Who makes the best alu 29er HT frames?

[darkblue08]

Im looking for my first mountain bike. Coming from a carbon road bike its hard to judge the quality of the frame. I have been looking at Giant, Scott, Cube, Cannondale, Trek and Specialized. Who makes the 29er alu frame with the best ride quality, build quality and weight?

[yourdaguy]

Air9 is really nice and very light for aluminum especially if you get the black anodized frame.

[musk3t]

Niner or Santa Cruz.

[darkblue08]

Thanks for the tip. Looks like they are hard to come by in Denmark. Anyone knows where to buy them in Europe?

[eurperg]

http://www.niner.ee

I have been very satisfied with the ride quality of my One9, especially with the RDO carbon seatpost.

[drider85]

I have rode/owned a aluminum Flash and had a chance to compare it to Niners. The Cannondale rode better because of the more compliant rear triangle. Weights were very similar.

[yourdaguy]

The rear compliance of the Air9 and Flash are very similar. Tires, seat, and seatpost make a much greater difference in rider comfort. I do recommend the Flash 29er seat post though. That is a carbon post with a flattened section. It makes a huge difference. It is a 27.2 post so you will have to use a shim but I have one on a One9 (with a shim) and love it. Also, because of the length, it and the shim are actually lighter than any 30.9 post that is at least 400 mm long. I have the Cannondale post on 2 of my Niners, a full rigid SS Sir and the One.

I am not sure of pricing in Europe but the Flash and the Niner are both really good and between the 2, I would buy on price. In the US, I can generally get the Niner for about the same price.

[Ghastly]

I'm enjoying my On-One ScandAl. Almost identical geo with the Air 9, but for half the price.
Dunno about the new frame, but I guess they're following the same strategy...