It is a great ride. Not too technical, swoopy enough to be fun.
I felt out of sorts on the bike today. I was very aware of the forward weight bias of this frame for some reason. Didn't bother me at all last ride, this time it bugged me right from the start.
Once again, the CVA suspension is the aspect that shined the best. It simply puts the power down without complaint and without bob. I hit a couple little drops on the side of the trail, and everything went well.
I finally hit the last three miles of trail (Smith Ravine). I have been trying for 7 years of so (figure 30-40 tries) to clean this trail. Most times, I don't have the fitness, and simply have to stop eventually and gasp. This trail gets steeper as it goes until you have about 1/2 mile of near fall line trail at the end, after you are already pretty tapped just to get to that point. I have done as well as a single dab on multiple occasions (always in different spots). On multiple bikes (including the Box). This trail is a Monkey on my back. I want to clean it.
Today was my day. The Niner's awesome suspension combined with longer stays and lower front end surely would be the answer. On top of that, the trails are slightly moist and tacky.
Alas, not to be, it was a one dab kind of day.
The good news is that the Niner is very easy to ride in "plant your nose on the stem, get in your smallest gear, and suffer until you can't anymore" type climbs. I felt fresher at the top than I do when pushing the Box up this hill. Like other longer stayed bikes, it takes very little body english to keep the front down. There is minimal need to ride the front of the saddle.
Coming down was a hoot as usual. Couldn't bomb like the box, but significantly better than my trips down with a Reba up front.
It was a good ride, and a great day to be out on the bike. I am definitely finding 120mm of travel to be a good all around multi-use amount of travel. Comfortable in tech, but not so much it is a chore to haul around.
Unfortunately, on this ride I became about 90% sure the Niner is the right frame for me. The why of it is complicated. The short version is that I just can not get entirely comfortable with its personality. My riding time is limited enough that I want to spend it riding bikes I love. The RIP 9 is a really nice bike, and I like it a lot. I'm sure we will still be friends after the break up, but I don't want to marry it.
I've given it to a friend to demo for a while to get some other feedback (this is a guy who rides a SIR 9 and his last FS bike was a Heckler). In the mean time, I will get ride time on the more beloved bikes and come back to the Niner for another taste to see if my opinion changes.
I was hoping he would buy the frame after the demo. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of letting him fool around on the other bikes while we were setting up the Niner for him. All of a sudden he had no interest in the Niner, and wanted to know if I'd consider selling the Milk Money........
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