[-dustin]

proprietary spokes, pawls and springs, yadda yadda...i figure the best way to get to know a product is to ride it, right? a lot of opinions at the shop are based on what others hear. i don't like that. so, looks like this Pivot will be all sorts of newness for me...from the F32, to the dw-link, the wheels. i'm looking forward to it.

for those interested....

Stan's Arch
Gold hubs (heavier version...convertible front, 10mm thru rear)
black spokes

first set of 'boutique wheels' that i've ever purchased.

 

[Nick]

gold eh? extra special wait time for those?

 

[-dustin]

nah. 4 weeks-ish.

 

[greenchris]

i love my i9's on flows for my 2niner. after the initial break in they have been flawless

 

[Changleen]

:yawn:

 

[moff_quigley]

nah. 4 weeks-ish.

Good luck.

 

[mud'n'sweat]

I've got the UL's laced to arches and absolutely love them.

 

[-dustin]

i've got 2 months before i see the frame...wait time doesn't really bother me much. i figure i'll be lucky if i'm riding by March.

 

[greenchris]

buying i9's is like buying a turner. the wait is long initially but once you get them all is good. and when something breaks you have a new wheel/frame/whatever super fast. the customer service at i9 has been amazing.

 

[w00dy]

i love my i9's on flows for my 2niner. after the initial break in they have been flawless

What has to break in?

 

[greenchris]

after 3-6 hours of riding offroad the wheels need to be re-tensioned. after that they roll great foreva.
I had mine re-tensioned after their first ride and haven't had the slightest problem.
it seems if you do not do this the wheels will need to be tensioned more often.

 

[w00dy]

I wouldn't think I9's would need that. Being all super high tensiony.

 

[los jefes]

The I9's aren't high tension. The wheels are built to 95-105 kgf.
It's just the aluminum's resistance to deflection that makes them "feel" high tension.

 

[N8 v2.0]

welcome to last year

 

[-dustin]

hey N8, shut up.

Haven't you got some that are black and gold?

 

[LandoCalrissian]

I9's, hype sauce?

 

[N8 v2.0]

hey N8, shut up.

Haven't you got some that are black and gold?

and black/red....



tee hee

 

[-dustin]

first ride on rear wheel was today (QR adapters coming for front). very impressive. noticeably quicker than the XTs i was on. not sure if it was the loss of weight (about a pound including different tire) or the stiffness of the wheel. either way, initial impression is quite positive.

 

[greenchris]

i9 ftw.

 

[S.n.a.k.e.]

nothing but love for mine. After the initial break in tuneup they are still true. I did bust up the retaining clips on the pawls, but had parts in 3 days. Turns out, I have the 6 pawl (3 degree engagement) version. Very easy to work on.

 

[w00dy]

I did a funny exercise at work this week. Made a graph of the specific stiffness (stiffness divided by desity) for various metals. The graph came out flat. They all have the same ratio. Now I really don't see the benefit of going to aluminum spokes.

 

[hooples3]

very nice cant wait to see them..

I like the I9's especially with red rims and spoke..
but I also kind of like the new Crank bros wheels


CrankBros

 

[binary visions]

Now I really don't see the benefit of going to aluminum spokes.

...except that the aluminum spokes in the I9's are much thicker than the spokes in a traditional wheel, and they can be thicker for the same weight.

 

[Westy]

...except that the aluminum spokes in the I9's are much thicker than the spokes in a traditional wheel, and they can be thicker for the same weight.

Thicker yes but that doesn't mean the thicker spoke has a weight or rigidity advantage over other good alloys. At least from what Woody was trying to say. Aluminium has a weight/rigidity advantage over steel in applications where it handles forces in multiple directions because for a given weight it is thicker. A thicker material is more resistant to torsional forces, but a spoke sees tension only.

I think the advantage in the I9 design comes from the integration design philosophy not so much as material selection.

I'm running a custom build traditional XC wheelset that comes very close to their XC build weight and it is plenty rigid. It also cost several hundred less. Doing a ground up design gets that last few percent of strength/weight but also costs more.

I've had quite a few drinks, that was really hard to type. My apologies if it makes no sense.

 

[Dartman]

Re-inventing the wheel is all it is.

Gimme a good ol pair of handbuilt 3x wheels and I'm happy.

Please post back at the end of the year and let me know how your wheels are doing.