[stripes]

Since I wasn't feeling the Tilt as a plus bike, here's my initially built up Nimble 9:

• Medium N9 with the chainstays in the shortest position (415mm)
• Ohlins RXF 36 m2 coil fork
• Canfield 155mm cranks
• Wheels (RF Arc 40 laced to Hope Pro Tech 4 hubs, DT swiss 14/15 guage spokes)
• Spank Vibrocore 15mm bars (cut to 790mm)
• Oury grips
• Fox Transfer Post
• Ergon saddle
• Canfield Crampon pedals
• Rekon 2.8 tires (might try something else for winter, but it's still dry AF right now)

At the shop, I ran into some problems with fit that I need to change so I don't hurt myself. The SA and HA are super steep with the fork set to 140mm. I could deal with the HA at 66.5, but I prefer it slacker (my other bikes are a Balance and Jedi, so probably not a surprise), but the seat height on the dropper at 150mm is too high for me, and the SA at whatever ridiculousness it is is also hurting my hips.

So next two things to happen, before I can get a leg (literally) over this bad boy:

• Raise the fork to 160mm
• Replace the 150mm dropper with 125mm

I was thinking of doing the whole CO state flag with it by going with blue/red/yellow parts, but I'm thinking more of moving the red pedals to the Jedi (it's black with red linkage), and moving over the silver pedals here. I'm digging the black and white look with CO state flag themed logo more than doing a mix of color parts, but I'd love to hear some opinions.

 

[Grinchy8]

When you put that 150mm dropper 25mm lower into the seat tube does it interact with the cable exit or something? Looks from the photo you could slam it a bit more.

I vote for the silver pedals.

 

[BadgerOne]

Looking forward to your first impressions. The CS shortest position is fun stuff but be prepared to work to keep the front wheel on the ground while cranking up the steep stuff!

 

[stripes]

Looking forward to your first impressions. The CS shortest position is fun stuff but be prepared to work to keep the front wheel on the ground while cranking up the steep stuff!

As soon as I don't feel like I'm going to die with the seatpost being so steep, I'll let you know. I forgot that's a side effect of short stays. I might end up moving it out to 420, which is what the Balance is.

When you put that 150mm dropper 25mm lower into the seat tube does it interact with the cable exit or something? Looks from the photo you could slam it a bit more.

I vote for the silver pedals.

Eh, I'm not sure about the silver, but I might go that direction. I don't really want this looking like the Pedalhead I had before.

Yeah, the seatpost is slammed before the cable starts cramping up on it, so I need to go shorter to 125mm.

 

[Grinchy8]

Yeah, the seatpost is slammed before the cable starts cramping up on it, so I need to go shorter to 125mm.

Gotcha. That's a bummer.

 

[stripes]

Gotcha. That's a bummer.

I think it's because the Transfer is so dang long. The Bike Yoke is a bit of a squeeze in my Balance, but I'm not going to replace posts unless I have to, or can find what I'm looking for. The LBS sold me an Xfusion 125mm that fits pretty cheap, so it's going on this week, along with the fork travel change.

 

[Michigan Man]

As soon as I don't feel like I'm going to die with the seatpost being so steep, I'll let you know. I forgot that's a side effect of short stays. I might end up moving it out to 420, which is what the Balance is.



Eh, I'm not sure about the silver, but I might go that direction. I don't really want this looking like the Pedalhead I had before.

Yeah, the seatpost is slammed before the cable starts cramping up on it, so I need to go shorter to 125mm.

As soon as I don't feel like I'm going to die with the seatpost being so steep, I'll let you know. I forgot that's a side effect of short stays. I might end up moving it out to 420, which is what the Balance is.



Eh, I'm not sure about the silver, but I might go that direction. I don't really want this looking like the Pedalhead I had before.

Yeah, the seatpost is slammed before the cable starts cramping up on it, so I need to go shorter to 125mm.

Blue pedals would look sharp.

 

[stripes]

Blue pedals would look sharp.

They would, yes, but I have silver pedals on my Jedi, and I'm leaning toward moving them to the Nimble 9 and keeping that all red/black.

I have a blue seatpost collar, but I might go to silver for that to match the silver pedals.. hmm. That's a much cheaper change than the pedals.

 

[stripes]

Had a couple of rides on it so far. I have a longer stem I’m going to throw on it (43mm), and I’m running an HR2 front and a Rekon rear (both 2.8 x 27.5).

I’m still digging the shortest chainstay position on it, and hopefully some time soon i can get it on some dirt or packed snow and get a nice ride on it.

 

[racefit]

Had a couple of rides on it so far. I have a longer stem I’m going to throw on it (43mm), and I’m running an HR2 front and a Rekon rear (both 2.8 x 27.5).

