[Enel]

ORANGE that is.

Jay just built up a new Tang SIR Nine. Beautiful ride but needs to be SS'd out. Broke her in at Granite Basin with the Cosmic Orange El Comandante riding shotgun.

Interesting to compare the two oranges. The Tang is much lighter, both are beautiful. Neither is done justice by photos. They just sparkle like mad in the sunshine.

The mango HS and silver bits look great.

Jay contemplates a rock garden. What if it scratches the paint?

El Comandante feels neglected.

Nice Thumbie/H-bar set up. Works great. (Sorry for the out of focus, but it was freezing.)

 

[ionsmuse]

Nice lookin bike!

Gotta love this weather, the morning news complains of "brutal" 29 degrees in Phoenix! Ha!

 

[Jdub]

ORANGE that is.

Jay just built up a new Tang SIR Nine. Beautiful ride but needs to be SS'd out. Broke her in at Granite Basin with the Cosmic Orange El Comandante riding shotgun.

Interesting to compare the two oranges. The Tang is much lighter, both are beautiful. Neither is done justice by photos. They just sparkle like mad in the sunshine.

So any thoughts on the ride qualities of each? These are two of the four bikes that I am currently considering, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on the two rides. Interested to see how the aluminum of the Ventana compares to the "springy" ride of the SIR.

And I'd definitely be going Cosmic Orange or Tang, so great to see the subtle differences between the two colors.

 

[Enel]

The Ventana rides like an Aluminum bike: you feel little trail vibrations more, but big hits are about the same. It is way stable at speed and in tricky corners. You can really trust it. Hard to describe, but it just doesn't burn you when the going is rough and technical, you know just what it's going to do.

I have not ridden a Sir 9. My Zion cheapo steel frame with very similar geometry rides great, a little less high frequency vibration, shorter chainstays make the front slightly easier to get up. I like it a lot as well.

If I were you, I would probably stick with steel, and would go for the Inbred as it is priced right, and has a great feel. I only got the Ventana because I've always wanted a bike that color, and I got a smokin ebay deal on it. For list prices, I think the Inbred is very hard to beat. The Ventana is the coolest looking of them all, but SIR is not far behind. The paint on the SIR is something to behold. I think it must be wet paint as opposed to the powdercoat on the Ventana.

For a "stand to climb" type SS bike, I think short stays are extremely important (as opposed to a "sit to climb FS bike with gears). But face it, I tend to love whatever bike I'm riding at the time the most.

I personally could never ride the Niner because the seat tubes are so short, that at my preferred TT length, I would have about 1 inch of post in the tube with a 410mm post. Pity, because they are nice bikes.

 

[Jdub]

The Ventana rides like an Aluminum bike: you feel little trail vibrations more, but big hits are about the same. It is way stable at speed and in tricky corners. You can really trust it. Hard to describe, but it just doesn't burn you when the going is rough and technical, you know just what it's going to do.

I have not ridden a Sir 9. My Zion cheapo steel frame with very similar geometry rides great, a little less high frequency vibration, shorter chainstays make the front slightly easier to get up. I like it a lot as well.

If I were you, I would probably stick with steel, and would go for the Inbred as it is priced right, and has a great feel. I only got the Ventana because I've always wanted a bike that color, and I got a smokin ebay deal on it. For list prices, I think the Inbred is very hard to beat. The Ventana is the coolest looking of them all, but SIR is not far behind. The paint on the SIR is something to behold. I think it must be wet paint as opposed to the powdercoat on the Ventana.

For a "stand to climb" type SS bike, I think short stays are extremely important (as opposed to a "sit to climb FS bike with gears). But face it, I tend to love whatever bike I'm riding at the time the most.

I personally could never ride the Niner because the seat tubes are so short, that at my preferred TT length, I would have about 1 inch of post in the tube with a 410mm post. Pity, because they are nice bikes.

Cool, thanks for your thoughts. I didn't read closely enough, as I originally thought both these bikes were yours. I'm anxious to get some test rides in, as that will really be the determining factor (they all look great on paper) for me.

The forgiving nature of the steel frames make me think fully rigid and still compliant, but then I start thinking about the responsiveness and light weight of the aluminum frames which coupled with a Reba could be a great change up from my 30+ pound 6" travel bike.

 

[cocheese]

Kind of OT, but how did you like the Thumbies and bar end shifters as set up on the SIR9? I love the H-Bar on my SS and would love to put one on my geared bike. Anyway, just gathering opinons on them. Thanks!

 

[vapor]

That's my Tang Sir 9 with the thumbies on the H Bar. I love'em. I have been on a SS with the H Bar for 2 years, wanted a bike with gears and had to have another H Bar. After lurking on this board for - years, this set up seemed the best option for me. The shifters fall to a very natural position, no reach problems, no shifting problems. You do sort of lose the hand position on the horn. Not a problem for me, I rarely use it on this bike. Front derailer is friction, rear is indexed.

 

[cocheese]

Thanks vapor. That's just what I was looking for. That friction mode in the front must be really nice for tuning out the chain rub. Nice looking ride by the way!