Lynskey Ridgeline 29″er: First Impressions- Part II
June 14th, 2009 by Guitar TedNow with some more time on the Lynskey performance Ridgeline, I want to break down some of the components that this frame is decked out with and give some short impressions on each.
The Fork: The White Brothers Rock Solid fork is a pretty nice carbon fork. It really compliments this frame well. Not only in the way it looks, but also in the way it rides. The legs can flex rearwards a bit under hard braking, but nothing terrible and I think the handling has been great with this fork on this frame. A great match up!
The Wheels: The Industry 9 hubs and spokes laced to Stan’s ZTR Flow rims have been great as well. No issues with flex, although I can say they are not the stiffest wheels out there. They are really good though. The Industry 9 hub buzzes like a cicada on a hot August day, so if you are not in to that, be aware that this hub is noisey. Otherwise it engages instantaneously, and rolls really well on its bearings. What more could you ask of a hub? Oh yeah…..light weight. Yep, it has that too. I did set up the Nanoraptors tubeless. It was easy, and I think the combination of the wider rim and tubeless set up has made these Nanoraptors into a much better tire. Fast as ever, but with more grip than a Nano should possess.
The Brakes: These are the new Elixir brakes from Avid and I love the modulation, power, feel at the lever, and the looks. I still get noise though. It is a different noise than with Juicy brakes, but a noise all the same. I’ll have to de-bug that if I have time. Otherwise the Elixir brakes are a definite improvement upon the old Juicy line.
Overall, the parts are very nice and perform at a high level on this rig. Some personal favorites like the Thomson stem and the Salsa 17 degree sweep bars are always solid parts picks. The big surprise was the ODI lock on grips this bike came with which I found to be the first round grips that I have liked in a long, long time.
Okay, that’s the story on the parts. Next up will be a Mid-Term review of the whole package.
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What size brake rotors does everybody use? Does a 29 wheel on the front need a 180mm disk? If you need a bigger disk than a 26er then why?
i run bigger discs on my 29er but i am also pretty heavy too. i found the standard 6″ disc just didn’t have enough power. i imagine its due to the higher mechanical advantage that a 29″ wheel has over the brakes.
Nano’s front and rear? Just yellow tape, or something more to set them up tubeless?
My Elixir R’s have been quiet since I got them. I do occasionally have a problem with one or the other lever acting up (pulling to close to the bar), but then it always gets better as I keep riding.
Wish I were riding, you have air in your brake line somewhere. Bleed them and they will feel solid and consistent.
Wish I Were Riding: Nanos front and rear. They aired up with a flloor pump using only the yellow tape.
Milto: I choose to run 185’s on most of my rigs, but I am a heavy front brake user. I do have 160mm rotors on a few rigs here and they seem to work just fine.
I use 160mm on my SS, but considering upgrading.
I have a 230mm on my Niner Rip 9 and the stopping power is MAHOOSIVE!
i run a185 on my rigid fork also. I get more control with less fatigue from riding after long rides.and I weigh 200 lbs. I like tires with big volume currently running mtn kings 2.4.
I run the Elixir R on a full rigid Niner with 7″ rotors front and back. My other Niner has Juicy Carbon with 7″s front and back and I gotta say that the Elixirs are the bee’s knees. So much power with little to no fade. Easy set up, awesome lever feel and plenty of power to bring all 275lbs of me to a grinding halt. I’d recommend them to anybody shopping for brakes.
Oderus, I don’t like the fact that I might have to bleed my Elixir’s to get the air out of the lines. I bought them so I could do LESS maintenance than with my BB7’s. I probably should have just stayed with the BB7’s because I can understand and adjust them myself, not the case with hydros.
WIWR, bleeding takes a whopping 15 minutes and is dirt simple. If you do it with the initial install/trim the lines, you can leave them alone for a long time. I have not touched my Juicy carbons in close to 3 years except to change the pads. Do the initial setup right and hydros are gravey from there on out.
Ted,
The review of the I9’s sound great. I am curious if you say they are not the stiffest what would be a stiffer alternative, while not being heavier? I am seriously considering a Lynskey 29er as all the reviews sound good. I like the idea of their being down with a BB30 bottom bracket custom option to solve some of the BB flex you referenced.
Thanks