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Yeah. It was weird. They seemed to have had a stiffer, more 'platform' feeling to them than the older model, which was more of a baby Lyrik.
150mm Lyriks going on my new A9C build. Really didn't like the Pikes on my old Aeris 1.5, especially so after running Lyriks on the Forge.
I like the idea of the mezza so I can play with different lengths. Shame the cheap set is 51 not 44 offset.
I love my Mezzer Pros. I got them for £580 when CRC had them cheap.
A 140-180mm travel change takes 20 minutes. They manage to be both plush and supportive, they’re really stiff, and they’re only 200g heavier than my harsh, unsupportive Pikes (2021 Ultimates).
I don’t care that I’ll have to buy service parts from overseas. I wish I’d bought two sets!
I have mattocs at the moment and really like them. What offset are yours?
Quick PSA on forks, CRC has the 2023 Fox 36s with Grip2 damper for £531
With code FLASH15
Amazing price.
Aether 9A with 150mm Lyrik Ultimates and absolutely love it.
I got the 44mm offset cos that’s what Bird say.
Wow on those 36s, northersouth!
I've got a large Aether 9 with 140mm Pike Ultimates (last gen). No reason to upgrade, but that deal above might help someone in here who was looking.
140mm 2020 (B4) Pike Ultimate RCT3 on mine.
Good trail centre fork, suits the bike. However, medium speed rough stuff (think Castle Crag descent) and my arms will be knackered, and slow steep tech (think down a steppy path) they won't keep the front end up. To be fair, I shockwizd them for "firm/poppy" at a trail centre and have 3 volume spacers in them - I should try setting them up on different terrain. I don't have much to compare to but I'm sure better is possible, either with these forks set up better, or a different fork.
I like the select + pikes on my other bike at 130mm but not ridden that anywhere rocky. One option is taking those out to 140/150 and getting sids at 120. Not historically liked RS forks in the rough stuff though!
Have ordered a set of 51 offset mezzers. Wiggle had 2 left in stock at £479 last night and 1 this morning so decided to take the last one while the price was there. Discovered that they can be converted between 27.5 and 29 with just a lowers swap and that the offset can be changed with a CSU swap (£200ish).
Bargain!
I’m not sure why the Pikes didn’t work for me, as they get a lot of love, but maybe it’s because I mostly ride lumpy & chattery bridleways.
With the MegNeg and Mezzers, I really love my 9c. It’s stable, fun, and very forgiving for someone of my modest skills. But I think I agree with scienceofficer in that rocky climbs aren’t its forte.
“Discovered that they can be converted between 27.5 and 29 with just a lowers swap and that the offset can be changed with a CSU swap (£200ish).”
Surely the CSU is the top half of the fork and the lowers are the bottom half. That only leaves the air spring and damper unchanged if you swapped both!
I ordered 29er with 51mm offset so will only need the CSU (if I change it at all).
That both parts can be swapped was more for into. It seems there are two CSUs, long and short offset, which are the same between 27.5 and 29. Then there are 29 lowers and 27.5 lowers (the extra 29 offset is the lowers). If for example a super deal came up on a set of 27.5 37mm offset these can be made into 29 44mm offset with just a lowers change.
@nixie I hope you get on with it. It took me a bit of messing about to get the main and IRT pressures right (which I guess you're already familiar with) but once I did I was grinning. I think it's a great match for the Aether 9.
got a link to the advert, couldn’t find it in the for sale section of the website.
Well funny you should ask... In response to your post I thought I really ought to get a move on and get it stripped down, cleaned up and listed properly. The trouble was the blasted thing decided to throw some more quirks at me.
The pivot 'nuts' are not bonded to the frame parts at either the main pivot or the swinglink/chainstay pivot. The nuts have very small flat sections that are meant to brace the torque when. When trying to undo the main pivot the nut just span in the frame, chewing up the carbon.
In same ways I am fortunate to have a spare chainstay and pivot hardware from the first round of warranty replacement shenanigans. With this in my back pocket I unhappily set to cutting the chainstay off the pivot.
I then also discovered another broken collet bolt at the swinglink/chainstay pivot. I have broken three of these now. Experience has taught me to have a spare in stock.
The only pleasant surprise from the rebuild was that all the bearings were in good shape. I will be including a set of spares with the frame when it is listed.
So now the frame is cleaned up and rebuilt and as good as new. The trouble is that in my opinion it really isn't good enough. I could not recommend this frame to anyone, and it will be listed for sale on ebay. I haven't tried the alloy one, but I hope it is better. I am happy I have new frame and don't have to persevere with this anymore.
