Discontinued and had since been replaced by the new Nicolai Ion 14, we decided to feature this Nicolai UFO DS rebuild to create the remembrance in all, on how the ION 14 was and have been before what and how it was today.

Rebuild for 4x Application in view of the possibilities of up and coming 4x races, and the fact that this bike frequents at Tampines Bike Park – Which consist of a Youth Olympic standard BMX track, and a Enduro XC track.

Hence we decided on 100mm Travel build with the use of a Fox DHX 4.0 as a high volume air shock on the rear to take up the jumpings and hard hits. It also provide for the ease in changing of air pressure which puts the sensitivity back and it becomes a trail blasting soft tail. Front fork sees a RockShox Sektor Air being lowered to 100mm from 150mm – giving additional stiffness to the 32mm diameter fork with a deeper insert position of the fork stanchions.

Wheels have been rebuilt to the New Atomlab SupreLite – As stiff as the PimpLite but 100grams lighter! Along with the alloy Torque Nipples application available only on Atomlab rims, these over-size nipples make building a strong wheel a breeze by the park!

Lighten and rebuild to application. Now lets wait for our Lime Apple green anodized Ion 14 to be build and we can make a comparison report/ test and see what are the main difference and what magic Nicolai has done in this extreme make over for the Nicolai suspension bikes for 4x/ Dirt/ street.

Built as a Single speeder and Gates Carbon belt drive with the possibility of internal gear hub upgrade coming its way, the new Turquoise Blue paint job with all black parts does its job to bring out the simplicity of this build.

Clean and green without those greasy chain, powerful brakes to ensure good stopping distance – there’s really nothing much to ask for, and nothing you cannot compare to the off-the-shelves complete commute bikes out there.

“A” for Argon, And an “A” grade Commuting tool.

Every Nicolai owner buys their bike(s) with no preempted knowledge of what else they would be getting apart from the marvels of German engineering and brilliant bicycle technology.

It is only upon receipt of the bike that they find themselves equipped with a story behind their choice of build, which eventually formulates that sales pitch that they will preach to fellow riders and friends. Some owners-to-be think they have these figured out, but it never really gets cast in stone until they start going about the building of the bikes.

My love for a good brand story and pride in hand-made products both found Mr Right when they met precision in Nicolai. That chain reaction led to the inspiration for both the owner and AttitudeBikes in throwing out crazy ideas and combinations – what we’d like to call creative conceptualization. Simple words that hold heavy weight in the world of infinite possibilities. What i wanted was simple: individualism in my bikes, with no compromise in style and performance. Bikes that are in their own right, personified and defined.
 

In true fashion of culture fusion between AttitudeBikes and Nicolai, 2012 proves to be a sensational year yet. Raising the bar in the world of custom anything and everything, identities are born, and bikes are rolling out. We invite you to be charmed by our latest ‘elemental’ hotties – Wildfire, and Iceflare.

 
Project: Wildfire
Theme: ‘Sizzlin’ Hot Rod’
Frame: Nicolai ION14, Anodized Orange Finish with Red Extra Love
Fork: Rockshox Lyrik
Wheelset: Atomlab Pimplites / Chris King Tango / Pillar Ti Spokes / Atomlab Torque Nipples
Brakes: Magura Marta SL

 
Wildfire was born when I had browsed the Nicolai catalogue one too many times and fell in love with the anodized orange finish.

When the then-prototype ION14 made its debut, it seemed only right that I should materialize my plans. Having been riding hardtails for most of my life, the short travel ION14 seemed like the perfect entry into the world of full-suspension bicycles.

The initial requirements were to have it set up for trail and fun riding, with priority in performance and reliability.

From that stage, the projected final build was agreed upon with a mix of SRAM components, Magura hydraulics, and Chris King/Atomlab rollers.The complimentary colour to that was decided as anodized red for an end product that would visually speak passion, as suggested by the creative visionaries at AttitudeBikes.

When the frame arrived, it didn’t seem like there was a fork that came in a colour that would gel well with the intended look and feel. That, along with a childhood dream of always wanting to incorporate airbrushing work in my bike, led to the move in airbrushing the fork with flames that would only be befitting for the bike called Wildfire.
 

 
Project: Iceflare
Theme: ‘If Looks Could Kill’
Frame: Nicolai BMXTB Race, Anodized Blue Finish
Fork: Rockshox Pike
Wheelset: Atomlab G1 / Chris King Gold / Pillar Ti Spokes
Brakes: Magura Marta Raceline

 
While waiting for Wildfire to arrive, the fun experienced from the concept-building phase was just lingering. Having test-ridden the BMXTB builds, it seemed only natural to replace my hardtail then, with Nicolai’s race hardtail.

