Niner One 9

I picked up a used One 9 frame from Mitch Johnson to replace my Surly Karate Monkey. The KM was a good bike, but it was heavy. As a single speed, the bike weighed in at 27.5 lbs for the large frame. That's a little heavy for a s/s. The One 9 build up with the same equipment now weighs in at 25 pounds on the button. I took the bike out to Castlewood last Thursday morning (before leaving for Branson) for a shakedown ride. WOW! What a difference! You can really get this bike moving and up to speed much quicker. I rode all of the Stinging Nettle trails (including the singletrack sections of the Al Foster section) for the better part of an hour on top of the gear and spinning madly. I had the entire back side of the park to myself and was letting the bike rip. I then rode up to the front and rode up Grotpeter to the Rollercoast for more spinning and tempo pace.

The bike climbs very well and seems to track very quickly. I descended the Love trail and the bike seemed to go in the direction it was pointed without too much coaxing through the more technical sections. The KM was definitely a little more compliant on the rougher sections of the trail, but for the 2.5 pounds I'm saving, I'll make that trade off every day. All in a very enjoyable bike. I can't wait to get the Air 9 frame and build that up. However, I don't think the difference between that bike and my Gunnar will be that great, as the Gunnar uses True Temper OX platinum steel versus the 4130 steel on the Surly. Who knows. At this point, I'm planning on building up the Air 9 as a dedicated race bike and running the Gunnar as my 'everyday' bike. More bike frames you say? Well, now you know why I sold all of those road bikes!