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Let's see your XL Niners

8K views 40 replies 19 participants last post by  Espo61 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello fellow tall riders. I am breaking down my black Jet 9 alloy this summer and putting it back together for the Fall season with some geometry and parts changes. I'd like to see what all the other size XL Niner owners are doing with their bikes.

Here I am sprinting against a teammate earlier this season in a muddy race. I'm swapping out some parts to get a more aggressive and efficient position on the bike, hopefully.
 

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#2 ·
Hello fellow tall riders. I am breaking down my black Jet 9 alloy this summer and putting it back together for the Fall season with some geometry and parts changes. I'd like to see what all the other size XL Niner owners are doing with their bikes.

Here I am sprinting against a teammate earlier this season in a muddy race. I'm swapping out some parts to get a more aggressive and efficient position on the bike, hopefully.
XL JET 9...

JET profile 2012

XL RIP 9...

P1010011
 
#7 ·
Love them. The JET sports the 2.25's which are just a bit lighter than the 2.35's, but not by much. Center knobs are a harder rubber so they roll very fast for a larger lugged tire. It was the rolling resistance tests I read on the wheels and tire thread that convinced me to give them a try as they were faster (or scored better in the test) than some of the XC race tires I was using. And I got tired of changing tires last year based on course conditions. The Nics are a do-all tire that I don't have to fuss with or worry about.

The 2.35"s make my RIP 9 a 29 and a 1/2"er!!:thumbsup:

As to your question of stem length...

I'm a tall 6'3" or a short 6'4" (somewhere between the two) and use a 105mm stem on the JET flipped negative 6 to get extra reach out of it. The RIP is a 120mm flipped negative. Saddles are pretty much all the way back on the rails as well.

I tried 90 and 100mm stems when everyone was banging the table on the 29"er thread for shorter stems as the way to go. I tried to make them work, but no go for my needs. I simply have too long of limbs on my body and need longer stems to get a nice feel on the bike. The only way to know is try various length stems (your LBS should help you out there) and get some riding time on them to decide what works best for you.

I'd be bare knuckled running a bar 700mm wide in the XC racing I do. 660mm is my preferred width for tucking between the trees on singletrack.

Great Hawk Bridge Crossing
 
#6 ·
I'm 6'3 with about a 35.5in inseam. I'm currently using a 90mm Race Face Turbine stem and a 635mm EC90 SL low-rise bar. The stem was set low on the steer tube and reversed, but that's because the fork was set at 140mm. On the RDO I have the fork set to 120mm, so the stem is set about the same but right-side up. It seems to be good now, but I'll need to ride it a bit more to be sure.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Gonna try Nobby Nic 2.25 front, Racing Ralph Snakeskin rear. I agree about swapping tires.

The wider your bars, the more you will lean forward. 90/700 is pretty good for me but a little too light on the front end uphill. I suspect 100/700 will be perfect. Wide bars are far from ideal where I live too, but they feel great.

BTW I'm 6'4" tall, 36.5" inseam, 6'7" wingspan. Besides the frame being on the heavy side, the Jet 9 is the best handling bike I've ever ridden.

What kind of pressures are you all running on the RP23 and do you use Propedal? I've left mine open but may set it to 1 this Fall, or increase the pressure.

I'd love to try an Air 9 RDO or Flash 29 hardtail. I train mostly on a hardtail with semi-slicks which I hope will increase skills. It's getting to the point where I want to race it sometimes too.
 
#9 ·
Gonna try Nobby Nic 2.25 front, Racing Ralph Snakeskin rear. I agree about swapping tires.
Nic front/Ralph rear is nice combo.

The wider your bars, the more you will lean forward. 90/700 is pretty good for me but a little too light on the front end uphill. I suspect 100/700 will be perfect. Wide bars are far from ideal where I live too, but they feel great.
I've only tried super wide bars with a short stem one time (on a Cannondale Jekyll rental pictured below.) The bike wasn't sized very well for me (it was a size L), so I had difficulty climbing without the front wheel coming off the ground, and keeping the front wheel from moving around so much with the short stem. I called it "nervous wheel syndrome". It took a lot of rider input to keep the front wheel pointed where I wanted it to go which surprised me for such a slack HT angle. How much of that was the size L, and how much was the stem/bar combo - I don't know? However, on my own bikes it's more a matter of tight, tree lined courses than wheel movement that keeps me in the 640-660mm width. Of course, compared to old school XC bar width - I am running super wide bars.:thumbsup:

These suckers were 740mm wide!!

