Instead of the front wheel popping up on every mash or the back tire spinning out it just tucks its head and plows ahead! The front was firmly glued to the ground on every climb and sticks to a line like nobody’s business. I had a few people tell me that the relatively slack 67.7 degree head tube angle and trail-oriented geometry would wander when climbing. My second biggest concern was how it would climb. I was nervous about how it would feel after being on a bike with a totally different geometry for so long but I felt at home right away. The first thing I noticed was how comfortable the bike actually was. Militia brother Tandem Mike Hopton helped me get her all built at his place one Saturday and I headed straight to the trail from there. They really outdid themselves with the (Singlespeed Militia) blue metallic and the shiny silver skull and cog head tube badge! It just doesn’t get much cooler than that. It was love at first sight as soon as I unpacked it. The geometry lined up almost perfectly with what I thought would suit me best and the box was sitting in my living room a month later. I looked at steel bikes from different manufacturers all over the country and was finally about to settle on the Transition Trans AM when Todd suggested I have a look at the new 2016 Canfield Nimble 9. I felt like I’d taken my Surly Karate Monkey to the limits and was in need of something new and fresh. I have to give my Militia brother, Todd Eglitis - known internally as “the pusher” - credit for turning me on to this awesome bike! I had been researching bikes and frame geometries for months trying to decide what my next bike would be. Read on for Josh’s review of his new frame and full component list. Money spent there is going to be worth it.Featured this month is Josh “Beaker” Bowden’s new Canfield Nimble 9 in gorgeous Militia blue. Get the right rims for the width you want. I think aluminum frames are a great option when paired with some good tires in the wider range. Wheels too.īut if it's just for day trail rides, the field is wide open. But if you want to road tour on the bike a lot of late mountain bike won't fit a larger chainring!Īlso frames vary in their ability to properly bear a load for bike camping. If your bike is mostly for trail riding, a 1x set up with a low climbing gear chainring will be no problem, say anything from 28 to 32 or 34t. Also the drivetrain needs clarification if it's boost 148 you'll need a boost 148 frame.Īnother thing that can cloud things are the chainring size the frame can accommodate. Tire clearance issues are a limiting thing with frames. In your place I would pick a frame around the wheels and tires you want to use primarily. In my view, the wheels are pretty much the first part of the bicycle. There's a phenomenon I first noticed a few years ago when shopping for old tandems - when Trek and Cannondale entered the market with decent tandems the boutique manufacturers like Santana and Burley quickly fell on hard times, but then Trek and Cannondale couldn't sell enough at their desired price point and took a loss, leaving the market full of discounts and undermining the smaller companies even further. Surly, a few years ago, divided up their MTB models into touring and trail, and then killed off half the touring models (Troll, ECR, Pugs) leaving the Ogre and lower-spec Bridge Club. I think the prior Timberjack (which I have) and Stache would have been better than the 21+ Timberack and Roscoe, for instance. The style of front suspension trail hard tails for the last couple years has gotten a bit more heavy-duty trail, and for bikepacking you might actually go back a couple years to when hard tails were the last to grow droppers and plus tires were more popular. I recall he liked the new Fuse and Roscoe.Īlso, supply chain bla bla, keep focused on what you can buy now if you want to ride now, the brand is less important than that. He posts very often about a huge number of boutique bikes so keep focused on what you are likely to buy, don't let him lead you down the rabbit hole of what's perfect for $3000/frame after a year waiting list. If you have time, Hardtail Party channel on youtube.
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