29ers are not dead, the revolution is just starting to pick up speed. Now geometry and equipment is making them suitable across all types of riding it’s only a matter of time until 26 and 27.5 become for the shorter of stature only… like 20″ and 24″ is for kiddies bikes.

You read it here first… :wink:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/arizona-woohoo

Looked good in the shop yesterday 8)

Unfortunatey I couldn’t take it out for a spin :cry:

Very interested in one of these… but I have a Ragley Bigwig to try first.

I wear whichever I feel like wearing… or whichever is on the bike from the last time I was out :roll:

If I want fast times its the SPD’s for sure, but for playing with technique and skills building I like flatties. Learn it on flatties, race it on SPD’s :twisted:

Interesting read.

biketest-commencal-meta-3-wheel-sizes-compared/[/url]

I read they really liked the 29er.

Sorry if I confused people by using the word “plush”?

The dictionary definition of plush is luxurious – I take this to mean soft and compliant. If you think how Fox/Marzocchi/RS forks and shocks typically feel in the showroom/car-park this to me is plush. You can almost get all the travel out of them with a quick thrust down; I think this test gives the prospective owner a feeling of confidence that the fork feels good and will ride well.

From my experience this is not a great test of how a fork and shock will feel on the trails. The Bos and Avalanche stuff I have used (and liked) do not respond well to this type of test, they do not give up all the travel due to the compression damping. But on the trails they use all the travel when its required.

I think those that have ridden them will agree that Bos (and Avy) feel different to Fox/etc. Some people will like it (or love it) and others won’t; but its good to be aware that it is a little different when shopping. I don’t think there is a wrong or a right; people just like different things.

Pinkbike have an amusing review or some Industry-nine wheels. Between saying how well made the hubs are they are explaining how badly made they are…

I don’t need any brakes on my offroad fixie most of the time… but I would never remove them.

Using the brakes on the fixie makes me feel dirty… it should not be done even on techy trails. Control the speed with your legs and feel them burn.

Another Black-Spire post.

Frame is cracked exactly where you would expect.

Do not try and colour match with Kashima.

stevede

Wow you preferred the float 32’s to a deville?!! You’ve either got the best set of 32’s ever produced or there was something seriously wrong with your devilles!

I can see why someone would think like this. My experience of the Deville (and VIPr) is that it is not the typical “plush” suspension of (say) Fox, it is a firm feeling suspension which a rider may not like; especially if they have a firm front and soft rear (or vice versa).

The only downside of dropper ownership is wanting one on all the bikes you ride offroad.

If you go Blue do the hubs only… do not do the rotors or anything else :evil:

Less is more :wink:

Spend the money on a Reverb.

Blue or Silver for the hubs.

650b Pike is 10mm longer axle to crown and has 2mm more offset; so pretty much the same difference as adding a Fox 36 instead of your 32 (without buying a really old and heavy design of fork).

If your frame can handle the extra 10mm of fork length I see no downside to buying the 650b Pike, its certainly what I would be doing in your shoes (unless someone comes on here and explains why I am wrong).

Best fork I have used was a 55 RC3-Ti with an Avalanche Downhill damper, but that wouldn’t save you any weight :wink: .

Of the Bos Deville vs Pike I would agree with what has been said above in that the Bos feels more controlled. The Pike feels good but there is an inconsistency to the damping in that it sometimes feels a bit on/off leading to occasionally blowing through the travel (still feels better than most other forks and is not the end of the world… won’t stop me buying one).

The Bos and Pike feel similar but different, they both hold up in the travel but the Bos has a more pronounced feeling of control/firmness which may or not suit you; if you like running a soft rear spring it probably won’t. The Deville rides very firm in the first part of its travel and if you run a saggy rear end (oooh er missus) its likely to feel unballanced.

What rear shock are you going to run? Its worth thinking hollistically if you want a ballanced set-up :mrgreen:

I bought some that were meant to be “warm-white”… looks more like “morgue-white”.

Be careful what you buy.

Wow!

Fox 36 Float with long 1-1/8″ steerer over on Pinkbike.

http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1502645/

I like the look of the 35mm stem

Hope its not a boat anchor :wink:

23mm wide enduro rims are lagging a bit behind the get-wide fad.

10spd clutch rear mech not required to get nine speed to work with wide/narrow. I have nine speed 11-34 with RaceFace wide/narrow working brilliantly.

The dinky Saint rear mech has a strong return spring and so far no dropped chains in many months of use (completely different to with an SLX rear mech and Renthal ring which was droptastic)

Rockshox Domain? (Totem air would be awesome but very rare; especially with a long 1-1/8″ steerer)

Two Domains with long steerers on ebay

Linky 2

Linky 1

Pretty basic inside so with a bit of mechanical know-how you could reduce the travel to whatever you desire.

