After 5 years of sterling service I’m looking to change my Intense 6.6. I’m trying to line up a ride on an Alpine 160 but have always fancied a Nicolai.

I’m after a do it all bike so natural trails, trail centres, trips to the Alps and light DH.

Nicolai owners or those who’ve ridded one: Do you use the various shock positions to adjust the travel or tend to stick it in one place and leave it. And does it affect the angles when you move the shock position?

Any good/bad points I should be aware of?

Thanks

Check this thread http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/nicolai-helius-owners-help

I too always wanted one, test rode one, loved it, bought one, rode it for a few months but decided it just wasn’t for me. I was bitterly disappointed in it TBH. It was the dullest full-sus i’ve ever ridden!

I came to the conclusion that i just don’t like 4-bar linkage systems.

I used the travel settings to match the fork fitted and left it there. Didn’t see the point in having more travel at the front than the rear.

I love my AM. I’ve had it for a year now and it’s still growing on me. I’ve got 160mm Float 36 RC2 forks up front and run either a TFT/Push tuned Fox Float R or a CCDB on the rear (2010 Long shock slack head angle version with 1.5 steerer). The tuned float is good enough most of the time but the CCDB does add a considerable level of control to the travel which does feels better, I swap between them depending on how I feel and where I’m riding.
A recent addition is a Reverb post which I love – but again it’s not on all the time. For gearing I have a HammerSchmickle up front with 9speed XT shifters and saint mech out the back… brilliant combo.

Weight comes in about 31-34lbs and is ace for almost all riding, for huge climbs it’s very good, and then it’s some serious gnar-shizz-going-down-bro.

I’ve tried a few of the travel settings with different shocks but since getting the Float tuned I leave it on the max, same with the CCDB. If your shock is working well why would you want less travel??? The different travel setting don’t change the geometry… or thats what Nicolai say… but… I like 30+% sag so when I use the different setting I did find that the bottom bracket was higher dynamically… this was good if your shock blew through it’s travel and you got pedal strike… but that’s the shocks problem and the different setting were a work around… By trying the different settings and shocks/springs I learned that for me it’s about performance and control, I’d rather run a well tuned shock on full travel than mess with different shocks and travel settings – getting the tune right is important… it took TFT two goes to get the Float how I wanted it (quicker rebound than they advised, and a modification to reduce the air chamber size). The CCDB I am still fiddling with but it’s far better than the Fox DHX I ran before. Be aware – the bottom bracket seems quite high unless you use lots of sag. When I first fitted the Float shock I needed 220psi to stop it blowing through the travel, this left me with 10% sag and a very high bottom bracket which felt wrong, it felt better on the reduced travel settings and I could run lower pressures and get the sag better – but I was working around the poor performance of the shock. I now run 180psi with about 30-40% sag in the max travel setting and the bb height is perfect. The Float fork is excellent, I doubt a coil would be much better (this is my first air fork in 20 years of biking… it is rather good).

Set up – short stem and wide bars. 745 bars for me and a 40mm stem, I ran a 60mm stem for a while but shorter is better. Wheels are Hope with Flow rims. Brakes – I had super huge powerful Hope V2 stoppers but to lose weight I went to Formula RX as an experiment… and I much prefer them. I’m running a 2.4 Shwalbe Big Bettie on the front and a 2.4 Conti Rubber Queen out the back – both non UST but tubeless – awesome light set up with bags of grip. I’ve not burst one yet which surprised me.

I’ve had to tighten a few of the pivots but that has been all – will give it a strip later this year but it’s got no wobble and it’s not tight so I’m not going to mess with it.

My ethos when building it was to try and keep the weight down and make it an all-day-every-day ride for where I live. I’m lucky in that I get to ride big terrain and mountains often, but even in the local woods this bike is great. Big mountains is where it’s at it’s best, but it’s damn good everywhere.

Bikes have moved on a lot in the last five/six years, back then to do what bikes like this are now capable of you needed a full on DH bike… progress is brilliant.

Helius AM by thepimpmessiah, on Flickr

Damn you Messiah. Nothing else for me to add!

