29er question-a bit of a story

[greenchris]

Ive been riding my bianchi guss singlespeed off and on since winter and im coming to grips that i dont care for the angles. The last few bikes ive had have all been duallys with slacker head angles giving me a taller front end. I like this angle as it makes riding the more technical stuff a lot more fun but with my bianchi i feel like im laying down. Now ive been looking at chameleons as they have a more suitable angles for aggressive riding. Then today i see the niner SIR 9 and i start thinking crazy thoughts. Would the niner with that high front end give me both a position on the bike and the aggressive head angles of the chameleon? I havent read much on the bike as i plan to but damn this is a good lookin bike! Thanks sorry for the story...
http://www.ninerbikes.com/images/bigsir9pic.jpg

[peter6061]

I'm just waiting on my buddy's shop to get them in so I get get mine. They sure look nice.

[MMcG]

I'm waiting for a slightly used Niner EMD 9 and I'm going to put a REba on it. Can't wait to see how the long TT/Short stem approach to 29er geometry works for me.

And to have a frame that is 3 pounds lighter than my previous one will be nice too.

[greenchris]

I'm waiting for a slightly used Niner EMD 9 and I'm going to put a REba on it. Can't wait to see how the long TT/Short stem approach to 29er geometry works for me.

And to have a frame that is 3 pounds lighter than my previous one will be nice too.

Im sure its going to handle awesome! After a couple rides maybe ill pick your brain and see how tall your front end is and how sloping your top tube is.

[Guitar Ted]

Greenchris: You didn't really mention it, but do you ride really techy stuff, or DH that requires the slacker angles? I was just curious, because it might be that a 29"er would work out just right for you.

You see, you said that you admire the angles of the Niner: sloping top tube, lots of standover, right? Well most 29"er hardtails are this way. The suspension correction in tandem with the bigger wheels automatically gives you that higher front end you mentioned. Heck, alot of us 29"ers are trying to find ways to get the bars lower!

I've got an Inbred 29"er hardtail that I ended up flipping the positive five degree stem upside down on to lower my Niner Flat Top bar to XC height. With a long top tube/ short stem set up, you shouldn't have any problem what so ever dialing in a posistion that suits you with a flat bar and normal rise stem, or go extreme with a one inch rise stem! Really, it's like having a three inch rise on an equivilent sized 26"er.

Plus, you'll have the excellent roll over characteristics of a 29"er wheel. Better cornering grip, and less loss of momentum. Like down hills? Then 29"ers are for you. I was riding some fresh, loose gravel downhills this past weekend. 25-30 plus mph stuff, and flying away from the 26"ers because they were fish tailing and wallowing in the fresh, marbley gravel, while I floated over the top. This was on my Karate Monkey with drop bars!

You're on the forum, so you must have some inkling of what's going on with a 29"er. Try it out. I think you'll like it.

[greenchris]

Ted thanks much for info:thumb:
Yeah I ride everything but i like having the standover room and the sloping top tube for the 'fun stuff'. All i have to do is sell my bianchi and ill be ordering a Niner. Im hoping for a strong/sturdy do everything bike.

[MMcG]

greenchris - I think you'll get what you are looking for in a 29er. I've found descending on my 29er to be much easier than my 26er I had before and my 29er has 3 inches less travel. It is the angle of attack for the front wheel that's the difference.:thumb:

Cheers,

Mark