Felt NINE Ltd Review

In my search of the pinnacle of perfection with regard to my next racing mountain bike, my adventures have taken me to the land of 29ers.  For those of you that are, shall we say, "not in the know"...a typical mountain bike uses 26" diameter wheels.  A 29er, as could be reasonably inferred, is a mountain bike using 29" wheels.

Bigger wheel = heavier; but...

Bigger wheel = higher momentum
Bigger wheel = better traction
Bigger wheel = better center of gravity
Bigger wheel = shallower angle of attack (meaning bumps affect the path and momentum of the bike less)

Since I've been racing on a full-suspension (again - this is a "shock absorber" on both the front wheel/fork and rear wheel/frame) 26er for my entire 'career', I have been subconsciously pushed toward creating an uberlight full-suspension 29er.  Through all my research, as well as the ability to demo a race-oriented FS 29er from Intense, I've found two things to be true:

• The lightest I'm going to get any of the current-gen full-suspension 29ers is in the realm of high 25-lb range.
• I'm going to spend between $4,000 and $6,000 to accomplish that feat.

So, I sat back and took a hard look at hardtails (a mountain bike without the rear wheel suspension) again.  I've been told, and read other people in various internet forums, that you don't need rear suspension with the 29er, because of the positives listed above.  But, I'm a skeptic.  So I borrowed Elgee's (http://addictedtobicycles.blogspot.com) Felt NINE Ltd (carbon hardtail 29er), and took it out for a spin on the Eagle Race Course.  Bike was set up with a RockShox Reba Race fork, a full compliment of carbon cockpit components, Avid Elixir disc brakes, and Mavic C29ssmax wheels meated up with Hutchinson Pythons running tubeless. 

The course sets up in a figure-eight; the first section consists of fireroad climbing and swoopy windey singletrack descent through sagebrush.  The second section consists of more fireroad climbing, a singletrack climb up over a ridge, and a quasi-technical singletrack descent, finishing up with some more swoopy windey singletrack.  This isn't the steepest stuff you'll climb, or the gnarliest stuff you'll descend, but it does give you a good general proving ground for bikes, and the whole figure-eight is pretty quick.

My quick afternoon demo of the Felt NINE Ltd wasn't ideal, as the bike I was riding is only a 20.5" frame size.  I say 'only' because no matter what I were to do with stem length and seatposts, this frame would NEVER fit me.  But it is the largest carbon frame size Felt manufactures.

The first thing I noticed is how the bike responds when climbing out of the saddle.  It just goes.  Even my Specialized Epic has a little sag in it when you stand up; regardless of how tight you have the Brain set.  No, this bike has the feeling that every watt you dump into the cranks gets directly translated to the rear wheel.

Ride quality felt harsh at first, on the climb.  Regardless of how shallow the attack angle is, if you're fat-assing the saddle, you will get jarred every time the rear wheel tracks up and over a rock.  That being said, there wasn't much chatter or trail feedback felt - it was really smooth with the exception of rolling the rear over a decent sized bump.  However, I ride my Epic really stiff; in retrospect, the Felt wasn't substantially bumpier than a ride aboard the Specialized.


This bike absolutely destroys fire road climbs and smooth singletrack.  Between the stiffness of the bike and the better center of gravity, the Felt rides through corners like its on rails.

When descending, the lack of suspension wasn't noticed.  The bike tracked true through anything I threw at it, and was rather nimble in doing so.  I didn't huck any real drops, but the singletrack descent is steep in spots, and offers some spots to get some air.  No issues whatsoever.

The only real complaint I had about the Felt NINE Ltd had to do with out-of-the-saddle climbing up a rocky incline.  The bouncing of the bike caused some ghost-shifting of the rear transmission that was annoying, but I can't say why it was happening.  Was the rear derailleur out of tune?  Was the rear of the frame flexing that much?  Is the chain a link long?  Dunno.

After riding the Felt, though, the thought process for my next bike has rapidly changed directions...I'm officially in the market for a hardtail 29er now.

The Best Time of The Year...

...sports-wise, began last night in earnest, with many NCAA men's basketball programs tying their kicks tight to play their first regular season games.

K-State, welcoming in an awesome recruiting class this year, got things started off on the right foot, posting a 92-54 win over Loyola-Chicago.  Unlike football, where teams (i.e. K-State) get ridiculed for playing creampuffs at the beginning of the year, this is common practice in basketball, because there are plenty of opportunities for teams during the non-conference schedule to line up some decent competition.

