all when riding, the ride tracks really well ’cause it’s stiff in every direction, it climbs pretty well (the DT Swiss launch control helps) and I too get some pedal strike, though I’d say that’s normal in the ruts of the Peaks.

Of course it is alot of bike & I can’t do it justice, but I do love it and for me it’s a dream-bike.

Slightly off topic but I note the CCDB is upside down in the first picture and the Fox above the normal way up. Is there a reason/advantage/no difference to the direction?

Dosent make much difference as long as there is no collision under full compression.I ran my one the same way as Chilli on my Helius FR,Suppose it reduces the weight of the sprung mass on the rear.

have to find somewhere with the ac to try. Anyone got one?

Head for the Hills in Dorking have a medium demo built up….currently sitting in my shed though!

I test rode a Helius AM on White’s Level yesterday and was completely blown away!

Agree with most of what was said in the first post except i found the head angle absolutly spot on! I have never ridden the black loop so fast or hard in my life and i put that down to the bike entirely. It was so composed and stiff to just the right extent.

Weight seemed no problem at all…..guess it depends on how fit you are perhaps 😉

I have a Helius CC, just over 2 1/2 year old now and needs it’s second set of bushes- be aware! My local trails are Brecon Beacons and Glyncorrwg so are pretty abrasive though.

I’m 105kg and ride the bike on all sorts- inc. Alps, Beacons, enduros and overnighter trips towing the Yak.

As someone else said above, it is my dream bike, I love it to bits (and ride it to bits too)and would be loathe to have to change it. I had a really lightweight Trek HT beforehand. This feels/ rides much lighter until you hit the bumpy stuff and then it is amazing…

I’m in South Wales, close to Ammanford if you want a ride of a Large CC.

Nick – Was it the one at Skyline cycles? I didn’t find it too heavy, it’s just the thought of spending £2000 and not getting a sub 30lb bike at the end of it!!!! (Very silly I know!) Also I test rode it on our final day when I was absolutely wrecked, it still felt quicker than my Kona.

Ambrose – I may well take you up on that one day when I am back in south Wales, the CC is the really lightweight construction with ~100mm, without wanting to get too hung up on weight, how much does it weigh?

I love my AM. Best bike I have had yet… its as capable doonhall as my last 43+lb monster, yet it can cut it in the local forests. My head angle with 160 36 forks is 65 degree so not steep, and the bb is high. With 30% sag its mental but does feel a little sluggish. 20% sag is more xc friendly but less fun when giving it beans. I loved it at first, and with tweaking over six months it simply gets better all the time… next is a custom tune for the shock as I now know what I want… and I have the local rides to do it justice 🙂

It’s a lot of bike… especially for a first full suss!!!

It is, but the intention is that it is a frame to keep. So it needs to be something I am absolutely happy with as I don’t want to be replacing after a few years.

I’d rather repair and update with parts. Hence looking at the more niche products which stay more or less the same through time!

you’d be better off with an AC on a Float 150mm up front, 200×51 monarch out back.
seriously.

DrDom – Yes it was Skyline’s Demo bike. Talas forks were in awful state but it was amazing none the less. So much so i have just ordered my AM frame! Woooohooooo! This bike will definitely be a keeper!

Mine will have to make do with 150mm 32 Float forks for now as my pockets aren’t quite deep enough for some 36’s just yet.

Nick…. I am secretly very jealous although covering it by claiming I am checking other bikes before committing!!!!!

I have never ridden Talas before, but I have to admit I didn’t notice them, so that must be a good thing!

Lecht – I’ll be looking for an AC to demo when I am next out and about for a weekend of riding.

I have ridden a fair few full-sussers and nothing has come close to the Nicolai. To me it offered the perfect blend……..it had everything i was looking for. Can’t wait!

sorry I’m late! Helius FR nearly 5years old, bleddly looooooovely

This was my FR

And this is its replacement

ION-st

Blimey Sam, what have you built the ion up for? Dropping out the back of a plane!

DrDomRob–Its to make up for a lack of skill

I only use it for DH and FR,its a beast and smooths out everything.I have ridden it about 8 miles before to my local hill.

DrDom- I genuinely have no idea of its weight, it has never been a worry/ issue.

<img src=”http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/470540626_6fee918699.jpg&#8221; width=”500″ height=”375″ alt=”Nicolai Helius CC” />" alt="" title="" class="bbcode-image" />

am AM realistically built is ~32lbs.
AC is ~29lbs.

the AM won’t like the 32’s – it’ll steepen the head angle too much.

if you’re going 32’s then you have to go AC.

Didn’t Nicolai already change the AC and AM a bit for the next production runs? Meaning that the bike you can buy is not same as current demos.

I don’t know details of the changes (AM more heavy duty now, AC detail changes) but heard this would be important as told by couple of Nicolai -riding friends last week. Some quick look at MTBR seems to confirm this?

Will have to look into that a little more then.

I’ve just splashed out and bought the ex Demo AM from 18Bikes… and pleased as punch with it. I must admit this isn’t going to be my main bike, since yes it’s in the region of 35lb as it stands, but it is such a great machine. it’s defo the sort of bike for big burley rides, and totally overkill for most of my riding. so it’s the 3rd bike in the stable to choose from, one being Whyte 19 HT in SingleSpeed guise, second being Whyte 120 FS in XC race/enduro guise and then this AM which is the fun bike. it has heavy duty Wotan forks that I love (on the fly ride height adjust 120 to 160mm) Hope V2 vented disks, Maxle F&R DT 440 hubs/5.1 rims and 2.4″ Rubber Queens…

It’s definitely a bike for the rougher technical bits of the Peaks, Lakes, Highlands and definitely Alps.

if you are after an XC orientated bike, then I’d go for the AC or CC. if you like them big burley and fun and ignore the weight then the AM is such fun.

and yes Nicolai constantly updates and tweeks his designs, it’s a case of continuous improvements (not annual product release) and thus every frame is likely to be unique.

MisterT – Member
) and thus every frame is likely to be unique.

never a truer word spoken – you don’t always get what you order either – all part of that German charm……………. 🙄

TLR – Meaning?????