Sea Otter 2010: Niner Bikes

I stopped by Niner bikes booth for a few minutes to mainly check out two things: how wide is the downtube on the Air 9 carbon and to see in person the new Jet 9.

What I got was a bit of a surprise, and I’ll put it out there at the top so you can’t call me a tease: Niner is coming out with a Carbon Jet 9. This is sort of expected, but the dates are quite surprising: Now Niner is notorious for over-promising and under-delivering on dates so take this with a grain of salt: prototype: Interbike 2010 and shipping maybe Spring 2011.

The AIR9 Carbon downtube:

Yeah, its wide. I didn’t have my ruler with me, so I broke out a dollar and folded it in half. A dollar is about 6 1/8 inches in length. Folded in half, the dollar is just over 3 inches. The downtube is about that width, which doesn’t seem that wide until you’re down at it from above. It’s wide. For reference, the new Jet9’s downtube is 48mm wide or just under 2inches in diameter at the widest point.

Niner Jet9, the non-carbon version. Good news: Steve is saying the replacement Jets are on the boat and will be shipped once it clears customs. The frames are fully assembled with rockers and shocks in place. Niner is estimating 3 weeks starting Saturday. See above disclaimer regarding Niner’s delivery dates.

Niner’s New Jet9… is it a 2011

Single Pass Flat welds. Used only for connecting tube to tube, not tube to forged material such as in the rear triangle. Steve Domahidy says its stiffer than tig welds.

Of course, all the rage: tapered headtube

Old links on a new body. I can’t wait.

And just for kicks: I tell ya, Niners get great treatment out at Sea Otter. Here is the bike stand for my Niner Air9

and yes, “pedal damn it”