Now it sounds like a 38-point victory would be something to be happy about.  Unable to watch the game on TV (Fox Sports KC wasn't available on Dish Network), I had to revert to reading about the game this morning.  Either head coach Frank Martin is being absolutely brutal, or that was as bad of a 38-point victory as a team can have.  Here are some quotes (courtesy of Kstatesports.com):

On Curtis Kelly's performance [22/7/3 in 26 minutes]...
"He grabbed one defensive rebound. That is not a very good performance in my opinion. He made layups; I can make layups."

On why the rebounding was a problem [K-State was out-rebounded 51-41]...
"We stunk. No disrespect to Loyola because their kids played their hearts out. They grabbed 25 offensive rebounds. We were the worst team in the country yesterday in practice and we deserved to play as bad as we did. I hope we got embarrassed by it. It was the worst practice I have been associated with since I have been coaching basketball."

On how the team will prepare with the quick turnaround [for the next game on Sunday]...
"We better be better tomorrow in practice because if not it will be a long Saturday."

Huh.  Well, let's hope he gets them whipped into shape, I guess.

Next game versus Western Illinois at Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Sunday at 3:00pm local.  GO STATE!

Big XII North Playoff - Round 2

Today marks Round 2 of the de facto Big XII North playoff.  Amazingly, only two teams are out of the race - KU and Missouri, both with 4 conference losses so far.  Iowa State, or unfathomably, CU could sneak in and steal the title if they win out and K-State and Nebraska totally fall apart over the rest of the season.

KU plays Nebraska today, and the Fightin' Willies of K-State welcome Missouri to Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan.

K-State needs one more win (either today versus MU, or next week at Nebraska) to obtain bowl eligibility.  Which I hope they do...staring out the window right now, it's snowing up here in the mountains...man, a trip to Arizona or someplace warm around Christmastime to watch the 'Cats would be fantastic.

K-State needs to win next week at NU to get their hands on the Big XII North title.  But first things first - let's go out and handle those boys from Mizzourah.

GO STATE!

Windshield Time

In a period of about three weeks, I've been in Denver Thursday, Aspen/Snowmass Friday, Denver Thursday, Glenwood Springs Friday, Denver Monday, Grand Junction today, Breckenridge tomorrow, Grand Junction again early next week.

Freeking tired, man.

New white kit coming in from Deathrow Velo soon.  Eurotrash, c'mon.  Pics coming when I get them in.  Also got bibs custom made extra long, cuz I'm all giraffe-like and stuff.  Stoked.

Snow supposed to be coming in over the weekend.  Get on your bike during the day this week - may be your last legitimate shot at hitting the dirt in 2009.

Sad.

Sunflower Showdown

K-State v. KU - Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, KS - 11:30am local time (10:30am for me here in the mountains). 

This game begins the de facto playoff for the Big XII North division race.

Check it on TV on Versus, on local radio, or Sirius Satellite Radio.  Or, if you don't have access to any of those, I highly recommend going to kstatesports.com, and sign up for Powercat Passport.  It's only $6/mo (really - just don't go eat at McDonald's once a month and its taken care of), and gets you audio access to every KSU athletic event.  Football, basketball, volleyball, baseball - you name it.  Gonna be priceless for basketball season.

GO STATE!

Full-Suspension 29er Demo Weekend

Got the Intense Spider 29er built up to test 'er out this weekend.  The headset isn't matched up properly so it wobbles, the bottom bracket I'm using is completely roasted, and the wheels on the bike are so burly (and heavy) they could take a pretty good downhill sesh and still be true.  But, the beast rolls, and that's all I needed this weekend.

I was lucky enough to go out for 45 minutes on Saturday afternoon for a quick jaunt around the Eagle Ranch Loops to work out any bugs.  Didn't have any beyond the items listed above.  My very first impression riding the Spider 29 was one of skepticism - just getting a feel for the handling while rolling down the road, I was swerving back and forth, both turning the handlebar and just leaning the bike over.  The bigger wheels were begging to stay upright, so much so that it was annoying, because the bike just wouldn't go to where and when I wanted it to.

