‘Radical Amusment’

I bought a Nicolai Helius AC in July 2010. I rode it for a couple of months until the winter mud set in, now that the local trails are drying out it is fast becoming my favourite bike.

This is the second Nicolai that I have owned so I knew what to expect in terms of industrial looking tubes and lovely big welds!

Frame

Pivot and axle braces

Although Nicolai are famous for offering a wide and wild range of colour finishes mine is ‘raw’ eg unfinished aluminium (not polished or laquered) with plain black stickers and black anodised fixtures and fittings. I think it looks great and on almost every ride someone passes favourable comments. The frame is typical Nicolai with the front triangle made from round tubes and the rear made from bulky square section. I think the shape and stance of the frame just look right and perfectly proportioned.  The tubes are all joined by huge symetrical welds that are a stand out feature on their own. All the pivot points have sealed bearings with protective covers. At each pivot plane there is a supporting strut of aluminium, this is not noticable on first glance but it means that any lateral movement on the frame is taken by these struts and not translated into sideways stress on the bearings. I have owned a number of FS bikes including a few boutique brands and non have had this degree of thought/design put into removing bearing stresses.  There is zero lateral flex in the frame, it is incredibly stiff and the bearings are silky smooth.

The suspension can be adjusted from about 100mm to about 150mm, it is simple task that involves moving the upper shock position into one of a number of pre-tapped holes in the swing arm.  For me adjustable suspension adds no value to a frame, I wanted 150mm of travel so put it in the maximum travel setting and have left it there. I figure a 150mm travel frame lends itself to a particular build that is wasted on a 100mm setting, if you want 100mm of travel buy a different frame and build it with light-weight components. The suspension is a Horst link design with the upper shock position fixed to a swing arm dropped from the top tube, the suspension action is very smooth and works well – nothing more to say on it.

Build

The build is my usual tried and tested components many of which have been donated from the spares box and other bikes in the garage. Wheels are Mavic 719 built onto Hope ProII hubs with Maxxis 2.5 inch high roller tyres and Dr Sludge tubes. A Fox 32 140mm float R fork with 15mm axle, Formula brakes with180mm rotors front and rear, SRAM X9 shifters and rear mech, XTR front mech, cassette and crankset (outer ring replaced with a bash guard), Thomson seatpost and stem, Fizik Gobi saddle, CK headset and Azonic bars ‘high rise and wide’. The frame is a large size and came fitted with a Fox RP23 shock.  It weighs in at 27lbs, it rides well and thats what matters. The fork and shock sag were set and that was it, build finished.

Ride

I’m not one for fiddling with shock or fork settings etc, I set the sag and rebound (2 clicks from maximum speed on the fork and 3 clicks off slowest speed on the shock) and leave everything else alone, the RP23 ‘Pro-Pedal’ is left in the open position.

My Helius AC

The large size frame fits me very well and my favourite components mean there are no surprises. Cruising along it feels like a bike, it is comfortable the suspension is invisible not over active and not wallowy, it smooths small bumps nicely and the bike is very comfortable. I have done a few 35 mile rides with no signs of discomfort such as sore shoulder or lower back, neither do I feel like I’m dragging a dead-weight along. A 150mm travel bike is designed for more than cruising and I like technical trails, not steep or smooth but technical eg rooty, rocky and full of awkward stuff.  Basically the faster I go on this bike the more alive it feels. On contour hugging singletrack it whizzes along, the bottom bracket is fairly low and the bike feels glued to the ground, all humps and bumps, roots etc are dealt with without any drama, it just gets on with the job. On my favourite technical terrain I have clunked the bash guard a few times but thats what its there for. Big obstacles and fallen trees are no problem and can be taken much quicker and with much less caution than on my hardtail. I feel confident on steep rooty descents. The front is reasonably relaxed without being like a chopper. As I said as the speed increases the bike feels better and better, it just flows along, around and over everthing and encourages me to find roots and rocks etc to launch off. The ride is awesome on the Surrey Hills trails.

The Helius AC was a replacement for a SC Blur LT2.  The Blur was nice to ride aggressively but was heavier and felt more sluggish on slow stuff; however the main problem I had was that the lower swing link was proud of the bash guard. This meant that the swing link and lower grease nipple regularly clunked on trees and rocks resulting in a couple of replacements. Also, the head angle of the Helius AC is slacker than the Blur LT2, increasing confidence on steeper stuff. These two factors together with the lighter weight of the Helius AC mean that for me it is the better option. I have an Intense Tracer which is an absolute blast on anything technical – a total hooligan; however the weight and ride position of the Tracer are noticable on longer cruising rides so it is reserved for playing and twating about when I want to get carried away. The Helius AC is the bike I reach for if an all day xc ride is planned or if I’m going somewhere new as I happy doing everything on it. A great all round bike.

Conclusion

I like the Helius AC a lot, a real lot and I can’t see me getting rid of it for a long long time – coming from me that is a great compliment!