[toddre]

DISCLAIMER.... SORRY IF THE PIC SUCKS< I"M NEW TO THIS
Finally got my Dos Niner in and have two rides on it. My first ride impression, it was ok, but I wasn't in love with it. Second ride after a few tweaks was much better, could be true love.
A few build highlights.
- 20" frame... I went from a xl Fisher 29er and my last few bikes have had long top tubes (trek and fishers) so looking back I kinda wish I had gotten the 22" frame but the stand over height kinda scared me. running about 39 lbs in the shock
- WB 80mm fork... this fork has been great to me.
- Salsa Delgados laced to WTB laser lite disc rims, 32h and have been AWSOME
- Bonti tires... ACX front and XR rear... I like the front alot, not too impressed with the rear. May go back to Stans/Kendas.. clearance on the rear where it stands now is decent. Front version of the XR gave me no grip at all, def. dry weather tires.
- 180 mm xt cranks, the outboard bearing style. light, stiff but the chain line seems a bit more extreme than traditional cranks, but I've come across no problems.
- Thompson lay back post with a 120 stem, this brings the cockpit pretty close to where it was on the Fisher. I'm about 6"3" so I still might experiement.

This bike is pretty awsome! Climbs awesome and is definatly quicker handling in the twisty stuff than the Fisher. I do notice that I have to get back a bit more when I roll drops etc. (I don't do well in the air) and this might be due to the smaller size. I rode and raced a Trek STP for years and this bike is plusher. This is going to become a great race bike that I can ride all the time.
Still working on the best pressure for the Relish shock, but I am getting full travel out of it. But now I feel pretty comfortable on it regarding size choice.
Let me know if anyone has any questions.
Gotta go, Sesame street is over and my 2 year old is getting antsy... Todd

 

[chidDONG]

sounds good. keep us posted as you ride it more. my team is sponsored by salsa and I was thinking of getting the dos niner for next season but am still on the fence. I currently race a Trek Fuel 98 and worry that the softtail won't give me quite enough boing. I figure that the niner wheels and tires will help in that respect but you never really know til you've tried it. keep us posted.

 

[toddre]

Just got in another short ride

This bike rocks.. just about dialed in... I'm REALLY digging this bike!

 

[Nat]

This bike rocks.. just about dialed in... I'm REALLY digging this bike!

Are you still wishing you'd gotten the 22" frame?

 

[Quasi]

Are you still wishing you'd gotten the 22" frame?

Just compare the height of the handlebars to the seat. Even with max use of the fork steering tube height, and a long riser stem, the handlebars still look a bit low. Well, it should climb well. Course, it could just be the photo deceiving my eyes. Like those eliptical wheels.

 

[Cloxxki]

You can tell Todd's a big boy, it looks like he took that picture from the first floor of the neighbour's house

Very sweet build!

 

[toddre]

I wish I could have tried the 22" frame, but I'm pretty happy where i stand now. Stand over on these and the KM's seem pretty high.
I'm lucky I figured out how to download and resize the picture let alone the correct angles...LOL

 

[Cloxxki]

It does look like you have short legs for your height, not a whole lot of seatpost exposed on the 20". If you have enough cockpit room, you should be fine, 29"ers are much less likely to endo anyway.
You could still get away with a 130mm stem if you wanted to, I wouldn't go longer than that, regardless of fit.

 

[toddre]

I should be ok as it's set up... I may try a 130 when i feel like doing a bit extra work lol

 

[Logantri]

It does look like you have short legs for your height, not a whole lot of seatpost exposed on the 20". If you have enough cockpit room, you should be fine, 29"ers are much less likely to endo anyway.
You could still get away with a 130mm stem if you wanted to, I wouldn't go longer than that, regardless of fit.

Hey Cloxxki,

I just got an 18 inch that I'll post soon. The frame is the right size for me and the amount of seatpost exposed is considerably less than on my old 26" hardtail. Because of the shock placement the seattube is very tall.

After comparing to my frame I actually think there is a lot of seatpost showing. I really think a 22" may be better suited. Just my 2 cents.

Jo Mama