Winter blues cured by NEW BIKE!

Ah yes....The glorious feeling of a new bike. Its not easily matched, and it can sure go a long way towards curing the winter doldrums. I decided I wanted to build up a "budget" bike that would serve a couple of purposes:

1. Ride on the lower trails, less technical trails like Boulder Res., Rabbit Mountain, and Heil Ranch.
2. A bike with no pivots or suspension to worry about during the early season when you find the muddy patches
3. A "townie" bike that wasn't so "blingy" and I could ride to a restaurant instead of driving and not have to worry about it locked up outside.
4. Something that would split the difference between my 30lb 6" travel bike and my 18lb carbon road bike

So given those parameters, I decided I wanted a 29er SS bike. From there I narrowed it down to a steel frame, and wanted an Eccentric Bottom Bracket (EBB) for ease. That left a couple of choices, which ultimately led to the Niner SIR9 frame.

So without further ado I present the currently unnamed Niner SIR9...




Words of encouragement right on the top tube.

Another bike with a cool metal head badge

The 29" wheels are definitely a noticeable difference.


Obviously with all the snow, the trails are a mucky mess right now so I can't get in any real rides. I pounded out a couple laps around the neighborhood path smashing through the snow and hopping off curbs and the like. The bike is surprisingly smooth for a rigid frame and fork. I did catch myself pushing for the phantom thumb lever once or twice, but I'm sure I'll get over that. The 32/20 gearing feels pretty good with the big wheels, but I definitely pedal out of it pretty quick on the flats.

I'm struggling with a name, but I feel this bike should be named since I've got Betty the Yeti and Ruby the Roubaix. I've tossed around Nancy to Niner, but didn't really like that. There's Sally the Singlespeed, but that didn't stick. I even thought about Eddie, as a tribute to Eddie Sutton since this bike is old school, rigid and bleeds orange but Jill told me that was a bit of a stretch. So feel free to toss out some names if you've got them.