After #1 and #2 I stopped by Mainstreet 42 on Saturday to pick up #3. Sunday was riding day so I only got to the Air 9 Carbon Monday evening. All components had already been thoroughly cleaned long before, so I jumped right into assembling the bike. When I was about to attach the rear brake line, I discovered that all the holes of the clip-on cable guides had not been sanded. One might have gotten a narrow cable tie through some, but the standard plastic clips supplied by Niner would have never clipped in. I had to pull out one of my handy files and widen the openings of the cable guides. This really should be a job done at the factory before painting and not by the end user on the painted frame. But so be it. Fork and headset were assembled in a breeze. Next, I popped in the wheels, bolted on the brake calipers and proceeded to align them to the rotors. Left for last was the dreaded EBB. Similarly to troublesome #2, the drive side Biocentric insert has an awfully tight fit. That’s good as far as creaking is concerned (tighter = less chances of creaking) but as far as tightening the chain such a fit is a pain in the butt. Once it’s in, it’s impossible to turn it to tension the chain despite being generously greased. I pressed it in and tapped it out four times until I got the chain tension right. The non-drive side Biocentric insert on the other hand has a little bit of play. That’s a welcome thing as far as assembly, but that was also the main cause of creaking on frame #2. I know that my next singlespeed (probably 4-5 years down the trail) won’t be having an EBB. I’m done with those. It won’t have sliders either. No, my dream singlespeeder will have a normal bottom bracket and vertical dropouts. A chain tensioner right behind the chainring will keep the drivetrain nicely under tension. Ideally, it will be built right into the frame.
★ collideous-
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