Mini reveiw of Nimble 9,Geax Gato,and stuff

[29buzz]

Finally got a good ride on a new frame and some parts in! 1st-the Nimble 9..in LRG with a 120mm fork. Honestly,I can not believe how it handles! Tight twisty? Rough and rocky? Steep climbs? All exclent! If the front end is low enough(flat bar,etc) it climbs like a shorter travel bike-very impressed! Geax Gato...ran as a rear-on a Blunt at 25/20psi. Rolls very good for an agressive tire-likes low pressure.Good volume-a real 58mm.Really rode every surface-pavement,gravel,hardpack,hero dirt,muddy,sandy....and all were good to excelent! New fav. rear tire! Have another for the front on order.Also the new SLX 666 brakes...I love 2 finger levers-these were perfect! Used on Gussett rotors 180/160..rear was good-front ok...gonna use Shimano Icetec ones when they get here.(have tried on other rotors)Really good brakes! Shimano pd-m30 platform/spd pedals....i could feel more support and my feet were stable...I will keep these on for sure! yeah-I know-need pics...as soon as someone has a camera on a ride!
Bz

[gregnash]

Nice but give us some more indepth stuff when you get a chance. Really would like to hear about the Gatos. I am extremely happy with my Saguaro as a rear tire and with the ease of setup I would venture to put a Gato up front when my Purg dies.

[Peter Leo]

Thanks for sharing the mini reveiw.

[WRX-Rob]

I've heard nothing but good reviews on the Nimble 9. Thanks for the write up.

[HEMIjer]

you runnning it ss or geared, if geared climbing standing or sit and spinning?

I want to build up a ss in the next 6 months or so this is top of the list in my head right now, like the fact i could use existing parts and gear it if I decide as well.

[29buzz]

Updates...Running it geared-22/34...12/36 9sp. It climbs like a goat...super traction. I put a flat bar on it and no real front end wandering seated....and when it does-I stand and it is solid. The Gato's are good front and rear-but i see wear at 50mi on the rear-I'm 250lb and the WV rock chunk is wanting to rip the knobs off-none yet-but shows wear kinda quick. With a 120mm fork-the slow speed turning is very tight for a large frame-very impressed! Overall the bike is quick and comfortable. Still has the rear wheel wanting to come up on jumps-but these are waterbars,so their angle does that to most all bikes. Have now added a xtra firm spring on the fork...I think this will even be better! I would completly recomend this frame for anyone-but for big people and rough terrain-it is perfect! And the 120mm front is perfect for this bike.

[slocaus]

Looking for pics, especially from the side. Not finding any from you.
Could you measure center of BB to the seat rails on the seatpost?
Thanks.

[p nut]

Been loving mine as well. My fork is at 80mm, which I need to set it up 100mm ASAP. But I can foresee going 120mm soon. I also ordered a flat bar (Kore Torsion 800mm).

And please get them measurements for slocaus so he can stop being a girl and order the frame already.

[slocaus]

Geared, 120 fork, large. Closest I have yet to a definitive answer for my looong legs.

[29buzz]

Sorry-no photos,I have no camera. Will get someone to get a pic soon-I wanna show this beauty off! Ok-measurements. This is with 2.3 Gatos-Manitou Expert 120mm-100mm 10d stem-flat bar 10d cut to 666. Post with 10m setback-frame sliders 5mm from full back. BB height from center of crank to ground=12 1/4. BB center to seat rails=29 3/4. saddle nose to bar center=21 1/2 saddle top to ground 43 1/2. Handle bar to ground=43 1/4. All unsagged. I hope these hel-and make sense.

[slocaus]

Sorry-no photos,I have no camera. Will get someone to get a pic soon-I wanna show this beauty off! Ok-measurements. This is with 2.3 Gatos-Manitou Expert 120mm-100mm 10d stem-flat bar 10d cut to 666. Post with 10m setback-frame sliders 5mm from full back. BB height from center of crank to ground=12 1/4. BB center to seat rails=29 3/4. saddle nose to bar center=21 1/2 saddle top to ground 43 1/2. Handle bar to ground=43 1/4. All unsagged. I hope these hel-and make sense.

That is a big help, thanks so much!

Measuring my Access, my saddle is about 2.5" higher, bars are about 2" lower, seat to bars 0.5" shorter on a 24.0" ETT with an 80mm x 5* stem, flat bars .

Here is a graphic example of why I am trying to figure this out. We have many old roads and trails like this. This was a scoping ride into a new area that we are adding to our trails network, much of it roads to trails conversion. Note that spot at the crosshairs was 32.5%; I managed to ride all but about 150 feet where I spun out on gravel and could not get restarted.



We build trails using the IMBA guidelines, so for our soils, it means 10% average grade (max15%) in sandy, loose, limestone soils. Another area is more solid and plenty of rocks, so grades can run to 15% average (max 22%) in places. However, many are old fire and mining roads, with absolutely no option to rereoute (USFS Botanical Reserve one side, military firing range on the other) so we get those 25 to 30% grades. And a few of the guys I ride with are @#$%& mountain goats, so the incentive to ride is strong, or they call me worse things than "being a girl".

[p nut]

Sweet monkey cheeks, 32%??!! Were you SS or geared. If you say SS, I'll retract all my previous derogatory comments.

[29buzz]

32%-WOW! We have lots of steep-but the climate=wet here,so it is like riding up a creek. We do have gravel roads with high 20%s that are "ridable" We have some guys who SS who amaze on the steeps-but hike is for most. Lucky for us most steeps are 2mi or less-and have a BIG downhill on the other end.

[slocaus]

Sweet monkey cheeks, 32%??!! Were you SS or geared. If you say SS, I'll retract all my previous derogatory comments.

Geared on this ride, but we have plenty of near 20% stuff to ride on the SS as well, but not as tough over as long a distance, but I know at least six guys who could clean this on an SS.

Here is a photo looking back at one high point (not the X on the horizon) that is the ~4.5 mi to 5.5 mi distance where the photo was taken.



This is farther to the right from above.



Tough terrain, but California desert dry for 6 - 8 months, much like your area p-nut.