Am I mad – Niner Air Carbon

Loved these since they first came out and although I love my On One 29er Scandal V2 the stupid swappable drop-outs are creaking like mad even after filing down the captive nuts that are too long, using anti seize, grease, nothing on the mating faces etc.

Seems like the torque I put into the frame with a 32/18 setup and the big old hills (and my legs :wink:) makes them move ever so slightly, I even have a wear mark in the mating face of the frame now after 2 months of riding.

So the only option is to blow £1700 on a Niner Air Carbon simplz 😆

Proper having a fight between head and heart (and my stomach just feels sick either way lol)

I have ridden mtb for 22 years now and am the fittest I have ever been and LOVE 29ers, I am doing back to back 50-60 mile rides at the weekend and hope to do my first century in a few weeks so I don’t mind spending on bikes but even for me it is a pricey old frame.

I have looked at so many other options but there are just not that many SS 29ers especially in the UK apart from a slightly shorter chainstay and lower stand over teh Niner Medium is virtually identical to the Scandal which is spot on for me fit wise.

What to do 😆

You want it, it’s your money, so buy it. You only live once.

You have a wear mark on your mating face. Jeez. 😯

Seems like the torque I put into the frame with a 32/18

*Swoon*

Pivot LES is definitely worth a look and matches what you want.
SS or gears with swap out dropouts. Lighter than the Niner and better/sensible cable routing (ie. its not a complete ball ache to replace cables).

Those Niners are gorgeous. Got to get a rigid fork too otherwise you may as well have any other frame.

lmao you funny guys 😆

Not keen on the aesthetics of the Pivot LES and it has swappable drop-outs which I am not a fan of at present and being in the UK sourcing a frame maybe tough but thanks for the sugestion

Loads of Pivot dealers in UK, like FreeBorn

Have you actually ridden it? Sometimes it’s meant to be, I spent ages shuffling through frames trying to put off the inevitable of getting a Ragley Ti, might as well have gone straight there.

OTOH it felt like it was meant to be when I got my Herb- always lusted after one then along came a new one at a ludicrous price, but we never gelled.

Not keen on the aesthetics of the Pivot LES and it has swappable drop-outs which I am not a fan of at present and being in the UK sourcing a frame maybe tough but thanks for the sugestion

So you would rather have a creaky EBB? The swapout dropouts on the pivot are very different to the on-one.
Loads of dealers too and demo bikes floating about.

Sounds like you are already set on the Niner though.

I rode with someone on a Niner with the rigid forks at the weekend. It looked lovely.

He does find that the front end is almost too light (I had the same experience with a niner fork on a scandal) – it tends to ping off stuff and you can’t put too much weight on it to hold it down without making your wrists ache over time.

I ride a Scandal 29er, I switch between s/s and geared but I have an original Scandium one with slot drop out. Amazing frame and very light and run it with Exotic carbon forks. It’s my perfect bike, if you could only find a frame, now that would be a bargain!
Oh! if you can afford the Niner? Go for it!
Good luck.

You’re not mad if you want one.

The Intense Hard Eddie looked nice too.

As for EBBs I’ve had 3 (none of them Niner), all creak free.

Wwaswas – was I riding with you on the Prestige shop ride on Sunday cos they sound like my Niner comments, only I didn’t know you by that name?

Yes was me 🙂 *waves* I hope I haven’t misrepresented your views!

Like you I’ve been riding mountain bikes for many years (30 years 2014) and I now find I choose bikes on the basis of whether it “just feels right”
Never mind the hype, never mind the numbers,never mind the engineering sometimes you can tell your on something special. The first time I rode the Air 9 (RDO) I got “that” feeling. I love riding the Niner,the only way I can describe it is its like riding a road bike that you can tackle some seriously tricky trails – I ride mine currently with the rigid fork and my local trails are Dartmoor,Exmoor and Q’s
The only alternative I could suggest is you try the OMD as well. Its heavier but still has that special ride feel.

No, super silly light at the front and skips around like an excited puppy until it’s been trained.
Carbon wheels probably don’t help in that respect; but my, does it climb & ‘float’ – a great bike, which will be even lighter when I go 1 x 10.

Do
It,
Buy
It.

I ride a One9 SS and its the sexiest thing this side of the sofa. EBB doesn’t creak, it’s yer knees 😆

If I didn’t feel sexy riding mine, I’d buy an Air9C.