2011-11-26 Jekyll size L

BTW I'm 6'4" tall, 36.5" inseam, 6'7" wingspan. Besides the frame being on the heavy side, the Jet 9 is the best handling bike I've ever ridden.
Yes, it is a very good handling bike.

What kind of pressures are you all running on the RP23 and do you use Propedal? I've left mine open but may set it to 1 this Fall, or increase the pressure.
I use ProPedal - especially on climbing courses (I've tried 1, 2 and 3). I turn it off on training rides if I don't want to wear the back out too much and need a quicker recovery from a ride. If it's really rooty and bumpy, I'll turn the ProPedal off and utilize the more forgiving ride. I'm not sure of the exact psi as I go by the sag which I vary from the 20% - 30% range.

I'd love to try an Air 9 RDO or Flash 29 hardtail. I train mostly on a hardtail with semi-slicks which I hope will increase skills. It's getting to the point where I want to race it sometimes too.
You should on the less bumpy courses. It will make you appreciate your JET 9 more. :D I also ride/race/train on a Dos Niner, but it requires a bit more recovery time for me than my FS bikes. I went OTB at full speed on the JET back in April which mucked up my neck and shoulder enough they are still bothering me. I feel the neck after a ride on the Dos Niner, but hope that continues to dissipate in the next few months. But I put several hours a week in on it (pavement, gravel, buff trails).

What geometry and parts changes are you contemplating for your JET this fall?

BB
 
#10 ·
Well I was a fan of long cranks, first 185mm, then 190mm. I went with a 120mm fork and Cane Creek Angleset reversed to raise the bottom bracket (to compensate for pedal strikes) but keep the steering quick.

I feel that it was a worthy experiment. All tall guys should try long cranks. However, the length-leverage debate aside, I think bike handling ultimately suffered. I think a low bottom bracket is really important for control over the bike in fast corners and balancing at low speeds.

I am standardizing on 180mm cranks on road and MTB. I've got some new E-13 XCX cranks with a better weight and q-factor than my Profiles.

I prefer 1x10, although I'm salivating over XX1 and just might spring for it if they alleviate the hub body issues by October. Specialized makes some really nice carbon cranks in 180mm that I'd love to have.

Being a tall guy I've always struggled in corners. I try not to use it as a crutch because I know a 6-6 guy who is an awesome bike handler. For me the full-suspension helps smooth my technique but I'm learning better to lean the bike, not the body, and other things mentioned before, including very confident tires on race day. Our Cat 1 field is just relentless with regard to any disadvantage presented by technique. Training with flat pedals as recommended by James Wilson is also helping.

Handlebar drop and stem length are some things I've gone back and forth A LOT about. Low feels great in theory, but throws me too far forward in tight corners, makes it harder to lift on jumps, and of course increases endo potential. I'm thinking that between 2-4 inches of drop from the saddle is where I'll settle along with the 100mm stem. I've got to learn to go off the back of the saddle more, World-Cupper style, too.
 
#11 ·
Well I was a fan of long cranks, first 185mm, then 190mm. I went with a 120mm fork and Cane Creek Angleset reversed to raise the bottom bracket (to compensate for pedal strikes) but keep the steering quick.
Are you still going to go with 120mm up front? That works well with the RDO, but seems to be introducing quite an imbalance with the 80mm or rear suspension on the JET 9. I use 180mm's on all of my bikes. I think with your drop to the 180mm's you'll be better off with 100mm up front for XC racing. Actually, 80mm up front is really fine on the JET 9 as well.

I prefer 1x10, although I'm salivating over XX1 and just might spring for it if they alleviate the hub body issues by October. Specialized makes some really nice carbon cranks in 180mm that I'd love to have.
Sounds good. Although I run a 2 x 9, I rarely use the smaller ring up front and pretty much keep things in the 38T up front. So you get the weight savings of running a 1 x __ which is :thumbsup:.

Being a tall guy I've always struggled in corners. I try not to use it as a crutch because I know a 6-6 guy who is an awesome bike handler. For me the full-suspension helps smooth my technique but I'm learning better to lean the bike, not the body, and other things mentioned before, including very confident tires on race day.
We all suffer with our height. Most trail builders, maintenance crews are not thinking of us when they build or maintain the trail. Never hurts to join in on maintenance days and trim what needs to be trimmed.:)

Handlebar drop and stem length are some things I've gone back and forth A LOT about. Low feels great in theory, but throws me too far forward in tight corners, makes it harder to lift on jumps, and of course increases endo potential. I'm thinking that between 2-4 inches of drop from the saddle is where I'll settle along with the 100mm stem. I've got to learn to go off the back of the saddle more, World-Cupper style, too.
Sounds good. I checked out the pro rider Todd Wells and his bike set up which is a pretty good reach/setup for my particular height.
 