I’m still digging the shortest chainstay position on it, and hopefully some time soon i can get it on some dirt or packed snow and get a nice ride on it.

Can you elaborate what’s bothering you about the SA?

Since switching from a ‘17 to ‘20 N9, I’ve been having some intermittent knee pain. I’m not blaming the new frame but remember someone (think this forum) saying they weren’t getting along with the steep SA and it was bothering their knees.


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[stripes]

Can you elaborate what’s bothering you about the SA?

Since switching from a ‘17 to ‘20 N9, I’ve been having some intermittent knee pain. I’m not blaming the new frame but remember someone (think this forum) saying they weren’t getting along with the steep SA and it was bothering their knees.


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With the 160mm fork, NOTHING. Did you read my previous post about it? Nothing being snarky, just making sure you're understanding. So at 160mm, the bike feels comfortable for me.

With the fork at 140mm, it felt way too steep in both the HA and the SA. So I raised the fork to 160mm. This slackened both the HA and SA a full degree, and felt much better, and much closer to the feel of my Balance.

Coming from GGs, which have steep SAs (especially in their short travel bikes), I found their SAs way too steep with the longer reach and shorter stack heights. It put my knees and more specifically my hips in a way that really hurt.

So one of the things I look for is the SAs. I knew that I was going to most likely end up raising the fork travel to make it feel right. The Tilt's and the Balance's angles felt ok to me, but the Nimble 9 almost felt too squirrelly and steep with a 140mm fork.

PS: roll your IT bands. That might be part of the problem.

 

[racefit]

With the 160mm fork, NOTHING. Did you read my previous post about it? Nothing being snarky, just making sure you're understanding. So at 160mm, the bike feels comfortable for me.

With the fork at 140mm, it felt way too steep in both the HA and the SA. So I raised the fork to 160mm. This slackened both the HA and SA a full degree, and felt much better, and much closer to the feel of my Balance.

Coming from GGs, which have steep SAs (especially in their short travel bikes), I found their SAs way too steep with the longer reach and shorter stack heights. It put my knees and more specifically my hips in a way that really hurt.

So one of the things I look for is the SAs. I knew that I was going to most likely end up raising the fork travel to make it feel right. The Tilt's and the Balance's angles felt ok to me, but the Nimble 9 almost felt too squirrelly and steep with a 140mm fork.

PS: roll your IT bands. That might be part of the problem.

I think I understand. I was wondering what specifically was bothering you i.e. knees (maybe you mentioned and I missed it) as I’m having some sudden issues. And there was another person who had a new N9 and was selling because they couldn’t get comfortable with the steep SA and mentioned knees.

I had Covid this past Fall and my knee issues started sometime afterwards. Been doing lots of research and it seems joint pain can be a symptom with infection as well as long Covid. Ironically just this week I’m seeing people mention knees specifically when referring to long Covid. Another topic for another time.

In the meantime, I figured I’d explore the bike aspect and make some adjustments. I run 140mm fork with B+ SS. My trails are Northeast quick ups and downs and relatively mild. 140mm is plenty of travel around here although my friend runs 150mm on his N9 and loves it.

Do you think going to 150mm would be enough change or would you recommend going straight to 160mm to gauge any improvement? I do my own fork maintenance so not a big deal changing.


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[stripes]

I think I understand. I was wondering what specifically was bothering you i.e. knees (maybe you mentioned and I missed it) as I’m having some sudden issues. And there was another person who had a new N9 and was selling because they couldn’t get comfortable with the steep SA and mentioned knees.

I had Covid this past Fall and my knee issues started sometime afterwards. Been doing lots of research and it seems joint pain can be a symptom with infection as well as long Covid. Ironically just this week I’m seeing people mention knees specifically when referring to long Covid. Another topic for another time.

In the meantime, I figured I’d explore the bike aspect and make some adjustments. I run 140mm fork with B+ SS. My trails are Northeast quick ups and downs and relatively mild. 140mm is plenty of travel around here although my friend runs 150mm on his N9 and loves it.

Do you think going to 150mm would be enough change or would you recommend going straight to 160mm to gauge any improvement? I do my own fork maintenance so not a big deal changing.

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In my previous post, I mention my hips are the issue with steep seat angles. My hip issue is so bad that my hips can seize on me to the point I cannot walk. It's something I don't mess with.

Seat angles, the steeper they are, will decrease the ass to hands measurement. To me, reach is a bullshit measurement. Slacker/steeper HA and SAs impact that ass to hands, which is what I care about. Stack height can also impact that. For example, the reach on the medium Nimble 9 450, and on the small Balance is 438, but the Nimble 9 has considerably higher stack height, making the fits more similar for me.

