VALUE AND PERFORMANCE
The Big Nine has always been the ideal choice for anyone after an all-around mountain bike that packs in value as well as performance. It’s designed to be as fleet-footed going uphill as it is heading back down, with handling that offers the perfect balance of confidence and agility for riders ranging from first-time mountain bikers to seasoned singletrack slayers. It’s the mainstay of our mountain bike range, and while it’s capable on dirt, it’s just as happy as a rugged commuter or a touring bike.
The recipe is simple, with a short travel suspension fork and 29” wheels paired with a choice of carbon and aluminium hardtail frame and builds that cater for everyone from cost-conscious novice mountain bikers to seasoned competitors shaving every gram.
MODERN CROSS-COUNTRY FORKS
We have moved to short 44 mm offset forks across all bikes - it keeps the bike handling nice and stable without making it sluggish in the turns. That’s also the thinking behind pairing a longer frame reach across all sizes with shorter stems, a concept fully accepted in the trail bike world.
LARGE-VOLUME TYRES
We’ve stuck with the classic combination of smooth rolling 29” wheels, but they now all come with large-volume 2.4” tyres with plenty of clearance. These give more comfort, puncture protection and grip without a significant rolling resistance penalty.
MORE TRAVEL ON OUR TR MODELS
The 29er wheels on our Big Nine have been paired with a 100 mm travel fork; this is the benchmark for the category and the travel that the very lightest cross-country forks have been designed around - and for good reason. However, as we designed the Big Nine for a more capable ride, we factored in the ability to use a 120 mm travel fork from the very start, so that dedicated Big Nine TR models can deliver even more heat on the trail.
WIRE PORT
A Merida-designed ACROS headset system that allows all control cables to enter the frame through the headset, creating a clean and uncluttered look without making structural changes to the frame, all while reducing cable rattle and potential frame scuffs.
BSA BOTTOM BRACKET AND UDH HANGER
A threaded BSA bottom bracket makes replacement and maintenance a breeze, and the SRAM UDH derailleur hanger is widely available and assures compatibility with the latest drivetrains.
MULTIPLE FIXING OPTIONS
To give the Big Nine maximum water and tool carrying capacity, we have two water bottle mounts on the downtube (holding two 750ml bottles), plus the Trail Mount underneath the top tube for easy attachment of tools and accessories. On top of that, most models feature the V-Mount saddle-mounted multi-tool and 4/6 mm rear axle-mounted hex key.
TEAM CC II STEM WITH SMART MOUNT
Lightweight aluminium stem that works perfectly with our Wire Port cable integration and now features the Smart Mount GPS and light mount. The new attachment points allow various cycling computers and GPS models to be fitted, putting them right in the eye line of the rider and keeping the handlebars nice and clutter-free. On the underside of the mount, accessories like a front light can be attached, keeping visibility high when the light starts to fade.
Some of our models feature the latest T-Type drivetrains from SRAM, combining the proven performance of SRAM’s wireless AXS technology, but offer crisper than ever shifting thanks to a radical new interface with the frame, while the extra low-profile design helps to reduce the possibility of trail damage. The new T-Type drivetrains take under-power shifting, chain retention, durability, impact resistance and simplicity of setup to the next level, all elements that fit perfectly onto our race and down-country focused Big Nines.
SRAM’s new T-Type is now available on the top-end XX level as well as the more affordable GX platform, allowing us to spec it on numerous models in our Big Nine range.
FAQs
Not with the CF frames - the Big Seven is still available at the entry level Aluminium frames for riders who prefer the smaller wheel size.
The bike uses a Flat Mount rear brake, which takes a 160 mm rotor without an adaptor, but can run up to a 180 mm disc with an adaptor. All bikes come as standard with a 180 mm front disc and a 160 mm rear disc.
We use two different seat post lengths across the different sizes to match the average seat heights with the expected leg lengths.
The following saddle heights can be reached with the originally specified seat heights. Please note that this seat height depends slightly on the stack height of the saddle being used.
Frames using our CF5 carbon construction use extremely high-end carbon fibre cloth which is stronger and therefore allows us to use less material and less resin to bind the carbon fibres together. Our CF3 frame construction uses more affordable carbon fibre, but this means that we need to use more material to create a frame with the same strength and stiffness as the CF5 version. That means a frame that shares the same strength and stiffness, but at a higher weight. In mid, a CF3 frame weighs 1100 g while the CF5 weighs 880 g, making it 220 g lighter.
The extremely steep seat angle seen on our trail and enduro full-suspension bike comes into its own during very steep climbs, when the rider’s weight is pushed rearwards, causing the front wheel to lift.