#17 ·
mr. welcom your inseam is shorter than mine but looks like that would make your torso a little longer. A size L feels good to you? The Reverb has some great features; I've read mixed reviews on the durability--glad to hear you are not having problems.
The L feels good to me, but I typically like my bikes on the smaller/shorter side, and for the WFO's intended use for me the L works (trail rides <20 miles). If I were doing longer XC rides, I'd probably go with an XL Jet9 RDO.

I have two reverbs and I did have to send one back for warranty because it wouldn't hold air. It was a 1st generation reverb, and Rockshox replaced it with a brand new post, no questions asked. The other viable options, in my opinion, are the KS Lev post and the Fox DOSS. Both are new to the market so we'll see how well they hold up.
 
#18 · (Edited)


^ I like the red of that RIP 9 above, sweet.

Allright. I got my Jet 9 put back together, even though I had to work all night to do it. It took a beating in the Spring season. I still have one Formula R1 brake lever that I need to replace; got the part, just haven't put it on. Purely for aesthetic reasons, I'll probably buy a red ano chainring if I don't get a Rotor Q-Ring.

A quick test ride and it's feeling great, but I'm getting used to a slammed front end on other bikes. The handling and big new tires feel really nice. It may be hard at some point to resist putting back on the Rocket Rons though.
 
#30 ·
Well...

Mostly wheels and spokes, but as of last week I had my WFO frame break for the second time. First time was the rear triangle, which Niner warrantied because they said they had gotten a bad casting on that particular batch. Last week I broke the seat tube as seen in the pic I posted in the 29er section of the forum (it's under Rip9 frame thread). I'm pretty bummed. I also don't want to give the impression I am out trashing Niner. I've loved my WFO, and even bought one for my wife who is less than half my size (and she loves hers). I just hope there is a solution for this frame breakage. Going through my LBS for the warranty on this second frame, which I'm confident the Niner crew will work with me on. They have been great in the past (very hands on and helpful when we set the bike up to handle my size), and I'm actually itching to get a Jet or Rip so I have a back-up bike, but since I'm having breakage issues with the WFO I'm not so sure either of those is in the cards for me.
 
#31 ·
Most recent Jet 9 setup

I took some photos of my race bike today, I'm about to go out for a ride. The way I've set it up has changed, I slammed back the saddle. I installed a -17 degree stem with 120mm length.

This is what I call a "World Cup Fit." To reach the Cat 1 podium on an XL frame requires some compromises that for-fun riders probably won't like. A full-suspension bike allows for a bigger saddle-bar drop that tall racers must have with lessened back soreness. This is probably why the Olympic Champ sticks with his full-suspension 29er.

The long, low stem improves cornering at speed by encouraging leaning and dropping of the shoulders. It improves handling at low speed by putting the bars lower and more balance of weight between the wheels.

The bars are now flat Enves cut to 680mm. I don't have bar caps to keep it as narrow as possible through the trees, every mm counts on the overgrown trails in the Deep South.

I'm really thrilled with my new S-Works 180mm cranks, they are the lightest in that size that you can get, but more importantly, they're very stiff. In order to fit the BB30 spindle into the Jet 9 alloy's threaded English 68mm interface, I used an E.Thirteen XCX bottom bracket.
 

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#32 ·
The long, low stem improves cornering at speed by encouraging leaning and dropping of the shoulders.
Bike looks great!!!

Could you explain your cornering technique in terms of leaning and dropping your shoulders?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to sound somewhat technically counter of the accepted cornering technique of centering your weight over the contact patch with weight on the outside foot while counter-steering to really carve turns.

Either way, the JET really keeps the wheels glued to the ground which - when combined with the big wheels - does help one's technique do pretty well out on the course.

BB
 
#33 ·
I countersteer, sure. Plenty of work on technique over the summer. A long stem encourages leaning the bike (not the body) instead of turning it. It's a far cry from how downhillers set up their rides but I gave up on that approach. More rowing in switchbacks but is otherwise worth the endo potential. Check out Kulhavy's bike
 
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