heed0 Posted July 30, 2011 Share I've decided to upgrade to a 29er but I want to build the bike to my desired spec. I would like to know which 29er HT frame is a good, and most of all light frame to buy. If possible give ERP and weight of frame. It must be aluminium frame as carbon is a little too expensive. I plan to put XT groupset, RS SID fork and Carbon seat post, stem and handlebar. (not sure about the wheel set yet)but these mods will come verrryyy later on... I won't be doing jumps or extreme riding just normal trails and a bit road cycling, no racing. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowspeed Posted July 30, 2011 Share A very good option would be the Niner Air9 Scandium frame. Scandium is combined with Aluminium 7005 to make it stronger, and the Al. does not to be "butted" that much at the welding sites. The frame weight is 1.4kg I think.Niner has got their geometry just right as well. It`s an awesome ride.You can speak to Willie (WE bike) or Lance (Epic Bike shop)for availability.I think you will pay around R6000 for a frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heed0 Posted July 30, 2011 Share cool, I'll check with those places you mentioned on monday. I read up quickly on the frame and it looks impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted July 30, 2011 Share The Morewood Kwela 29er is a great frame @ R6400.00, but thats slightly over your price range A better bet might be a Momsen frame or frameset. The AL329 and AL529 are coming in soon, followed by the AL729 and will be very well priced. Another option will be the 2012 TWEN9AL (frame/headset/seatclamp)or even better, the 2012 TWEN9ALC with carbon rear stays. Edited July 30, 2011 by Griffin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heed0 Posted July 30, 2011 Share The Morewood Kwela 29er is a great frame @ R6400.00, but thats slightly over your price range A better bet might be a Momsen frame or frameset. The AL329 and AL529 are coming in soon, followed by the AL729 and will be very well priced. Another option will be the 2012 TWEN9AL (frame/headset/seatclamp)or even better, the 2012 TWEN9ALC with carbon rear stays. are any of these frames above lighter than the niner air 9? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted July 30, 2011 Share A very good option would be the Niner Air9 Scandium frame. Scandium is combined with Aluminium 7005 to make it stronger, and the Al. does not to be "butted" that much at the welding sites. The frame weight is 1.4kg I think.Niner has got their geometry just right as well. It`s an awesome ride.You can speak to Willie (WE bike) or Lance (Epic Bike shop)for availability.I think you will pay around R6000 for a frame. From Wikipedia: "World production of scandium is in the order of 2 tonnes per year in the form of scandium oxide. The primary production is 400 kg while the rest is from stockpiles of Russia generated during the Cold War. In 2003, only three mines produced scandium: the uranium and iron mines in Zhovti Vody in Ukraine, the rare earth mines in Bayan Obo, China and the apatite mines in the Kola peninsula, Russia. In each case, scandium is a byproduct from the extraction of other elements[9] and is sold as scandium oxide. The production of metallic scandium is in the order of 10 kg per year.[9][10] The oxide is converted to scandium fluoride and reduced with metallic calcium. Madagascar and Iveland-Evje region in Norway have the only deposits of minerals with high scandium content, thortveitite (Sc,Y)2(Si2O7) and kolbeckite ScPO4·2H2O, but these are not being exploited.[10] The absence of reliable, secure, stable and long term production has limited commercial applications of scandium. "How much of this stuff do you really think gets put into a Niner frame or XTR rim? Two molecules? Three? Scandium is the new Titanium - mystifying, unobtainable, expensive and non-existent. The type of properties real scandium/alu alloys bring us are really not required in the bicycle industry other than in the marketing department where they consume several tonnes of the stuff per advert. As for Niner frames... I am yet to come across a frame with such crappy cable routing as a Niner. It is atrocious and the work of Satan himself. Edited July 30, 2011 by Johan Bornman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowspeed Posted July 30, 2011 Share The Air9 carbon frames with their internal routing maybe yes, the EMD and Air9 Scandium are straight forward external routing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted July 30, 2011 Share The Air9 carbon frames with their internal routing maybe yes, the EMD and Air9 Scandium are straight forward external routing though. There is external routing and external routing. As I said, that on the Niners are poorly designed. The cable routing calls for bits and pieces of cabe housing with naked cable inbetween. As if that is not stupid enough, the housing forms nice little U shapes where the water can enter and stay. Silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowspeed Posted July 30, 2011 Share Then just have it opened with a Dremel to allow for continuous housing, as you`ve explained very thoroughly on the Hub before. Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heed0 Posted July 30, 2011 Share so does the niner air 9 have external or internal cable routing? I don't want to do backyard mods to a brand new frame... Edited July 30, 2011 by heed0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowspeed Posted July 30, 2011 Share Only the Carbon frames (Niner, Scott, Specialized etc) has the internal routing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Dassie Posted July 31, 2011 Share are any of these frames above lighter than the niner air 9? Depends on what size frame, the TWEN9AL was around 1.8kg if I remember correctly. Built with X7, ZTR wheelset and Recon fork. It came in at just over 10kg. Which is pretty respectable I reckon. TWEN9AL and TWEN9ALC pricing is R2750- R2850 +_External routing throughout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heed0 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Depends on what size frame, the TWEN9AL was around 1.8kg if I remember correctly. Built with X7, ZTR wheelset and Recon fork. It came in at just over 10kg. Which is pretty respectable I reckon. TWEN9AL and TWEN9ALC pricing is R2750- R2850 +_External routing throughout. I take a medium frame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubber88 Posted July 31, 2011 Share If I were you I would go for the EMD 9 frame. Weight is +-1.5g and the best value for money IMO. Same geometry as per Air 9 frame without the price tag and exotic metal. Frames are on special at around 5k at the moment ( prices dropped by Niner themselves )If I had the bucks I would go for the Niner Air 9 Carbon. ( Mooiste frame OOIT ) Think retail is around 15k for the frame ( Aware it's out of the budget ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heed0 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Just for interest sake, whats the cheapest HT carbon 29er frame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaco-fiets Posted July 31, 2011 Share I have to agree that the niner carbon frame is really something for the eye. I also like the momsen carbon frame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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