For me, 150mm was not enough of a change. Even with the fork at 160mm, I still need to be a bit more stretched out, so I'm going with a 5mm longer stem. It may not seem like much but at 5'4", any little bit makes a huge difference in either direction.

 

[ugadawg]

I think I understand. I was wondering what specifically was bothering you i.e. knees (maybe you mentioned and I missed it) as I’m having some sudden issues. And there was another person who had a new N9 and was selling because they couldn’t get comfortable with the steep SA and mentioned knees.

I had Covid this past Fall and my knee issues started sometime afterwards. Been doing lots of research and it seems joint pain can be a symptom with infection as well as long Covid. Ironically just this week I’m seeing people mention knees specifically when referring to long Covid. Another topic for another time.

In the meantime, I figured I’d explore the bike aspect and make some adjustments. I run 140mm fork with B+ SS. My trails are Northeast quick ups and downs and relatively mild. 140mm is plenty of travel around here although my friend runs 150mm on his N9 and loves it.

Do you think going to 150mm would be enough change or would you recommend going straight to 160mm to gauge any improvement? I do my own fork maintenance so not a big deal changing.


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What crack length are you running? I have the full build nimble 9 and it came with 165 cranks instead of 175 like on my other bikes. My knees and hips feel better with the 165. Pedaling does feel about 1 gear harder though.

 

[stripes]

What crack length are you running? I have the full build nimble 9 and it came with 165 cranks instead of 175 like on my other bikes. My knees and hips feel better with the 165. Pedaling does feel about 1 gear harder though.

I know the question wasn’t meant for me but I’m running 155mm cranks.

 

[racefit]

What crack length are you running? I have the full build nimble 9 and it came with 165 cranks instead of 175 like on my other bikes. My knees and hips feel better with the 165. Pedaling does feel about 1 gear harder though.

I’ve been running 175mm for years.

About a year ago I switched to 170mm for no particular reason other than someone locally was selling some. I run SS and didn’t notice a big difference.

With the new short crank movement I’ve been curious to go even shorter. My wife’s bike has 165mm and I have a set of Canfield 160’s going on my new Tilt build which will be geared, so have options to experiment with.

I am curious how short people are going on SS though. I can see that being more sensitive.

But I don’t know what’s causing my issues yet. Whether it’s something physical or bike related.


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[ugadawg]

I’ve been running 175mm for years.

About a year ago I switched to 170mm for no particular reason other than someone locally was selling some. I run SS and didn’t notice a big difference.

With the new short crank movement I’ve been curious to go even shorter. My wife’s bike has 165mm and I have a set of Canfield 160’s going on my new Tilt build which will be geared, so have options to experiment with.

I am curious how short people are going on SS though. I can see that being more sensitive.

But I don’t know what’s causing my issues yet. Whether it’s something physical or bike related.


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I have trouble with my knees sometimes, but not riding my bike. I did noticed that my hips feel better while riding with the shorter cranks. I have short legs and a long torso, so depending on how you're built, it might not make that much of a difference for you.

 

[drdre]

Ha, similar but I found 160 front to be too jarring when I hit something that makes it compress more than half, the whole geo totally shifts and it feels like its trying to buck - the steep sta makes that worse if the saddle is high - also the the steepish 66 head then tries to pull the rear wheel below you instead of in front.

I think I'm getting pretty close with the 36 reduced to 150, a -2 angleset, and the seat slammed back(first time ever on any bike I've ever owned). I also find the 2021 frame to be stiffer than the prev gen it replaced.

 

[stripes]

Ha, similar but I found 160 front to be too jarring when I hit something that makes it compress more than half, the whole geo totally shifts and it feels like its trying to buck - the steep sta makes that worse if the saddle is high - also the the steepish 66 head then tries to pull the rear wheel below you instead of in front.

I think I'm getting pretty close with the 36 reduced to 150, a -2 angleset, and the seat slammed back(first time ever on any bike I've ever owned). I also find the 2021 frame to be stiffer than the prev gen it replaced.

I think it's easy enough to tune the fork so it doesn't feel so jarring. As much as I would prefer to do what you did (150mm fork with a -2 degree angleset), I'm trying a -1 degree angleset with my 160mm fork next. The angleset doesn't change the SA, which was stupid steep for me at anything other than 160mm for the fork, but the HA still felt a bit steep, so after I get the bike back form the shop, I'll post feedback.

I'm also going with a 35mm stem, and sticking with the 2.8 rekons front and rear. I'm not really a fan of Maxxis, but those are the best plus tires for me.

I'm also running 155mm cranks, but I'm not singlespeeding (running AXS with a 12 speed Shimano cassette), so I'm hoping the angleset is what I need for this bike to feel better.

 

[drdre]

The change in geo was what was jarring to me, not the plushness of the fork.

I agree, whish the sta was a tiny bit lower.