On Saturday morning I got an
email from Pro Peloton saying that my frame had arrived; my new frame that I
have been waiting months for. It was an
incredibly nice day, so instead of being the kid on Christmas morning and
rushing over to unwrap my new toy, I decided to persevere and go on a long
ride. I took the cross bike into the
mountains, up to Jamestown, back down the canyon, then up James canyon almost
to Ward, before I noticed a slow leak in my rear tire. So I turned around and headed back. About 8 miles all downhill, stopping every 2
miles or so to put more air in my tire.
Normally this would’ve ruined my day, but I knew what lay ahead.
I picked it up around 5pm
Saturday, traded ProP a growler of Mountain Sun stout and cash, and went
home. By 10pm Saturday night my new bike
was put together in entirety. These 5 hours
could have been expedited had it not been for beers and social activity at my
house that had me taking breaks.
Everything went together pretty smoothly. Unfortunately it would not be ready to ride
until I could get it to the shop for the brake lines to be trimmed. So here it sat, staring me down in all its
beauty.
After months of waiting,
contemplating setups, compiling parts, and most importantly, not riding a
singlespeed(!!), my dreams are finally a reality. The bike that I will do most of my racing on
in 2013, barring any catastrophic events, has finally been finished. I could jump into the juicy details of this
amazing, way-too-good-to-be-true, I-am-not-worthy,
not-fit-for-someone-of-my-income-status build that I have put together, but first
I would like to take a step back. Why and
how did this all happen? How is it that
I have this amazing machine sitting in front of me (literally, right now, I’m
looking at it. Drooling slightly.)? Four months of agonizing SS-withdraw and here
I am. It turns out that anything good is
worth waiting for.
First I had to break my old
S.I.R.9. 2 ½ years of abuse and racing and voila! Next, decide on new frame,
and coinciding parts. Luckily, the frame decision process and monetary
acquisitions took longer than expected because it gave me time to acquire a
baller set of components for this build.
A few, unforeseen circumstances happened that would accelerate the
process while keeping it affordable.
First, enter VeloSwap in Denver. Among
the millions of bike parts available at discounted prices, I found these Magura Marta SL brakes on the cheap! One of the
most expensive parts of my build: check.
Next up, thanks to some awesome product support from sponsors such as
Crank Brothers and Maxxis, fancy carbon bits and new rubber was acquired. The last component of real importance and
expense would be the crankset. Being
that there are a plethora of nice cranksets on the market, how does one
decide? As I was scouring online
retailers for the best crankset, price per weight, and one that is still
external BB, it dawned on me that SRAM had just released an industry-breakthrough
crankset this year. The new XX1 group
from SRAM is probably the most influential new product on the market. Oh, it comes in external BB? Oh, it’s still way more affordable than XTR,
while also being lighter? It was also designed as a single-chainring specific
crank, so I don’t have to buy a triple crankset again and use it for SS? Okay, SOLD.
Thanks to good friends at Virtuous Cycles, the XX1 crankset was had only
days after checking it out online. Once
I knew that my frame was on order, I sent my Lefty fork over to Mendon Cyclesmith for a complete service and overhaul.
It seemed like it took
forever to finally get this build wrapped up, but it turns out that the extra time
was a blessing. Instead of rushing to
buy parts, and either over-spending or getting less-than ideal stuff, I waited and
think I have put together the most optimal race bike.
The Goods:
Frame: 2013 Niner One 9 (L)
Fork: Lefty Carbon DLR 80mm (soon replacing with
100mm carbon Lefty)
Wheels: Stans Race Gold
Cranks: SRAM XX1
Chainring: XX1 32t (soon to be MRP Bling Ring)
Cog: Chris King cogs all day
Brakes: Magura Marta SL (soon to be Formula R1 Racing)
Seatpost: Easton EC90
Saddle: Fi’zi:k Tundra II
Stem: Ritchey WCS
Handlebars: Crank Brother Cobalt 11 carbon
Grips: Ergon GX2 Team Carbon
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 3
Weight: 19.5 lbs (could
drop a lb with lighter tires, but I love beefy rubber!)
This is an absolute dream
build. Never would I have thought, even
6 months ago, that I’d be riding such a well-equipped machine. I’ve talked a lot about how I was not on a
competitive, by comparison, race bike last year. Now I am.
Now I have no excuses but to go out and crush. I must give much love to my support and
product sponsors for helping make this happen.
Thanks Virtuous Cycles,
Maxxis Tires, Crank Brothers, Formula Brakes, Smith Eyewear, WhiteBrothers/MRP.
First Ride Impressions:
Light, stiff, fast. Period.
I can’t wait to ride this thing again!!
It is the lightest and most stiff MTB I’ve owned. I took it out for an inaugural ride up
Sunshine Canyon, then over to Betasso Preserve for some singletrack
action. My first impressions while
climbing up the road were of the quietness and efficiency of SRAM’s new XX1
crankset paired with the Chris King cog.
There has been some speculation in the MTB world whether this crankset
would work well with 10-speed chains.
SRAM has designed their all-new XX1 drivetrain to work with their
proprietary 11-speed chain, but for SS use it works great with a 10-speed
chain. It was super quiet and efficient
all day. Next up, the brand new Magura
Marta SL brakes. Since they were brand
new, they needed some bedding in before good power could be had. After that, I really liked the modulation and
feel. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever
experienced good modulation before. The
only other hydraulics I’ve used have been Avid Elixirs, which are pretty much “on”
or “off”. The Avids are powerful, but
can also be quite grabby. The modulation
and touch of the Maguras was very nice.
I wouldn’t say they are as powerful as the Elixir CR’s I run on other
bikes, but are much nicer to use. Once
hitting the trails, the real magic of this bike started to shine. First off, I love big beefy tires. In my opinion, tires are the most important
part of your ride. They are the only
thing that makes contact with the ground!
I’ve seen my fair share of racers running super-lightweight flimsy
side-wall tires that don’t perform very well and are also extremely prone to
flatting. Not for me. Having that big cush and awesome grip of the
Ardent 2.4 up front was confidence inspiring.
Paired with the Crossmark on the rear, which proved to be an excellent
rear tire choice for singlespeeding, this combo was making me happy throughout
the ride. Last but definitely not least was
the new One 9 frame. Once on the trail,
I was happily reminded of why I loved the geometry of the SIR9 so much! The handling and fit of the One9 felt eerily
similar to that of my old steed. For
this reason, I instantly felt comfortable on it. Its light weight and stiffness were apparent
as it would accelerate quickly and almost dance or skip over small
obstacles. Much more time is needed on
this frame before I can give a full review but my initial reactions are that it is everything I was missing on the SIR9
in the stiffness and weight realms, and is going to be a great race bike for
this year.
Now all I need is this
snow to go away in Colorado, so I can get out and ride more!!
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