Welcome my new Nicolai....
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7193/6841947182_aa426ba992.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/62031621@N06/6841947182/ ]IMAG0316[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/62031621@N06/ ]the_lecht_rocks[/url], on Flickr
I keep finding myself looking at this. I can't work out whether the red bits are awful or a masterstroke....
Bar end plugs?
Love the colour and the look but my oh my that head angle looks mega steep.
Agreed, decided masterpiece. Looks better in the metal tbh....was a bit nervous during the wait process ...
No bar plugs, never use em......
Holy cow that does'nt look right at all!!
HA looks impossibly steep.
I think I've just been staring at Yelli's too much.....
Think the photo makes the ha look steep, rides like a bloody bulldozer!
Red looks lush.....
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7199/6841993424_313cc8505e.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/62031621@N06/6841993424/ ]IMAG0311[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/62031621@N06/ ]the_lecht_rocks[/url], on Flickr
And the reverb hose needs cut & bled........
She isn't pretty.
Much better in the second photo. You have my blessing to enjoy.
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Nae pretty, just stunning....rides hard though and fast....
it may ride beautifully, but it offends mine eyes sooooooo badly.
If fact I've just blinded myself using only a USB connector to ensure I never see anything that shocking again
Lol.....it's a beaut 🙂
would look nice with 26'' wheels.
But wouldnt ride like a bulldozer....... 👿
that's the ugliest nicolai i've ever seen. what a munter.
I quite like it, what is the HA?
In all fairness.. It looks like it be ploughed into a wall!
Other than the HA. I like it
Where you feeling you feeling festive when you picked the color way, or just trippin?
I like the green, i like the red but the white makes it look odd, im sure it looks cool up close.
the 90s called, they want their headangle back.
is that the standard HA for the frame or did you get them to steepen it for you?
[i]I like the green, i like the red but the white makes it look odd[/i]
aye, like most things welsh.
It's wrong of me but I would have been secretly delighted if after all this waiting and bigging-up, you hated it 
Nah, it's absolutely brilliant....
72 ha, 74 sa..... Works great. Quick to steer, yet 29" stability....bear in mind that it will take foxs 34mm 140mm fork too..... That would slacken it off another deg or so, but it's perfect as is... The photo has exaggerated the supposed steepness.....
Klunk....I hope so, 'twas my aim to offend you 🙂
wheels are a bit big......thought you were a ti hardtail type??
Epo, I am.... Will go 29" ti ht soon too....
Have you crashed it into a wall at a moderate speed?
The most gopping bike I've ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on.
I'd like to say I hope it rides better than it looks, but its a 29er...
It's not tickling my balls i'm afraid
The wall's nice though
nice bike not sure on colours....would have cost a fair bit i'm guessing
I don't understand why there are so many negative comments, I think it looks awesome with those colours. Like everyone else has said, head angle looks very steep but if it rides OK that's not a problem.
I don't understand why there are so many negative comments
People are expressing their opinion. Do they have to say nice things just to please you and the OP or would you prefer an honest opinion?
Personally im not keen on the colour scheme but that dosent affect the ride and as long as you like it then thats all that matters.
Re. the head angle I'm assuming that it's the picture but it looks steeper than dippers, have you checked it?
I'm also not liking the red, but it's only £250 for some orange extra love 😉
I think the white back end exaggerates things looks wise. Makes the top tube look short too. Which it's not.
Still I'm sure it looks much better in the metal.
I'll give you a shout when I get the Solaris back. I fancy heading to Glen Tannar...
Wow I think it's awsome. Love to rag it down some bumpy bits.
TLR - was that stock geometry, or custom?
It does look really steep, but it might just be the photo - bearing in mind that the 34 is longer travel than the standard frame is rated for, I'd be expecting it to slacken it out a bit, so it must be the photo.
very jealous, as I've been speaking to Simon about one myself... I think I need to clear my shed and get some stuff on the classifieds very soon!
Hmm, thats nice.
If I download the photo and desaturate the colours, that is. 🙂
I'd put a black saddle on it, and lose the black chain stay protector.
Look forward to the usual exuberant t_l_r review, surprised we haven't had one yet...
Sometimes colourblindness is obviously an advantage. Looks fine to me.
The head angle thing is somewhat psychological as far as I can see. If you think it's too steep it is, if you think it's just right it's fine. I'm constantly questioning whether the geometry is right on my bouncy 29er right up to the point I ride it down a hill, and I realise it's spot on. Not as steep as that mind...
the photo is a bit unfair....it's a 72deg HA with long chainstays - rides perfectly...manuals reasonably, but it's not an all mountain thrasher, it's a trail bike....
lol at the hating/loving comments..... one mans meat, anothers murder, etc.....
it's a wonderful world, and the sun's oot today..... 🙂
i'll get a couple of better pictures today - it's a lovely day up here, wee bit chilly [2 deg c]...
i've got a black sadlle and some grips - might tone it down a bit, but i quite like it loud........ 8)
I think it looks ace mate. Not a fan if the square tubed back end, but love the green.
like i said, one man's meat.......... 😯
[i]i've got a black sadlle and some grips[/i]
you could try a sheet
Careful with your toes!
I like Nicolais, especially those Helius CC's.