@Scienceofficer interesting reading your feelings about the suspension. I ended up in a similar place. It was stable when pedalling, hardly moving, but it's seemed to suck the joy out of climbing. This was my first full suspension for many years, so I just assumed it was the comparison to a hardtail, but my new bike has shown that to be incorrect.
The suspension also felt quite overdamped in response to bumps. It was worse with the Fox shock than with the RS. It might have been interesting to try with a coil shock, but I've lost patience now.
Hopefully you have messaged them already but I've always found Bird willing to help out. I have been swithering over a 9c for ages but for various reasons the 9A just feels better as the sensible buy.
Was any part of the reason to switch due to bike sizing? I.e. Bird sizing is huge – a Large Aether 9 is longer than most XL in other brands.
Not for me. The A9 was a ride experience dominated by it's geometry, which I enjoyed. Muscling this bike through twisty stuff has made me a better rider. I have never ridden a bike so willing to drift the back wheel with such control.
I bought my new bike despite the geometry, it's more than 50mm shorter in reach. The ride experience is dominated by the suspension and grip.
Hopefully you have messaged them already but I’ve always found Bird willing to help out.
Everyone always say this. I'd much prefer a bike than just worked reliably in the first place. They've always sorted me out eventually, but not always very efficiently.
1. Initial delivery they sent my shock to the wrong address.
2. Warranty replacement frame took 10 weeks, and was still faulty and I needed to fix it myself. At least they gave me some money off.
3. 5x broken bolts, one of which was sent to the wrong address again.
They have got a reputation for reliable bikes and good customer service for the most part. I wonder if it being their first carbon bike has been a learning experience that threw up some issues - combined with Covid / bike industry supply problems?
Yes, I do wonder if they might have had their fingers burnt a little with their first foray in to carbon. Clearly some of the frames from this year have arrived with a sub-standard finish too.
Both my Bird and my Propain have the same sticker on the BB shall, so I strongly suspect that they're actually made by the same supplier, possibly even in the same factory.
Pretty glad I swerved this one. It was on my short list after seeing a few very nice examples at Hamsterley. I decided against the carbon but was still going to buy an alloy version until the Privateer sale happened.
I've never really been sold on carbon anyway and this would have put me off for life.
I would agree with the sentiment that it should all work in the first place. I think Carbon probably has brought a few teething issues for them and I believe Ben has confirmed previously it's a shared factory with a few other brands.
I believe Ben has confirmed previously it’s a shared factory with a few other brands.
I'm not sure any bike brand, no matter how multi national has an exclusive to them composites facility.
No issues with my 9c yet 18 months on, though I have to admit it's not getting as much use as I envisaged when I ordered it.
No issues with my 9c yet 18 months on, though I have to admit it’s not getting as much use as I envisaged when I ordered it.
Good to hear. Just be careful with the pivot bolts when you check the bearings.
I am happy I have new frame and don’t have to persevere with this anymore.
Thats where I got to, just quicker than you 😜.
I can't fault the guys, always super helpful and responsive, but it just took too much looking after - I couldn't rely on it. A shortage of replacement bolts that shouldn't break anyway just pushed me further down the line.
@Scienceofficer interesting reading your feelings about the suspension. I ended up in a similar place.
Thats at least 3 of use then. It's the bike, not you. The Ripmo is a joy to climb in comparison.
I’m not a huge fan of how my A9 climbs, the shock doesn’t move much but there’s a sort of tension I can feel? Not sure if that’s anti squat pulling the chain in some way
It kinda squats down and then doesnt move much.
Interesting comments. I'll pay attention to the suspension's settled position when climbing next time I'm out. My historical issue was a bump and loss of traction over roots and rocks (the stiff/over-damped feeling already mentioned) which got a lot better after I fitted the MegNeg. It could still be better, but it's no longer something that matters to me.
But I'm really not a climber, to be honest, being unfit and a bit asthmatic. DW link is meant to be something special when climbing, so I do wonder if it might make me enjoy climbing more 🙂
@the00 I have the same concern about the pivot nuts, although fortunately it hasn't been an issue for me yet. Obviously it's a good idea to have them separate from the frame in case you strip a thread, but in this case there's not a lot to brace them. Fingers crossed no broken bolts yet either.
DW is like any other system - it has it's pros and cons.
It's not as compliant as some in the rough stuff, but doesnt really squat or stiffen under power and seems to maintain traction even when on the gas.
All generalities of course, because the various iterations found across brands are all a bit different.
Thanks! What you say seems very much in line with other comments I've seen about the Ibis and other DW link designs. I really want to try more designs. I'm a fairly rubbish rider and won't get the best out of anything, and experimenting can be bloody expensive, but it's so much fun!