Niner Air 9 Red SM

GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!

Why is this frame so special?

Niner has carefully selected new frame material for the Air 9. Scandium loyalists be damned! Although Niner built their brand around Scandium in the beginning, and it worked well, an advanced upgrade to 6000 serious aluminum was needed. The switch in material came about because of the advancement in production with the new hydroforming methods inside the cycling industry. Niner can produce a stronger and stiffer Air 9 with these new techniques.

The advantageous clear; it allows double, triple, even a quadruple butting where needed offering a lighter and more compliant frame.

Finally, get raw by anodizing your frame. It unleashes a translucent texture that screams metal.

Tapered Headtubes… Why?

With change comes improvement, tapering the headtube increases steering precision and torsional stiffness in the front of the bike. This not only improves the handling, but also builds the confidence of a rider shredding corners, descending into a finish line or bombing boulders in the woods.

It’s all in the HYDROFORMED TUBING

Mechanical tubing took a back seat when hydroformed tubing came into fruition and changed the look of the Air 9. Hydroformed tubing is a highly effective process and extends much further than appearance, but optimizes strength and stiffness in critical areas. Fine tuning frames along with ride characteristic through production testing shows that stiffness numbers are much higher than its predecessor and no weight penalty.

We’d have to say that’s a pretty, stellar upgrade.

Press Fit 30 BB

When Press Fit 30 raged the stage in 2009 it fundamentally provided significant advantages over the BB30. Bottom bracket shells for PF30 require less precise machining. These bottom brackets are a separate component pressed directly into the frame.

The pros for the PF30 is that manufacturers are using the same technology as the BB30 yet lowering costs, easing assembly, adding the potential for additional seals integrated into the cup/bearing assembly and providing a component that is easier to service over the BB30 interface.

Read the SCALE…

Now, is it lighter than the original version? Sure is! The frames are about 70g lighter.

Old Air 9 + external headset + GXP BB = 1773 GRAMS

New Air 9 + integrated headset + PF30 BB = 1661 GRAMS

DIFFERENCE = 112 GRAMS LIGHTER

ABOUT NINER

Niner has prided themselves on having 100% dedication to the 29” wheel format since 2004 but has recently released (2016) a 27.5+/29er frame into their lineup. Their commitment goes beyond the bicycle product, founder Chris Sugai has made it a mission to continuously support the International Mountain Biking Association, also known as IMBA. Knowing that the mountain biking community needs places to ride, if there wasn’t there would be no Niner.

Their main headquarters are found in Fort Collins, CO where daily magic and mojo shine through. Assembly and shipping of complete bikes for resale are done in California, showing a real commitment to the American based cycling industry.

We are excited to carry the Niner brand not only because they are some of the highest quality rigs on the market but also because of the beautiful mountain biking community they have helped mold. Starting with their in-house crew and kick-ass work surroundings in their Colorado location. Become a Ninerd by riding and supporting your passionate brand by yelling it from the mountain tops as you cascade downhill. New to the Niner brand or not you can visit any of their bike demos. You don’t have to just drool over their bikes, throw a leg over them and “PEDAL DAMN IT!”