Monday, April 24

NINER SIR 9 29er – singlespeed or derailleur…up to you !

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

NINER SIR9 in the only multi-bike of the American Brand specialized in 29er bikes....well it is more than that, this wheel size it is they one and only true love ! So yes Niner is really experienced with this wheel size and riding the NINER SIR9 should make you feel right on it straight away. Why is it a "multi-bike", because the frame is designed, keeping its vertical dropout, with an CNC machined asymmetric eccentric bottom bracket. So you can built it as a SingleSpeed or with dérailleur.

THE NINER SIR9 is fully made of a custom Reynolds 853 tube set, custom because Niner worked closely with Reynolds to get the right balance between spring and strength. The down tube, also from the set Reynolds 853, is custom bent on the request of Niner. It allow to attach this tube lower on the headtube to reduce front end torsional flex and increasing steering precision.
The headtube is 44mm, from Reynolds 631, and allow you to mount a non tapered or a tapered fork. Rear drop out are 142x12mm, which allow to get a stiffer rear, combine with a front 15mm axle, it ll be perfect.

The specificity of the NINER SIR9 is the multti-bike idea thanks to the BioCentric II bottom bracket system (eccentric bottom bracket) which is quite different than regular eccentric system. So whatever you go Singlespeed or Geared, the BioCentric II have its use : " The BioCentric II offsets the bottom bracket spindle 8.5mm from center, offering greater range of adjustment. More offset is a boon when changing gears without having to change chain length and it allows to make more noticeable changes to frame geometry via BB position. The BioCentric II uses two bolts to apply a clamping force on the outside edges of the BB shell, eliminating the possibility of ovalizing or indexing the shell itself."
The frame features removable down tube cable stops allows a very clean singlespeed set up.

On the track, it looks like that NINER have took in consideration 29" rumor. Main review report that the bike is stable but also pretty easy to handle on the track : turning is quite easy, you do not get stuck in a line even at low pace. The rear is responsive but do not twist. On the climb maybe you cannot get the pure efficiency of a classical XC racing machine, but you keep muscle till the end. It is globaly a sweet - smooth bike to ride, steel do the job absorption, a good companion for short but better long ride.

The NINER SIR9 is sold as a Frameset for around 1000 US DOLLARS or as a complete bike with different level of equipment starting at 2300 US DOLLARS.
3 colours are available for the frameset : Arctic White, Tamale, Blaze Yellow.
2 colours are available for the complete bike : Arctic White, Blaze Yellow.

Where to get a Niner ? : http://www.ninerbikes.com/dealers

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier

SIR 9 niner cross country steel bike veloacier