I’ll try to add something of value rather than for the sake.

Bad points first:

You need to be really patient with the order; most likely it will take twice as long as you’re initially told and at least two months to come through, more likely three.

Be very dilligent with the shop and pester them to make sure that the order is correct. This means checking, checking again and then checking again. I’ve bought two Nicolais in as many years and on both occassions there were things that weren’t quite right with the order; nothing I couldn’t live with but still. It’s a known problem among the community and a testament that we still keep coming back even knowing this.

They are not the lightest bikes around. The AM will build up to a sub 30lb bike, but you’re going to have to throw silly money at it. Mine is 29lbs 4 ozs, but it has carbon wheels, 1×10 gearing with an XX cassette etc (although it also has a CCDB so in theory it could be sub 29lbs with an air can). Expect an average but still very nice build to be like Messiah’s, around the 31lbs mark.

Choosing the colour is a pigging nightmare!

Good Points:

They are super stiff and uttely bomb proof. It’s no coincidence that a lot of us riding them are ‘larger’, either just really big frames, carrying a little extra or, like me, a bit of both 😉

The quality of their construction is absolutely second to none. This is artisan levels of craftsmanship; everything is reamed perfectly (the seat tube is reamed its entire length, not just the first two inches), the frame is precision aligned which makes it a) handle like a laser guided missile and b) easy on bearings and bushing unlike somethling like an Intense that needs new ones every six months because the front and back ends are in different counties!

The suspension design makes for a very neutral bike. This is what Nickegg is referring to when he says it’s dull; it’s a fair comment but it is a personal one. It’s either something you like or something you don’t like. Personally I love it; the bike sort of fades into the background and has zero character in terms of the suspension action. The bike is super stiff mind and has laser like precision because of both the stiffness and precision alignment, but other than that, it’s deserately undramatic about how it goes about things.

They are a joy to own; they are industrial works of art and you will love owning it.

They have a five year transferable warranty. If you sell it, the new owner also gets what warranty is left.

You get to specify all the little details that make it yours and can, if you want, really make it 100% custom to you.

Regarding travel settings, I have modified mine a little with the help of Nicolai. I run it mostly in the 145mm setting, with the fork dropped to 140mm also. I use a modified shock shuttle which then drops the bike by about 0.7″ and slackens the HA off a few degrees. This compensates for the sorter fork and makes it a blast to ride. I did this because it’s mostly used around the Surrey Hills and I don’t need the extra travel here; the bike pedals better in the shorter setting so there is an advantage.

For trips else where, like the ALps or Lake District, I just put the stock shuttle back on, increase the spring rate and fork travel and am back to stock settings.

Let us know where you are and if you want to arrange a test ride I am sure one of us will help.

Your next port of call should be to the Nicolai forum on MTBR if you’ve not already been there.

Some of us also ended up at Nicolai after breaking lots of other bikes. I’ve just sold on a Nicolai I had for 6 years and I’d failed to damage it… and it never required bushings in that time… the Intense I had before that required new bearings every year, and in my ownership time had seatmast, seatstays, 2 x chainstays, and travel plates etc… only the main frame was original.

When I think about it the Nukey is the only frame I’ve never broken… and I just sold it 😳

I have Nickegg’s frame in my garage waiting to be built up, fortunatly I only really get on with Horst link bikes 🙂

Give me 2 weeks for my CCDB to arrive and I’ll let you know.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I really need to swing a leg over one and see if the 4 bar feel is something I get on with. The only hiccup is a planned trip to Whistler at the end of August and the unlikelihood of delivery in time.

If you don’t want to wait Nicolai UK have a couple in stock with decent spec….Black Ano, 1.5″ HT, 12mm rear, ISCG tabs. That leaves plenty of time to build it before Whistler 🙂

Yetiman

I really don’t want a black one, and they’re too expensive not to have it exactly right 🙂

To address a couple of the criticisms….

Nicolai have been much more on target with delivery dates this year – most things have come through on time. It’s a small company though, and since things are built to order, it only needs a welder off sick for a week to throw a spanner in the works for some time. Expect 3 months delivery and be pleased if it comes through sooner.

