My Nicolai Helius AC 29er has landed……

just needs a drivetrain, some rims and a build then it’ll be ready to ride….Cannae wait 😀

and thats Dippers’ sofa, nae mine !

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photo[/url] by the_lecht_rocks[/url], on Flickr

oh – thanks to Dipper at http://www.gravity-sports.co.uk for putting up with my “unique” customer requirements…….. 😯

A shock might come in handy too 😉

^^^

lol – rp23 kashima + float RLC kashimas ready to go……

Lovely, wish I’d never sold mine.

Off to look at website ££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££ 🙂

oldgit – did you have a helius AC 29″ ?

I want one too

No. Hardtail. Custom singlespeed. If there was one old MTB I could have back it would be that one.

Taken six years ago.

If I ever decide to sell my CC, it will be to buy an AC.

i had issues with my old helius AM.

not the bike for 95% of my riding.

the AC was always the better choice but unavailable when i bought my AM.

now with the benefit [for me] of 29″ wheels and in a helius AC, i reckon this one’s almost perfect……..

just need to get it completed 😯

bregante – just do it 🙂

God that HA looks steep!

😉

Is it the right colour then? You seen it in the flesh or is it just one of dipper iPhone specials?

Are you Welsh??

It looks Welsh to me that.

0.25 welsh, cokkin right…

It’s ano green, just as I wanted metal…….

Really interested in this TLR as I’m that close to getting one of these.

Just concerned about the head angle (looks steep) and the standover. I’m 5’9″ so not sure whether to go small or medium. Standover on these doesn’t look generous so keen to hear how you get on.

Lovely looking frame so keen to see it built up.

What size is it?

Chris

Not really my thing but brilliant colour choice. Love that anodised front end.

So unfortunate that the Uk dist is such a knob head otherwise that looks luverly.

onceinalifetime – you don’t have to deal with them…Dipper is very good as a dealer and takes the @$ap

Metalheart 72deg. It actually works just fine and dandy, not unstable or anything, frame stiffness and longer chain stays make it all good. For a small charge (£50 IIRC) you can put a 1.5″ head tube on and run an angle set or angle cups if you don’t like it even with a tapered fork to take it to 70.5deg. But actually the numbers do not reveal the ride.

See the refreshingly objective review here http://twentynineinches.com/2011/08/01/nicolai-helius-ac-short-term-test-final-review/

ikimbunza – standover is the same on all models unless you go custom. I am 5’10 and 31.5″ inside leg and its fine for me.

For what I would call all round riding, including jumps and fun at trail centres and longer rides the stock angles are spot on.

It pedals great, descends very well and is as stiff as. That was the biggest surprise really, just how stiff it is even compared to my previous AM. I cant tell if its an optical illusion but the tubing looks larger diameter than AM…

It even manuals and jumps rather nicely…

Anyway, congrats TLR, enjoy…

Chainline: I’ve ridden the AC, the same one you got/had. Yeah it’s fine, but for all that cash, I’d probably want 69-70 deg at 120mm for my money. Which is why i have a cotic solaris on order.

It’s mostly just me winding TLR up for his messing up my demo for me…

And +1 for Dipper/gravity sports. The man has the patience of a saint (and with TLR believe me you need it )

<waves at Simon>

Edit: it’s a fine looking frame all the same though. Looking forward to seeing it in the metal.

Chainline is right. It grips, pedals and rolls amazingly and is typically Nicolai stiff…. Superb…. Just a few weeks more and it’ll be ready to roll….

Solaris a different ball of chalk. Much shorter back end so you need more angle at the front, less travel at the back too;-)

I just can’t see needing it that (69-70) slack. Was giving it large at Penmachno last week with out peep from the front. Tallboy 70.5 with 120 but again shorter at the back. I’ll clarify, for any riding bar DH in the UK….

I like the Solaris tho…Had a few cotics, still got a soda in the family…

I just can’t see needing it that (69-70) slack

If I rode more and felt more confident it would be fine.

I’m a pussy, so give me (some) slack

Probably a very stupid question but why do Nicolai’s often have huge great Easton stickers on them?

Tim, they’ve not had that for years……….

I’m was thinking of getting the AC with normal sized wheels

now I have something else to think about 🙄

jools182 – me too – i was pulling the 26″ helius AC trigger when dipper suggested i try the 29″ AC

i was a non-believer, manufacturers hype, etc, until i rode the 29″.

