cruso414 said:
I had an X9 on there with my initial build but ordered the M771 model as recommended by Niner. The clearance on the rear brace was a little too close for my comfort. I could just see it hitting and breaking that brace and Niner saying "we told you so". If you do use some thing other than the one that is recommended, make sure there is plenty of clearance when the shock is FULLY compressed. I think this would be especially important since you bought the frame second hand and would have a hard time getting it warrantied anyway.
This is starting to sound more difficult than the front derailleur situation on a Karate Monkey!:madman: (Which, by the way, is a Shimano FD M751 with a button head screw to replace the cable bolt.)
I've got to get out in the garage and put my FD M761 on there to see what this clearance and rear brace issue is all about so I can stop
thinkering so much.
So no Shimano FD M511 (128 - 141g), no Shimano FD M751(134g)? Both are cheap and light and durable. And the M511 fits my stealth black mode.

Heck, a true weight weenie would throw a road derailleur on the JET 9 in the right clamp size and make it work.
What about the XTR FD M971? The 2008 at 128g and can be had on the 'net for a reasonable cost - especially over in England due to the dollar to pound currency exchange. So I'll retract my earlier comment about not tossing cash at it as it's 1/2 the price over in the land of best English beef than the US of Anguish. I've got to order fast as the Fed's interest rate decision yesterday will slowly tank the dollar even more....
Edit: I just reviewed the JET 9 picture and set up thread and there are several folks running the XTR front mechanical. So it must work....
I guess the new XT FD M771's do come in at 155g (for the 2008 and 152g for the 2009) which is a tad lighter than my porky pig older version at 178g. I'll have to look through people's individual builds, but surely somebody is running the XTR on their JET 9 without problems... I'll be running 2 x 9, so that derailleur is not going to be sitting in close like a traditional triple granny spot. It will be a little more to the driveside for the inner ring on the 2 x 9 and will not extend as far for the outer ring as a triple. I will also be running 27T and 40T for my 2 x 9 - so the cage doesn't have to be a gigantic thing capable of handling 46-48T rings.
cruso414 said:
BTW, when are we gonna see some pics of how that build is coming?
Patience, Grasshoppers.
I could slap on what I do have (from my Sugar build) for instant photo gratification, but I've decided to juice the build in the weight weenie direction and that takes time. A lot of time to hunt everything down and get it just right. That's the fun part - so let me have some fun. Not to mention - it's winter. Ice, snow, -11 Monday, a balmy 8 yesterday and today looks like it might get up to 12 before it snows again. I'm riding my routine XC training in the basement on the exercise bike until March.
My parts are arriving for the build one by one, but considering the highest temperature we've had in the past few days is 8 degrees - I'm not about to stand out in the garage trying to piece anything together. I do have a 1500 watt space heater, but that would only get the temp up to 10 degrees after several hours.
Formula R1's won't even be out until February-March of '09 and ditto for the NoTubes ZTR Race 29"er wheelset. So don't expect to see those goodies on the bike until spring. I guess I could snap a few shots of where the bike stands at the moment to let you know it does exist. Bottom bracket (won on eBay), crankarms (snagged on eBay) and 2 x 9 rings (from Rotor) should arrive this week or next.
But I've got work to do on the crank arms. I've got to strip the hideous blue powder coating off and polish 'em up myself (again the problem of cold temperatures in the garage) - or send them off to Spectrum in Colorado for a sandblasting and refurbish to a stealth color.
Here's the before Fugliness I've got to deal with...
Thanks God these crank arms are
thee Holy Grail of XC. I've got two pair of Next LP's, but the Turbines are the ticket to the kingdom and they are my chosen length of 180mm. So that makes the elbow grease work with the paint stripper, sand paper, Dremel, grinding wheel and of course a vat of Mother's all worth it.
I'm torn between going with silver arms or black arms for the final color. And of course, I have yet to order the best weight weenie chainring bolts in the right color for my needs. I could offset the entire crankset with a touch of anodized red to match the red bits on the frame - or I could go silver or black. I've got to see it all together before I decide.
In the end, Race Face refurbs look sharp. Here's a photo of
Burner's Race Face Next LP's all stripped of their original shred red and polished up:
cruso414 said:
another BTW BB, you will soon learn that the propedal on this bike is useless. I am totally convinced that the bike pedals so good that if I ever have to replace the rear shock, I will probaby look at something without a platform.
Hmmmm....I'll have to experiment once I am up and running on something besides my driveway and the ice/snow covered streets around my house.
I appreciate the replies, but wonder if there is anyone out there who has made something lighter work on the JET 9. Chime in, if you have...:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
BB