We’ve also not had any mistakes (touches wood) at all for a good while – we did have a bad patch around the time GeeTee bought his. Customers can help this a lot by not making any changes after placing their order.

This is the peak demand time and, other than stock, anything ahead of September is now out of the question. Due to the unpredictability mentioned above it’s never a bike to order with a particular trip in mind!

Can I use a shock shuttle to fit a 215 eye-to-eye shock on mine instead of a 200? Have a fairly new 215 shock off my Heckler that I’m loathe to sell because of the money I’d lose on it, and wondering if there’s an alternative to getting a new shock….

Cheers,

Alex

They need to get new welders if every time they get sick, they start throwing spanners around!

Not much to add, my first two oreders were wrong, however, my last two were correct, however, I have a new one on order from a new shop so we shall see how that come out, though i’m not worried about it. Also, the one which was majorly wrong, was replaced foc.

Build quality is excellent, and at 22 stone, i don’t notice any flex, though i do have 12mm bolt through.

Currently running, bos stoy rear shock and bos deville front fork, though i’ve just ordered the air shock…

had mine for 2.5 years now.
bushings were recently serviced and needed only grease.
low bottom bracket height [mine has 200mm levers] causes horrendous pedal strike, but does provide stability.
mine runs QR rear – extremely stiff, no need for maxle other than security.
hasn’t bent or broke yet, been well hammered.
i run a CCDB custom tuned by STENDEC which transformed the ride.
at 6′ tall i run a large. could’ve ran a medium easily.
711mm bars on thomson 50mm stem. 10mm spacers. perfect cockpit.
not impressed with the graphics. peel off too easily.
anodizing is ok, rubbed off in high wear areas.
seat stays are quite flared and you will catch heels on them, but these offer good stiffness.
2011 36 Kashima FLOAT RLC’s on mine are good, suit the frameset perfectly, but not as good as the old open bath R’s I had on previously.
excellent riding head angle – makes manuals relaxed and easy, but doesn’t affect singletrack responses.
comes in about 33lb which is heavy for all day rides. fine as a play bike / shuttler though.
it’s so competent though, that it really makes things too easy.

i take out my Ti456 and VF2 more often as they’re just more fun. I it’s a bit too capable, but as geetee says, beautifully crafted.

i’m now looking for a replacement – IBIS MOJO HD is top of my list but need another demo soon, to cement my decision.

nothing’s perfect, but for it’s intended use [freeride / shuttles / miniDH] i reckon it’d be a great choice.

@Redx

Can I use a shock shuttle to fit a 215 eye-to-eye shock on mine instead of a 200?

You can either just replace the front mounts and run the shock in a lower travel setting on the shock levers (£65) or replace the shock levers as well to maintain the ability to adjust the travel (a further £115 on top).

I own Two Nicolai’s – **** love em both!

Though I could be persuaded to sell my 05 Helius FR and get myself a new AM or AC – large FR, silver ano front, black ano back, make me an offer 😀

I had my AM in the forest last night and something did strike me. When I was on my own I was perfectly happy charging around on it and riding really well, but when I met up with a couple of friends on lighter bikes it rather changed my feelings. The downside of the bigger bike in these situations is that when you lose speed it’s slower to make it back up when compared to lighter bikes with less travel; when I was in front choosing the lines I tended to stay there and pull away in the gnar sections. But when they were in front I ended up drifting back after they slowed us all down in the gnar and then were more able to sprint away. I guess I could get the bike down to 28/30lbs and much of that sprint ability would come back. I noticed this a bit at the Macavalanche where racers who do all the enduro events were running incredibly light bikes with Fox32/Rev forks etc rather than the 36/Lyric – but of course the areas where the most speed can be made up in a race are the flat pedally bits rather than the gnar so a light bike will be a huge advantage… compare that with riding for fun in the mountains and the trade off is that you role the flat bits to enjoy the gnar… horses for course of course… and hence it’s worth noting that an AM is never going to be the most responsive bike for sprinting in the local forest or racing enduro’s; it’s home is the big mountains where the stability at speed and ability to not get phased in the gnar will be your friends.

