Caveat-While I have no qualms about Niner quality, I have never cottoned to their geometry. I spent 2 weeks on a SS Sir 9 my buddy was looking to unload. Good bike, had a nice spec, but just felt pretty blah about the handling....on the other hand, Niner has many, many enthusiasts who say other wise.
Liam, I'm curious....what do you look for in geometry in a bike? And, following that, what kind of handling characteristics do you like? I ask this with the understanding that your needs may be quite different from mine because of where you ride, the terrain, what kind of riding you do, etc.
Considering the smooth trails we have here in southern Ontario, an XC bike suits most people perfectly well, and will handle 95% of the terrain. You will rarely see an all-mtn. bike or heavier rig. There is still a good market for XC hardtail 26ers, actually, and I would guess that about 40% of bikes we encounter on the singletrack are of that species. My wife and 13 year old daughter ride one, and manage perfectly well -- there is almost nothing they won't or can't tackle in our woods. 29ers are becoming more popular, and about 20% ride those -- all hardtails, with the odd singlespeed in the mix. The other 40% are light XC full suspension bikes.
Personally speaking, the geometry that I seem to prefer is moderate HTA (say 70 deg. or so) for balanced handling, and a shorter chainstay for good climbing (there are a lot of steep, short climbs). I know little about how STA affects handling, other than determining how short the chainstays can be, and how the rider's legs align with the crank. Re. the HTA -- I have ridden both extremes, too steep and too slack. I spent time on an '09 Stumpjumper Comp 29er that must have had a steep HTA, because it was so twitchy and nervous that I would not want to take it around any tight twisty singletrack, or down a fast descent. A hiccup would have sent me into the trees. OTOH, I have been spent a few days on full-suss all mtn. 26ers with slack head tubes, and they handled like grandpa's old Buick. Boring..... But if I rode in more rugged terrain, I would own one, and can see the merits of a high BB and slack steering.
Anyway, interested to hear what your tastes are. From Josh's pics, there seems to be some rugged stuff you guys need to get through. Is your area similar?
Home
Login
Register