One of the luvliest bits of kit on the market. But…

Just been doing some reading and there's a more than a few negs:
1) 160mm rotor limit!
2) 240lb rider weight limit – I dont think that's going to effect to many people…
3) cant use a Thomson stem
4) £320!

They look lovely on the matching niner bikes not so sure they look so good as after market items.

Niner Carbon Fork

I think the challenge is to pick the right colour.

Im torn between the moondust and a brighter colour like tang for my Ti29er.
Not that Im going to get one, obviously 🙂
I refuse to give money to Jungle or Stif.

not so sure they look so good as after market items.

there's a pic on here of a Seven 29er with one of these, I think it looks rather awesome… here's the post from Solarider

Any idea if this fork would work in a 69er setup?

470mm A-C for the niner.

Rockshox 100mm forks before sag are between 470 and 485.

so I imagine it should work fine.

schweet… thanks Stoner 🙂

Any idea if this fork would work in a 69er setup?

If you're suggesting putting a 29in wheel on the front of a bike designed for 26in forks, I'd always recommend a 440mm fork, not a 470mm one.

Remember, you have an extra 38mm of wheel radius to cope with.

aha.

Brant – what did you put on the front of that 456 that went to DirtMag?

100mm REBA wasn't it? or maybe 80mm?

It was an 80mm reba, and it chopped it out stupidly. Way longer than a 5in fork. Did send me down the path of slack head angles though 😉

t was an 80mm reba,

A-C = 490mm

and it chopped it out stupidly

who'd have thunk it? 🙂

I once put a 100mm Magura Asgard on a 1990s Saracen Killi. Slaaaaaaackkkkk.

Stoner – If you don't want to give your money to stif – give me a call!

😆

Matthew

🙂 @ Matthew

I did see that Chevin are also listed as importers. If it makes you feel better, if I do end up getting one, Id come to you over Stif!
But…you dont have the fork on your 29er section of your website though…and I bet you couldnt put it up there for less than the price demanded by Jungle could you 😉

I saw the Niner fork being put on a colour matche d frame (eyebleeding Kermit green) at Chevin t'other day – VERRRRRRRY NICE!

They are a really beatiful fork, aesthetically and functionally. For XC riders at xc weights I don't think the 160mm rotor limit is too much of a problem. The decals are a bit ostentatious for mine, even with the black on carbon – I will probably get mine painted at some point.

You can't use a wedge type Thomson but I don't see any reason you couldn't use an X4. Most people using these forks are going to have oversize bars anyhow.

I'm pleased with how they look, so not in agreement on the aftermarket point.

oooh, they are lovely and we sell them at charlie the bikemonger, and a few quid less than Stif.
email me if you want some… naked carbon/black and kermit green available now.

how much is a bit less than stif?

I agree, I think aesthetically, they're pretty much spot on – and I do like the boldness.

I have an O-O on mine at the moment – more utilitarian looking, and definitely more low key. But no rotor limit or weight limit. Its going to take a fat Xmas wallet to make me replace those with the Niners on looks alone 🙂

Looks lovely on that frame of yours Sam …is it a peregrine?

CTBM – why dont you have them on your site?

EDIT: fontmoss, Im guessing its a bit less like 299 or something down from 320. My big gripe with Jungle is they a) probably wont allow CTBM to list at that price and b) they certainly would tear him a new a-hole rather than let them go for a proper competitive price, like, say 250. Some say niche importers of niche products bring these things to our shores, I say it's a racket and guerilla importing direct from the US ought to be encouraged 👿

yeah ive worked in a bike shop and id be surprised if you could find a niner much cheaper than from jungle but im also curious as to why charlie and chevin dont have them on their sites

It's either a) havent had the time to put them up or b) Im guessing neither Chevin or Charlie are holding more than 1 or 2 in stock and would rather it be known quietly that they will let them go a bit less than Jungle would normally require, but cant advertise them at a price below £319.99 and do it competitively and openly for fear of losing the supply relationship.

yeah probably right

BTW compare that approach with, say, Craig at Swinnerton who will get some interest here in a fork product at a discounted price (I cant remember if it was a Fox or an RS model) so that he can buy a larger order, make a tighter margin but still a worthwhile turn.

horses for courses really, with regard to jungle i cant see any reason why a company would not sell stuff for as high a price as they could get, given the rate of exchange based on king kit etc then niner fork is in line with that, its 300 US dollars but most stuff is a chunk cheaper in the states.

crap for us but dont think its unusual

Chevin have a black one in stock, phone them and ask for a deal from Matt, tell him you know me;-)

I had their green one

Why do you need a bigger rotor on a rigid bike, it's hardly a downhill bike is it?

The delivered price including shipping, all taxes and exchange rates of a full RRP fork from the US to UK is not a whole lot cheaper than direct from Jungle – I worked it out at about £275. Unlike buying a Santa Cruz from the US – discounters like Cambriabike can sell SC in the US at a discount, but not sell overseas. Jungle/Stif never heavily discount SC over here.

