Nikolai Helius AC Â Part Deux
September 24th, 2010
Now in Alpine ready mode?
So, the initial build was ok but it needed some changes if I was going to take it to Morzine for a week. The 69degree head angle was fine with the Fox Talas 32s but the 32s were not enough for some of the brake bump rutted tracks out there and so I swapped them out for some Talas 36s. At full stretch they are 160mm, which is only 10mm more than the 32s but enough to slacken the bike a good degree when the rear pivot was set to itÂs maximum travel position. The bars came off too and some slightly narrower (680mm) Crank Brothers Iodine bars went on. That and a BlackJack Sniper DH 20mm front wheel were about the extent of my Alpine changes.
Now IÂd been riding it for a good couple of months in its shorter travel, more UK centric mode (not that 150mm of Fox 32 travel can really be claimed to be short) and so this was a good opportunity to gauge the differences between what I intended to be a good Alpine build and itÂs more usual UK technical trail style setup.
Now even with the Boost Valve armed new Fox shock, climbing when in the full travel position (Remember this frame has four rear shock settings) is just about ok at best. ThereÂs so much travel to be had in this mode that the excellent Fox shock just struggles to tame the rear end. Moving the rear shock position down a notch makes all the difference though and after some experimenting in all four positions the 3rd longest position was the one I opted for around our steep local trails. It climbed just fine with manageable levels of bob and in this position, especially with a long fork at the front, I never felt IÂd run out of travel, even on bigger hits.
In Morzine though, I switched to the longest travel position and to hell with the seasick climbing feeling. Actually, I didnÂt climb at all to be honest. ThatÂs what lift passes are for.
Whether I ran this Nikolai in long or slightly more climb friendly shorter mode the one aspect of the ride that came through every time was the stiffness of the rear end. Those square sectioned stays may look rather too industrial to some (I rather like the mix of round and square) but the tracking of the rear end in even the sketchiest of rocky, rear wheel twanging moments was just excellent. Even when the braking bumps and rocks were taking the big Fox 36 forks beyond their limits at the front I never had to worry about where the rear was going  it was right there, tracking the steering of the front of the bike like a hardtail. This is no mean feat when you consider there are a fistful of pivots in there on this Four Bar bike. It certainly made a change from last yearÂs Yeti 575 that although a great bike itÂs not for the features of the slightly twangy rear end that I miss it.
I narrowed the bars from 720mm to 680mm just prior to Morzine. The 720mm were just too wide for me but in retrospect 680 were a little too narrow for the Alps. Perfect for home though.
Now IÂm back IÂve yet to put the Fox 32s back on, which are a much more appropriate fork for my general trail riding. But I had such a good time taking this bike as close to itÂs limits as I could out in the Alps that IÂve kept the 36Âs on there for now. The rear shock position will be dropping a notch but I think weÂll see how it gets on with its burlier front end for a while.
Now, on to the XT 10speed groupset IÂve been runningÂ
A slightly odd choice of making it burly enough for a week of Alpine riding and yet having not only a triple chainset but 10speed at the back too. And as you would expect it was perhaps not the best choice. I lost my chain a lot. You really do need a chain device if you want to spend a week of lift assisted trail riding without frequent stops to put your chain back on  or worse. Three days in to the week and my chain not only came off but jammed itself down between the pivot and the granny ring. I had to remove the crank arm to release it. Ironically the gap it jammed down was exactly the right width to really chew up a 10 speed chain. A thicker 9 speed chain wouldnÂt of fit and probably not jammed. I had a mangled link and had to repair the chain and run it shorter. Not a problem really since I had no plans to go near the big ring and a slightly shorter chain would help it to stay on the rings a little better. However, before the week was out IÂd snapped it twice more  each in different places. Whether this was a result of the slightly twisted damage that I had to wrestle back in to alignment on the first mangle I will have to reserve judgement on. Needless to say though, a week of Alpine lift assisted riding is not the best place for a ten speed setup without a chain device.
Mark
Nice and chunky. Good in the dry  terrifying in the wet!
20mm Fork required a change of front wheel
Set here in itÂs full on, ÂAlpine position
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5 Comments
1: geetee1972 - September 24th, 2010
Interesting comments on the movement of the suspension under pedaling. I can echo those comments for the Helius AM but find that a medium tune RP23 BV set to the third Pro-Pedal position does a very good job of controling the travel, even in the 150mm and 160mm settings.
BTW a 160mm Fox 36 is quite a bit taller than a 150mm Fox 32; the difference is something like 25mm, not 10mm, hence why youÂve knocked the head angle back by a whole degree (as well as invalidate the warranty ;o)
Apart from that Mark, how do you like Âowning a Nicolai? Does it make you feel like itÂs a bike you just want to keep forever even if it at some point in the future you know it might get overshadowed by a newer, slimmer more lithe model?
I ran my AM with 150mm Fox 32s for a few months and while the high speed handling was fine, dropping the front end by over an inche made the front end want to tuck in on steep turns far too readily.
2: Teapot - September 24th, 2010
So if the chain was 0.22mm wider it wouldnÂt have got stuck in the gap ?
3: Mark The Author - September 24th, 2010
geetee, IÂm loving it to be honest! The crown is indeed a factor to consider between the two forks but the rear pivot setting also has an influence too. I like the fact I can tune the rear with itÂs four positions depending on what and where I want to ride it.
Teapot, The chain was VERY tightly wedged in.. IÂm just saying it may not have done so if it was 9 speed, although the minutia of details of an individual frame and the chain you use on it is not really the issue. IÂm more concerned with the snapping and itÂs what IÂll be paying attention too over the next few weeks.
4: geetee1972 - September 24th, 2010
Mark  I was under the impression that the rear travel setting had no affect on static geometry. YouÂd notice some difference if youÂre sag settings were always a consistent percentage, as the bike would sit lower to the ground with more travel. But the holes for the shock mounting are on a constant radius that the shock moves through (or something) so that geometry is unaffected.
Having said that the ride characteristic is quite different from one extreme to the other, at least it is on the AM.
5: therealhoops - September 24th, 2010
peeeerty