AMAZING.

corner grip, climbing ability, big hits ironed out, brilliant trail riding stuff….. hence the decision…

TLR, I’ve been toying with an AC or AM to replace my BLT2 when the time comes, and I’ve spoken to one of the guys at Gravity Sports.

I did searched for reviews of the AC. Hardly found any meaningful ones, but one quite in depth review said the AC didn’t pedal that well uphill compared to his BLT2. If you’ve used an AC/AM in anger, any comments on climbing ability. It’s a given that the downhill ability won’t be a problem, especially seeing Messiah on his AM

Edit, I would be going 26″ as I’m a shortass and a 29 would look ridiculous

i cant comment on the AC 26″ as i’ve only ridden the 29″.

the 29″ is the one as it swoops through technical climbs and steam-rollers everything in it’s sight.

i suspect the 26″ AC wheel size would stall similar to other 26″ wheels over the same terrain…

sorry, can’t help.

one thing to consider is the nicolai build quality and inherent frame stiffness. mine is conehead with 12mm maxle rear keeping it all nice and tight and aligned….

my old 26″ Helius AM was NOT a technical climber. pedal strike and the need to run 36mm 160mm forks put paid to any “true” XC activities fwiw….albeit some folk do use the AM for XC, i see little point in it….esp when an AC 29″ can out-boulder-doze the AM anyway :madmax:

i think richard at gravity sports also advocates the abilities of the AC29er over the 26″ AM for trail riding too….

OK, thanks TLR. I think it was Richard I spoke to at GS. I probably need to try and get a test ride but on a 26″ as I’m too short for a 29″ to work.

I get up to the Cairngorm area quite a bit in summer so might bump into you at some point

richard will look after you – well worth an extended phone call to discuss your expectations / requirements…

assume you have his number ?

captainmainwaring you don’t have to be tall. I’m 5′ 10″ which I know is not short but I have had the the top tube dropped by 15mm and the seat tube just for stand over.

I’m surprised about the pedalling comment on the AC, they pedal very well in my experience, the LT2 is vpp isn’t it?

You do need to use the right shock and the older BV RP23s etc were the worst exponent of blowing mid travel and not sitting up which doesn’t help. current ones are much better and the likes of Monarchs etc suit the Nicolai very well.

A friend named Chris won Trans Provence on his AC and there is a s@£toad of climbing in that, no complaints from him.

I have a lefty forked RC 26″ and actually it climbs better than the AC29 I’ve been using on technical climbs. You have to blast the the AC and where its difficult and slow getting the wheels started again is not always as easy as my 26″. The big difference also is the lefty is very, very, very plush at slow speeds. Oh and it only weighs 20lb. forgot that!

i’ve no idea how tall you’d need to be in order to ride a small, but as chainline suggests, a custom dropped top tube is easily specced permitting standover.

if i was you captain, i’d have a word with dipper and determine feasibility of the 29″. it’s a better trail option than the 26 IMHO

I would agree the 29 is a cracking trail weapon for all round riding, you just don’t need any more travel for 90% of use and the other 10% is still fine, just probably won’t be DH bike fast…

I don’t have to ask TLR as I know he doesn’t do this type of riding 😉 …

but would you on a AC 29er???

Or is this stuff still the natural home of the AM?

i reckon the AC29er would manage that on a set of 29″ flows and a suitably strong hub/spoke selection TBH messiah.

the 29″ wheel is weaker than 26″ debate is a bit daft as it’s dependant on quality of wheel build.

a poorly built 26″ wheel will fail as readily as a poorly built 29″ wheel AFAIC

Messiah, Absolutely!!! However it would be slightly more suited to the AC29e I’ve ordered, which is about to land in the UK. Which is pretty close to Cyril’s/Whafes. So designed to run 140mm forks, and running up to 144mm at the back, but mine is designed to be run at 135mm optimum and down to 105mm.

I only say the above as I think the 32mm Fox 120mm is not the right fork for that type of malarkey. They are bringing out the 34mm version imminently though (Sea Otter) and I’d have no qualms about it then…

My intent is to race mine in the French, Italian and UK Enduro races as well as the likes of the Trans Provence. It’s to replace my AM.

I should have checked when I had Dippers but I could have sworn the AC29 was a bit stiffer than my AM and had a touch bigger diameter TT, but it could have been the shorter travel talking if you know what I mean.

I was jumping it all over the place at the Forest of Dean this weekend 🙂 testing out my newly tuned vipr on the back. Great fun..

650b is where it’s at.

What Ash said.

That drop looks familiar and no TLR cant do that…..