At the moment, Niner are restricting sale prices to RRPs in the US as well, but that will change.

The argument that an importer has to make his cut is spurious. The importer should be getting a factory gate price in the US which means that they can get much closer to the direct exchange rate comparison retail price in the US. My comparison above is a retail purchase comparison! i.e. based off $375 a piece and still come in cheaper than a Jungle price in the UK. THEY should be able to source for much, much less than that – think closer to $180-200 and we should be having a piece of that IMO.

JC – Im just used to 180mm. I regularly swap between RS Rebas and O-O rigids on my bike – the wheel is set up as 180mm and so it makes sense to keep 180mm on both the forks.

I know what you mean, but at 200lbs I like to have the extra that 180mm gives before fade or pump up.

i think you're right but i think its unlikely to happen sadly, even singlespeed central (same importer perhaps?) isnt much cheaper

I like SSC.nl because they make an effort to have a wide range of stock – check out their 29er tyre range. That makes me want to use them because they can offer what others cant.

just on an SC example BTW a shipped and taxed blur from cambriabike will be about £1150. From Stif it's £1900.

http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=91878&page=SANTA+CRUZ+BLUR+LT+CLASSIC+FULL+SUSPENSION+MOUNTAIN+BIKE+FRAME

http://www.stif.co.uk/gear/select_options.asp?productid=6433&store=mtb

taxed as in customs paid? thats pretty awesome if so, it'd be nice if they'd allow a second importer for a bit of competition and cheaper kit for us but until then we can dream of niner loveliness

so glad i dont still work in a sbike shop, couldnt have afforded these even at trade

5% bike part duty, 17.5% VAT and allowing $100 for shipping.

$1,400
add
$100

convert to sterling at 1.6:1

£940
duty at 5%
+£47
VAT at 17.5%
+£165

£1152

And again, thats a retail to retail comparison. Cambriabike are still making their cut so there's no reason that jungle cant make their cut as well and still get down towards that price.

smeg, well if niner prices drop in the states i know what i want for christmas

smeg, well if niner prices drop in the states i know what i want for christmas

Its what I will be keeping an eye on.

I know this makes me look like I dont care about the retailers like Charlie and Matthew; I do, but Im not a charity. Its really Jungle's behaviour I dont rate. They're the ones making their customers (the retailers) uncompetitive. They should answer the charge, not me.

Oh, and I used to do these calcs when it was $2:£1. You could make 50% savings from direct imports. Retail to retail comparison.

You've gone an got me all excited for nothing now!!

I looked at these on the Jungle (SC) stand at Mayhem, and they are lush!

Just when I managed to get them out of my head this post pops up, again I managed to ignore it.

It's a bit quiet at work today, so my mind started wandering, got a friend going to the states for a couple of weeks in December, maybe he could squeeze some in his case, got looking on the net, seem to be out of stock in a lot of places, looked on the Niner site, no Root Beer or Nude's left, not much is will go with my Root Beer frame!! 😥

I have emailed them to see when they are expecting new stock though … 😀

I have been thrashing mine now for a week and can't speak highly enough of it. Mine's the Seven Sola 29er referred to earlier, so it's an aftermarket fork and matches a relatively understated frame well. I chickened out of the lary colours, but they do look really cool on the right bike. I toyed with Godzilla green as it is a bit different from nude, but not as lary as Kermit. The only thing that put me off was that I couldn't see one in the flesh before deciding, but if anybody stocked all of the colours, that would be quite an outlay for a bike shop, so understandable.

So much lighter at the front end than suspension, and given the inherent benefits of ti and 29 inch wheels, not an issue in terms of ride quality and comfort.

So much better quality than the Nuke Proof or White Bros versions.

I am 6ft 2 and weigh 95kgs, but the 160mm rotor stops me fine. I did the same overseas calculation, and whilst they ain't exactly a bargain at £300ish, it's not much more than the landed US price for once. Well done to Jungle!

it's not much more than the landed US price for once. Well done to Jungle!

an importer making a retailer's return? more than "well done" IMO.

BTW, Im astounded that people but those White Bros forks for £200 or NP for £170 when they are identical to the eXotics for £85.

The least they could do for the money is spec them up or something.

They look very Sexy…

Do they do them for proper 26" wheels?

Niner bikes = 29ers only

well I figured that but then thought they may make an exception to their own rules, seeing as they'd defnately have a market for that fork in a 26" version…

Spin off brand "sixer" possibly?

Whats the minimum axle to crown they do? or is it one length only?

niner site

Fontmoss – Here you go! http://www.chevincycles.com/products.php?plid=m29b142s380p6109&tbv=NINER_Carbon_Fork_

Not quite sure how we missed putting them on! Busy busy busy…… 😀

Sam – I love that bike!

JohnClimber – Just realised your picture above is almost a copy of the one on the niner fork picture!

Matthew