Bb, have a one9 SS too, agreed, if it wasn’t ace I’d be on a air9c

No your not mad, if you love it the cost will soon be forgotten, if you don’t get on with it though…

I have a similar dilemma, also have a scandle v2 also had issues with the dropouts (funny that). Sold on 29 thang, and fed up with marketing bs (such as push fit bb). So I’m after something steel, standard BB, non swapout drop outs, or EBB (I don’t need either), Solaris is close, but a little overbuilt for my 60kg bulk. May end up going custom, but prefer something cheaper off the peg

Edit – Just looked at the carbon niner, your right to be tempted, ah go on

No, don’t buy it (For balance)

I think they look ugly. BB seems overcomplicated (to me).

I thought about a air nine carbon, or hard eddie as they were the only carbon SS 29ers I could find. However in the end I decided they were just ridiculously over-priced, so instead bought one of those Chinese 29er frame and forks off ebay. And with the money saved bought a full XTR 2×10 groupset and a decent set of wheels. On balance I can live with the extra gears.

I have two mates who have them and are very pleased. Rode with someone on one the other day and the BB creaked horrendously.

If you do suffer creaky EBB’s it can be fixed by either PTFE tape wrapped around the face of the shell and/or that carbon paste.
I use PTFE as the EBB doesn’t fit as snugly as I would have liked. Been surprisingly quiet for a couple of years now.
It’s a common fix for an intermittent problem.

If you need more fixes or any Niner info MTBR have a whole forum on Niners (incl some uber sexy owner pics etc.) and Niner themselves have a whole load of stuff on their website (incl their interpretation on creaky EBB’s)

At SSUK there were two Orange Air9C’s one with boingy things on the front and one with the rigid carbon forks, me I preferred the rigid one but both looked very nice and I rode for a short time with them and I didn’t hear and creaks, though heard a few groans 😆

Saw this on Twitter yesterday: ”a great philosopher once said”. I think it applies quite clearly in this dilemma.

Tried to edit my thread by hey, here’s the link to MTBR about EBB’s …

EBB fixes by Niner & Owners off MTBR

New yeti arc another option

My bling 29er SS shortlist:

Niner Air 9 Carbon
Salsa El Mariachi Titanium
Intense Hard Eddie
Santa Cruz Highball Carbon

Thankfully I haven’t got the cash spare for any of them. The decision might kill me.

I like the look of the Intense too..

Also, also for balance (cough) Niner have the EBB2 out now ( it has two bolts for the clamp instead on one ) I think you still have to use carbogrip or the pipe fitters paste just to help seal it, but looks good.
Stif Cycles in Pately Bridge have them..

There is another lad on here who has either an EMD SS or One9 in Black, rides up Pennines way somewhere, be good to hear from him for his thoughts.. He stuck a photo on a SS thread a while back..

Saw this on Twitter yesterday: “a great philosopher once said”. I think it applies quite clearly in this dilemma.

Like.

OP here’s what you should do: mail Salsa and ask them to make some more Selmas (Scandium with carbon chainstays). Then buy them all.

(Or get one of the Chinese frames).

you want us to justify your buying a bike? get outta here dude …

buy what you wanna buy and remove the word justify from your dictionary.

Next!

don’t tell anyone, but I had a go on a singlespeed air9 carbon and it was awesome. feel dirty.

Test ride a highball alu frame. Pocket the difference of spend it on carbon wheels, forks, post, bars and even cranks if you’re wanting to go silly weight wise. If you’re really fit, does it really matter about a little extra weight in the frame?

Also, test ride a superfly while you’re at it. I think you’ll find the steering action to be way superior to the Niner.

We’re not really helping are we?

If you’re really fit, does it really matter about a little extra weight in the frame?

Depends if the OP feels this is a weight weenie build. If he does, yes, it all matters. If not, no.

(But mostly, no).

I nearly bought an A9C a few months ago, they are undeniably objects of desire. But I got outbid and eventually ended up with my Selma at a fraction of the price. I wouldn’t swap it now.

Bikebouy – I might be the one you’re probably thinking of but I know there’s another on here as well.

Niner One9 running singlespeed with the niner fork. EBB fitted with carbo-grip has been silent and trouble free, certainly much better than sliding/slot dropouts I’ve used in the past. But the same can be said of all the EBB setups I’ve used, much more reliable in my experience.

I think you should definitely buy one…..

Mine

Flange you are a tart 😆 thanks for that pic 😆

Ivan, yes indeed it’s you who I was thinking about, lovely bike that.. Great pic 8)

No creaks here other than my shonky pedals.

Love my Niner. It’s only the SIR.9 but it just has a feel to it that no amount of posh kit could extract from my old Inbred.