Most conti enduro’s are based around the DH times with untimed but time limited liaison sections. I’ve not found mine limiting and it’s z bit heavy really with a hammerschmidt and dropper post. At 34lb. Again I could lose 3lbs with an air shock and 1 x10 but it wouldn’t rip like it does now.
I may go the air shock route as they improve but for now coil is king for me.

I love mine, best FS I’ve had, agree with the above, laser accuracy and stiffness, very very plush, just eats it up and allows you to think of the trail and having fun.

If 33-34lbs is too heavy for all day riding. MTFU 😆 it rides very light cos it’s got light wheels and they make a big difference.

I’ve done 40mile a day two day epics and 7 hour super enduros abroad with 1800m of climbing a day on it and not had a problem and I’m a skinny git lugging all that metal around. Did I mention I love it..

it’s a bit like taking an uzi to a knife fight imo.

too much travel for UK trails.

all imo of course. good luck !

At some braking bumpinfested trail centres, for those of us who live miles from real mountains, the terrain is worse :lol:than the real mountains! I have done a u turn and found my Nicolai more fun to ride than lesser travel bikes. Just :Dbecause I can ignore the braking bumps and enjoy the trail, berms, jumps etc as intended.

I would never have said that a year ago. I was quite happy on my rigid bike until the trails got so popular with newer riders. Nothing against them and everyone has to learn but now, as a result I ride the long travel beastie more than ever as that’s the nearest plCe to grab a ride when I only have half a day.

Course if I have longer now I travel further afield…Italian alps, French Alps, Alps Maritime… 😆

Everything is really to much isn’t it, bigger just means faster more easily With less skill…gotta love it 😆

too much travel for uk trails

Yes… you are of course correct and none of the excellent trails we have in the north east of Scotland benefits from bikes like this… 🙄

Mincer or ragger?

Do you ride a huge XC loop or trail and play on all the doonhall bits hitting the rockgardens at full speed and launching the massive hucks with the stormtroopers and pyjama-clad-warriors?

or

Do you see the jumps and drops, and mince round the side?

‘sits back, takes sip from jumbo coke, crosses arms and watches’ 😉

Back on topic, you can build a lightish, 27lb’ 140 travel AM and it will last forever and be a laser guided missile and eat almost all gnarr if your a good rider.

Most people build it a little heavier and run 160’s and don’t change it. Changing the travel is a 2 minute job.

If you want a generally lighter bike then maybe an AC is the right bike, same Nicolai custom options etc.

Personally, and I know I’ve already said it, I love my AM 🙂

I agree these bikes are overkill if the only thing you do it cruise at trail centres, but if you’re riding fast and hitting everything with speed then they just make it more fun. I realised a long time ago I ride for the downs, not the ups. I suppose it’s which compromise do you prefer. I’d rather drag a slightly heavier bike up and make the most of the descent.

Demoed an Alpine 160 at the weekend. So now need to get myself organised and try a Helius AM. Pretty impressed with the Alpine 160. It felt fast, low and stable. Tried the 18 (I’m 6’1″) and it felt fine on the ups. Roomy enough and not particularly hard work. Not sure if a 20″ would be better for me though as it felt a bit short on the downs. May be this is because it was so low. It’s hurting my head as I’d have expect it to be the other way around – longer bike better as it’s a bit more roomy on the ups, smaller more fun coming down. May be I need to try the 20″ too.

bluebird – if you’re in aberdeenshire you can get a shot of my Large Helius AM…….

it’s a bit like taking an uzi to a knife fight imo.

+1 to that – I used to ride mine round Glentress etc but it is the definition of overbiked there imo. Now reserved for Aonach Mor etc but taking it to Les Gets for 2 weeks where I suspect it will rock big time.

When I was on my own I was perfectly happy charging around on it and riding really well, but when I met up with a couple of friends on lighter bikes it rather changed my feelings.

My feelings exactly – which is why I went and bought a CC – it is for sure my favourite bike for 75% of my riding.

the_lecht_rocks Thanks for the offer, but I’m in the Midlands 🙁