The Big Nine is designed for generally more flowing terrain, where the rider tends to be sat in the saddle for much longer periods due to the extra efficiency this gives. While a very steep seat angle still offers benefits on very steep climbs, on flatter climbs or flat trails, it forces much more weight onto the rider’s arms, causing fatigue.
On flowing singletrack trails or descents, a less steep seat angle makes it easy to ‘micro adjust’ the weight between the front and rear tyres while remaining in the saddle. It is also for this reason that we use size-specific chainstays on the CF framed bikes - it allows a more balanced weight distribution between front and rear on flatter trails with less rider effort.
Cross-country riding and racing is a broad church. While some riders wish to keep weight to an absolute minimum, others are happy to trade some weight for extra descending capability.
As we have seen in the full-suspension cross-country bike market, while 100 mm travel has long been the benchmark, many riders now desire 120 mm of travel to help deal with more technical courses and demanding terrain. That’s why we will offer the new BIG.NINE with both 100 mm travel fork race-focussed builds or more trail focussed builds with a 120 mm fork, called the Big Nine TR.
Whether with a Lite aluminium or CF carbon fibre frame, these builds share the same frame as a starting point. The progressive geometry of the new Big Nine has been designed from the beginning to work well with either a 100 or 120 mm fork, so that the handling of either bike has not been compromised. We’ve also boosted tyre clearance up to 29x2.4" and our low-slung frame design offers superb clearance and also more comfort-enhancing compliance, due to the larger seat post exposure.
BIG.NINE
The Big Nine is very much a progressive take on the classic cross-country hardtail, with the proven recipe of 100 mm fork travel, flat bars, very fast rolling tyres and a fixed seatpost.
It’s for racers that want a fast and lightweight hardtail for cross-country, XCE and marathon events or riders that want to go as far as possible, as fast as possible.
In alloy, it offers a very versatile yet economical mountain bike that can be used for commutes or general riding, as well as more demanding dirt sessions.
In carbon, it’s a race bike that’s ready to take on the highest levels of competition, with an impressively lightweight frame.
Both bikes have handling that offers enough pinpoint precision needed to slice your way throughthe bunch and reacts instinctively in singletrack while not being nervous on descents.
Big Nine TR
The Big Nine TR is the more descending and trail focussed bike thanks to a 120 mm fork, low rise bars, a more aggressive front tyre paired with fast-rolling rear, plus a dropper seatpost.
Whether you want to call it downcountry, gnarly XC or light trail, the Big Nine TR is for riders that still want to hammer the climbs but also have fun on the descents, with a more relaxed ride character than the laser-focussed race attitude of the regular Big Nine.
In aluminium, it offers a versatile all-round mountain bike that will suit anyone from younger riders heading to school the fun way to commuters that also want to hit trails on the weekend. It’s especially well suited to anyone that needs a lighter, perhaps less rugged, but equally good value alternative to a BIG.TRAIL.
In carbon, the TR narrows the gap in descending performance gap between it and a fully-suspended cross-country race bike. It allows riders to access descending prowess almost that of the Ninety-Sis but at a much reduced cost. It’s also a great choice for experienced riders that enjoy pushing hard uphill but also enjoy a bit of spice with their choice of descents.
Buy a Big Nine if…
- You want to race cross-country or marathon events
- Low weight and fast rolling is your main priority
- You want maximum speed uphill and on the flat
- You want a bike with rapid handling responses
Buy a Big Nine TR if…
- You want the speed of a cross-country bike paired with the handling of a trail bike
- You want better descending performance and don’t mind a small weight penalty
- You want to push hard on climbs, but enjoy tackling trickier descents
- You want a bike with a more relaxed riding position and ride feel
While they use the same frame, changing the fork travel alters the geometry of the bike. Compared to the 100 mm forked BIG.NINE, the longer fork on the BIG.NINE TR means it has a degree slacker head angle, making it more stable at speed, which is ideal for a more-trail focussed bike.
The regular BIG.NINE in turn, keeps the sharp handling response that racers want for fast-paced race manoeuvres.
However, moving to the longer fork does make the reach of the TR models shorter. While many riders would prefer a longer reach for a trail-style bike, the AGILOMETER sizing system makes it easy for a rider to size up to a longer reach while still fitting on the bike, thanks to the short standover heights across all sizes.
Similarly, the seat tube angle is more relaxed on TR bikes, but as this is by a very minor amount, it can be corrected by shifting the saddle slightly further forwards on the rails if a rider so desires.