Pinkbike how to lower a Domain

Or fit a U-turn spring which I think goes to 115mm – TFT have them listed.

I called the local surgery yesterday…

1. First available appointment with my GP is Feb 24th

2. First available appointment with any GP is Feb 14th

3. Phone at 8.30 tomorrow and hope to get an on the day appointment.

My reason for the appointment is not urgent but I don’t want to be waiting 3+ weeks either!!!

9spd Saint rear mechs have a powerful return spring, I’ve been running one on a hardtail with a raceface WN chainring and not lost the chain.

35mm (and just over budget).

ControlTech FX 45mm is nice if you can find one.

Shame you can’t fit a 1.5″ steerer, I would have thought a tandem would be a great application for those big steerer forks.

I found this and thought of this thread.[/url]

Hope it’s useful.

I have the same dilemma for my Nicolai Ion 15…

Hoping to see one of these in the metal on Thursday… quite excited!

Flounce

noun: flounce; plural noun: flounces

an exaggerated action intended to express annoyance or impatience.

“he left the forum with a flounce”

If I read that reply with my tongue-in-cheek mode engaged I get where your coming from… i.e. schoolboy humour.

I don’t want to comment on the bike as I don’t wish to offend. I like the concept and geometry looks interesting but it looks like a POS and your idea of selling it by saying its great with few details other than some poor photographs is wa-aaaaaaaay off the mark of what is required.

Check out how BTR do it… get it out at the races and show what it can do under a decent rider rather than just saying its great because we say so (and if you don’t believe us we shall call you names).

Hopefully you can get it together and look back on this as rather embarassing.

I’ve read elswhere that BOS asked Surf-Sales to buy more product without fulfilling the outstanding order for spare parts, and Surf-Sales said that they wouldn’t buy more product without getting the spares. History repeats as how BOS treated R53 then.

BOS sound like hard work which is a shame as the kit I’ve tested was very good… but I wouldn’t touch it with your mum until they get their poop in a pile…

Does it absolutely have to be brand new, If I had £3000 to drop right now on a bike. That Nicolai in the classifieds is essentially perfect!

This^^

Although having experienced an awesome AM 29er I would add one of these to the must consider list.

Linky

Add a Reverb Stealth.

Love his work.

I was at the Theatre-Museum Dalí in Figueres last year :)

Pretty much this with a few changes.

Most of which I have on order :mrgreen:

Good news!

There is good info about the Nicolai prototype in the 2014 Nicolai catalogue jazz mag.

I think what they are doing is really interesting, I’d love to swing a leg over some of their creations.

Pike vs Deville?

I liked both of them, they feel quite similar in how they hold up in the travel and resist diving. I would say the Pike feels more supple at the start of its travel but not as controlled when pushed hard. The control the Deville has makes it feel like it needs a good shove to get it going, a fork that responds well to being thrown into things and worked hard. I bottomed out the Pike in similar stuff as it blew through the travel a bit, this might just be a set up issue involving an air chamber spacer. I didn’t bottom out the Deville but a good friend of mine couldnt get on with his for that reason. Neither fork feels as good my Marzocchi 55 RC3-Ti with an Avalanche damper…

Note – I didn’t tweak either the Pike or the Deville I had as they were borrowed, but both of them felt pretty good with the standard settings and I would happily ride either.

The Pike is the top of my current list for my new frame… and now Avalanche make a damper cart to fit 8) ).

My Hope Evo’s have been fine for over two years… the version before the Evo tended to last me weeks at best.

Demo Nicolai Ion 15 I had.

Here is what I wrote at the time about the suspension.

Great bikes are great bikes. What has put me off even trying 29ers until now is forks. I’ve tried to use 32mm stanchioned forks a few times over the past few years and for where and the way I ride I hate them – noodly b***rds of things that have me struggling to keep the bike in a straight line through the porridge, wet roots and rocks which I have/love to ride. The 29er Pike fork on Dippers ION is a great fork and fixes this issue; it goes where you point it and there is no “sawing-action” required at the front of the bike to keep it going there. Damping wise the Pike feels good although I did bottom it out a few times on some bigger hits where the fork feels to blow though the travel; it might need a different volume spacer or some other fiddling (I ride a little harder than Dipper… and I’m used to my Marzocchi 55 fork with an Avalanche damper which is amazing). The CCDB-Air shock feels like a very good match for the Pike fork, again no unpleasant traits but not lively as is the CCDB way. There is some pedal bob when honking out of the saddle with the bike (as you would expect, I didn’t try the switch thing as I always forget to switch them back), and I would prefer if the fork and shock were a little more supple but that’s my personal preference and I wasn’t willing to fiddle with Dippers set up as it was damn good as it was.

I want one of those frames… but as a second bike a grand for the frame is way more than I would pay.