But that looks a bit funny. Dont mind the red linkages but the head angle looks well off (and if anything, it should look slacker in the photo than it really is since the front wheel is raised slightly more than the rear)
It often seems to be the problem with these custom frame building companies such as Curtis and Enigma and Lynskey etc. Alot of their frames look to have dead ropey geometry. But people are silly and buy them cos they're "hand made" and "lovingly crafted" and all that bollocks.
Much better off getting something like a cotic/dialled/on one etc. where they've done lots of design work and tested lots of prototypes so they know its going to be right.
Haha... Yeah, I never demo'd one neither did Nicolai develop it.... Please, try and read the link I posted on page 1... Sums it all up really......
72 ha steers nicely on a 100mm 29er hardtail so not surprised if it handles well but boy does it look steep!
People are expressing their opinion. Do they have to say nice things just to please you and the OP or would you prefer an honest opinion?
Uh no, I understand the concept that people [i]say[/i] they don't like it because they don't like how it looks. I just don't understand how anyone could think that looked bad. It's the best-looking bike I've seen in years (head angle aside).
Seriously, you must have to watch out for toe overlap, no?
You don't want to take yourself out on a corner and then take a core sample of your own flesh with those bars!
I couldn't quite think what the green and white reminded me of but then it came to me.[IMG] 
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You don't want to take yourself out on a corner and then take a core sample of your own flesh with those bars!
This. My mate Rob gave me a minute start on a downhill, after waiting for 5 minutes at the bottom I knew something was wrong. I walked 1/3rd the way back up to meet him ashen faced on the way down. He'd overcooked a corner and slammed the bars into his stomach, he pulled his shirt up and asked me to tell him how it looked... A white bubble in a sea of red moush.
It wasn't serious, fortunately, but it must have stung a bit! His bar end had fallen out and he'd never got around to replacing it.
Damn, I'm missing a trick here - I've been designing bikes to ride like bikes when people actually want them to ride like bulldozers 😉
That sure is a bike only its father could love
Local kid came off his bmx near here last year. His unstoppered bar core-sampled his liver. Touch and go week in intensive care and he will probably never recover fully...
Other than that it looks interesting.
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Local kid came off his bmx near here last year. His unstoppered bar core-sampled his liver. Touch and go week in intensive care and he will probably never recover fully...
Quite - Dragon DH series wouldn't let you compete without bar ends for that reason. Simon, really, get something in those bars will ya! You want to enjoy that bad boy for years to come.
To be honest the HA does look a little on the steep side, but having read the [url= http://twentynineinches.com/2011/08/01/nicolai-helius-ac-short-term-test-final-review/ ]review[/url] I've seen on the bike it seems to work rather well.
But it looks a bit more normal here.
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Doesn't make me want one any less though, and I can see it happening this year at some point if I can just get over the [i]"I'll only have one MTB"[/i] thing I've got buzzing round my head.
Standard stock geometry on a medium ac29er...after 6 hours riding today to get it dialled in, I can confirm the geometry and ride abilities are blob on !
And more importantly , not one pedal strike......! 😛
I suppose the ha does look steeper than my ti456, which it is, but it's flawless in operation..
My only criticism is the wheels....they be.ong to dipper as I'm waiting for mine to be finished... Arch ex on nobby nic 2.25". These will give the bike more finesse and will be a little less bulldozer like, which suits me...
To say I'm delighted is an understatement... It completely out performs my helius am 26"er in all areas....especially technical climbs...
I reckon with 2 sets of wheels, crest and flow, there'd be very little you couldn't attempt on the standard bike..
Looking forward to getting my shadow plus mech and my wheels...
Looks great, did you buy some new riding gear for the occasion? 😀
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^^^^^^^^
Superb....
Haven't ridden a 29er with that sort of head angle for quite a while and don't plan to. Yes they steer quick, but for me it's too quick, too twitchy.
Has anyone mentioned that the head angle looks a bit steep yet ??
Damn, I'm missing a trick here - I've been designing bikes to ride like bikes when people actually want them to ride like bulldozersThats the best thing anyones written on this thread. So many people determining ride assumptions based on one parameter, christ.
I had the same view, coming off a 66deg bike. OMG the HA was what I kept thinking! OMG the loooong chain stays was what I kept thinking. I was in the process of ordering one so wanted to see for myself Borrowed Dippers, rode it loads solidly for 3 weeks, as an all round, do it all trail bike it rocks a hard one. Its bloody great.
iI manualled really well (a huge surprise) is stable, steers pretty fast but not silly (50mm stem, 750mm wide bars important here), is very stiff, comfortable, nice long TT for room to breath. pedalled well. Just great really. I really would say close to the 'one bike' for all.
The trouble is, so much media hype, so many people harping on about slacker and slacker, its just one number among many.
A great quote by someone on here about Enduro bikes and how you define one, I think he said something like, loads more travel than you need, loads slacker than you need is your perfect Enduro bike...
I rode Cwm Carn DH on my 120mm/100mm XC race bike the other day rather than finish on the XC loop, 26" wheels, lefty fork, 70deg HA. It was great fun, jumps, drops and all, can't say it felt dangerous either. Probably not quite as fast as if I was on the 66deg slugger AM bike, but much easier when I pedalled up again.
Enjoy it TLR.
Chainline , exactly.... It rides way better in real life than by analytical forum angle theorists would assume......