Once on the trail, however, this bike was FUN.  The things I noticed the most that were different from the Epic were, for the most part, better.  The 29" wheels just simply do a better job of maintaining momentum.  Also, the larger diameter wheel increases the contact area, meaning you can run lower tire pressures (I ran mine at about 32psi - usually run 26" tires at 37psi) and the bike feels much less likely to slide or wash out when leaning into corners.  Small bumps, rocks and roots are not taken out, but they are definitely trivialized in many cases, which causes less loss of speed and thereby decreases loss of momentum through rough sections.  For me, being 6'-6" and 185lbs, the Intense introduced a novel idea that most cyclists don't have to deal with on a regular basis.  It put my Center of Gravity (CoG) in a manageable position.  I felt like I was riding the bike, not sitting on top of it.  I could lean much more into corners, and never did I feel like the bike was going to topple over or slide out from under me.  You have no idea how big of a difference that makes unless you too have been in that scenario.  This bike was probably 20% faster than the Epic every time the trail turned.

Sunday offered the opportunity for a group ride with 7 other compatriots - 4th of July road to 2nd Gulch road to Rose Garden, traversed to the bottom half of Haystacker, then out to the Bluffs for a Boneyard to Redneck Ridge loop.  The Rose Garden trail is brand new and very loose, and features a good length of super twisty-turny singletrack through sagebrush.  My Epic required a good bit of braking into corners and tentative cornering maneuvers due to the high CoG.  The Intense handled this entire section of trail like a champ, and could have been the fastest I've ever ridden it.  Boneyard was a piece of cake on the 29er - cleared both the tight uphill right-hander switchbacks that I usually have an issue with on the Epic (once again, due to the high CoG).  The Spider just crushed everything else.  Redneck Ridge was awesome - the rocky outcroppings were more-or-less not an issue, the sandy corners were handled very smoothly, and I was keeping a more constant speed throughout the entire trail.

Of course, the Spider 29 wasn't perfect.  The current build weight of this bike is a beastly 29.9lbs, about 3 pounds heavier than my Epic build, and totally unacceptable for a XC race bike.  Also, riding the Brain Fade platform on the Epic for three years now, I am extremely used to that suspension design.  Frankly, I like it.  The virtual pivot point (VPP) design of the Intense has a totally different feel, specifically when climbing.  The VPP design exhibits pedal feedback when the suspension activates, and that was pretty awkward the first day out on it.  The good thing is the Fox Float RP23 shock, when in Pro Pedal #3 (firmest setting), felt pretty similar to the Brain Fade of the Epic.  Not quite as firm a platform (I ran the Brain anywhere from three clicks to one click from fully firm), but decent nonetheless.  Other detractors include only one location for a bottle cage, and a front derailleur installation that makes it difficult to adjust limiter screws.  Sunday's ride just intensified my complaint about the weight of the bike.  My gawd, I burnt a number of my matches trying to keep this thing going uphill at a fast pace.  It was definitely compounded by my lack of riding lately, but the weight of the bike was felt.

The RockShox Reba Race fork feels pretty supple when compressed, but I wouldn't know from riding on it, because the wobble in the headset (can't get rid of it) meant the headset was sucking up the smaller bumps, and not the fork.  Which means the front end had a terribly rough ride.

All in all, I had a frickin' blast on this bike, and am thinking hard about purchasing it.  I can say I'm sold on the 29er platform, for me at least, after two rides.  My other options, based on price and sizing, include the Specialized Epic Comp 29 and the Gary Fisher HiFi Pro 29, as well as the Kona Hei Hei Deluxe 29.  The MSRP on any of those three bikes ranges from $2800 to $3500; and the build kits aren't exactly svelte or high on tech.  However, I can come in well below those prices on this particular Intense, with a bike that I should be able to get down to close to 27 pounds out the door, with a lot of XT/XTR build on it.

Indian Summer

Man, it was awesome here in the Eagle area this weekend.  After seeing the snowfall first-hand in the front range, then seeing the snowfall first-hand in the Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen/Basalt/Carbondale), I'm stoked the white stuff missed us here in Eagle.

Not only did we not receive any snow down in Eagle, it was downright warm this weekend.  After a week of relatively cool days, the temps made it into the mid- to upper-50s both Saturday and Sunday, with a lot of sunshine and relatively calm breezes.  That could mean only one thing...

INDIAN SUMMER MOUNTAIN BIKING!

Absolutely gorgeous time of year, if we get blessed with the indian summer we're heading toward.  Forecast is showing temps in the 50s all week coming up, with very little chance for precipitation.  Allergens are all knocked down because of the latest freeze cycle, trails are in perfect shape from the little bit of rain this past week, sun is tracking lower and lower in the sky...just coaxes a person to get out and squeeze every last moment from the trusty steed until snow sets in for the winter.


Lucky.