Dikkie said:
Hi,
As many others, I'm eagerly waiting for the new 2010 Jet to arrive.
Because it has a tapered headtube I'd like to order a new tapered steerer fork along with the Jet.
I would do this rather for aesthetic reasons than for the added stiffness.
Actually, I didn't notice a lack of stiffness in the 'old' Jet9...
One question though: will there be a 9mm QR open drop-out option too?
Got 2 wheelsets, with QR 9 mm front axles, and I'm not keen on bying 2 new front hubs, let alone entire front wheels.
All tapered OEM 100mm forks that I read about are either 15mm or 20mm TA:skep:
Oh, I'm following this developing situation as well since our new JETs will start shipping in the February time frame if all goes as Niner has stated.
What front hubs do you have on those two wheelsets? I converted my 9mm QR Chris King hub to 15mm so I could use one of my wheelsets on the Fox OEM 15mm fork I got for my discounted RIP frame. I believe my 9mm QR American Classic hub can convert as well (that's the wheelset I was racing on my JET), but I haven't ordered the kit yet as I was waiting to see which direction I go fork wise with my newly designed JET. Do I use the old Reba or go to a new tapered steerer fork?
At least with the King ISO Disc hub - it's an easy, simple two minute conversion and I can go back and forth between 15mm and 9mm by swapping out the kits depending on which fork and bike I am using.
As bt mentioned, you can run your old fork (1 1/8") with no problems using the supplied crown race. That's your most cost effective solution as you keep your current fork and wheel(s) and go on as before. Aesthetics would be the only reason you would switch?:nono: I think the increased stiffness would be the more worthy reason to upgrade to the tapered steerer tube to take advantage of that development.:thumbsup:
It remains a bit difficult to ascertain the 2010 actual forks that will ship until we see what everyone is really making and selling to us.
The chart at RockShox claims the XX will be available in 9mm QR or 20mm Maxie Lite. And it will be available in 1 1/8 or tapered steerer. And, of course, the XX will be available in 26 and 29" versions. That's all fine and good on paper/website. But what will the final 29"er versions with tapered steerer tube actually be once they come out and are shipping? I guess we all need patience to find out. But that could be the ticket for you, if they do have all those options, to have the tapered steerer tube with a 9mm QR dropout in the race format.
Fox won't even mention anything other than the 1 1/8 steerer on their website for the 2010 32 F29"er fork. They do say it comes in 9mm or 15mm as well as 80mm, 100mm or 120mm versions. But outside of the current OEM tapered steerer versions on various bikes (Giant, Fisher, Niner, Specialized, etc....) that are "oh so secretive" - nada about tapered steerer tubes on their site as of yet. :nono: Maybe Niner dealers will again be selling OEM versions in the shorter travel versions directly to JET owners like they have been for the RIP 9's.
I believe the Marzocchi 44's are all only going to come in the 15mm versions in the 29"er format, but again - I await to see what all the final versions actually are shipping (dropouts, steerer tubes, travel) as we move into 2010 and the upcoming season. Since Niner is dealing out the new Zokes with their WFO, maybe they will be dealing out some sort of appropriate OEM versions for our new JET 9's as well. Again, I've read nothing outside of the 15mm QR versions. And I believe the lockout function requires some knob spinning and turning beyond my needs for an XC race sled. I just like to flip my handlebar remote on my Reba.
Other options mentioned in a few threads include - at least if you currently own a Fox with the 1 1/8 steerer tube - buying the upper crown/assembly/steerer tube with the tapered steerer tube to replace your current one. I forget the price, but I seem to recall it was in the neighborhood of $250 - $300+. If you've got a Fox, that would be one way to take advantage of the tapered steerer tube, yet keep your 9mm dropouts and hubs. Here's a quote from a post back in September....
Fox customer service, you can order the tapered steer replacement for $285. Steerer, crown and stanchions.
I don't know if there is or if there will be a similar option for those of us who own a 1 1/8th steerer tube Reba who would like to upgrade the upper assembly with one that has a tapered steerer tube. And if it is available - what model year of Reba's will it actually work on (probably only on the latest and greatest which locks me out of that path to uprade).
Isn't the technology adoption life cycle grand? It forces us to have to pony over some $$$ to upgrade.
Then again, if one can set the aesthetics aside, you've got the fork and wheels. The JET will come with the headset that has the proper crown race so you will be in business for $0.
BB