The love for Nicolai’s exquisite frame quality sealed the deal, and so I ordered the BMXTB Race CD while awaiting Wildfire’s arrival. There were no two ways about the choice of running Gates Belt-drive technology on the build, and the direction for the bike was to take the form of a cool and flashy form – this eventually led to the name, Iceflare. The choice of an anodized blue finish for the frame was greeted by yellow as the colour for parts.

 
If anything, expectations were overshot and excitement got doubled when news arrived that both frames belonging to myself would be delivered together.

The anticipation was barely contained, that the good folks at AttitudeBikes even went to collect the frames from the shipping facility in the middle of the night just for a mini package-opening ceremony!
 

With consideration for both blue and yellow being loud colours, black coloured components were carefully used to offer the necessary bridge for the right contrast for the eventual finish. Custom decals were the final phase to completing Iceflare’s good looks.

 
-Jek

It is always a joy to ride your bike again after fitting on some fresh parts, especially when you’ve been running pretty much the same set-up for 2 years. I’d reckon the joy is even more evident if that bike is a Nicolai. With it’s timeless design, you only need a change of parts to ‘keep up with the times’ as I would like to phrase it. The owner of this 2009 Helius FR has done exactly that, all the while sticking to the original white/blue theme, with a splash of gold.

It started out with subtle changes like the Shimano Saint brakes with blue hydraulic hoses.

The front suspension fork was replaced with a custom painted RockShox Totem…

…while the rear, the old shock was replaced with a reworked RockShox Vivid Air.

To top it off, a brand new pair of anodized blue ZTR flow rims were laced to Chris King hubs with blue Ti spokes.

- Ben

We begin our first post of the new year with our recent build of this 2012 Specialized Demo 8 frame. You guys would definitely be familiar with the Demo 8 from its success in the UCI DH World Cups/World Championships. This isn’t just any other Demo though, it features a custom Troy Lee Designs colourway, with only a very limited 250 of these frames produced worldwide.

The Demo comes with a Cane Creek Double Barrel shock that had been factory tuned for the frame.

We reworked the RockShox Boxxer World Cup Keronite fork to match the Cane Creek shock in the rear. The original stanchions were also swapped with Fast Suspension’s hardened-anodised/teflon-coated ones. Bolted on to the Boxxer is Hope Direct Mount Stem.

The Shimano Saint shifter, rear derailleur, and brakes were chosen for their reliability. Not to mention the Atomlab Pimplites that are laced to Hope Pro 2 hubs.

The owner spared no expense for this build, and only the best parts were chosen. Now that he has collected his bike, we are pretty sure that he can’t wait to get some serious DH riding done with it!

- Ben

Fresh out of the box, this 2012 Specialized Enduro Expert Carbon was stripped, with most of the bike being rebuilt with new parts.

Just look at the condition, it’s not even a ride old!

First up, the original Fox Float 36 was replaced with a (take a deep breath) RockShox Lyrik RC2 DH Dual Position Air. Allowing the rider to reduce the travel for climbing, and extending it all the way for the downs. On-the-fly of course.

This is followed by the RockShox Reverb seatpost; adjustable seatposts are pretty much ‘standard equipment’ on most All-Mountain bikes nowadays.

Who says Nicolai’s Hammerschmidt Pimp Kit is only for Nicolai bikes? It looks awesome on the Enduro too! The Truvativ Hammerschmidt cranks were also custom mounted.

To add on to the blue/gold theme, a set of gold Hope Pro 2 hubs were laced to blue Atomlab Pimplite rims. Some people might think that Pimplites are an overkill for an All-Mountain wheelset, but we beg to differ.

- Ben

Nicolai calls it “the perfect all rounder”, and we couldn’t agree more.

Thanks to a lightweight, low slung and compact frame, with adjustable rear travel up to 146mm, the Helius AC really climbs as well as it descends, making it ideal as a Cross-Country/All-Mountain bike.

This current build weighs in at 13.8 kg, perfect for a long travel Cross-Country bike that the owner required it for.

Anodised Black was chosen for the entire frame as the owner wanted a fairly stealthy look. As the RockShox Sektor RL Solo Air up front was only available in white, we couldn’t possibly let it slip, so we had it painted in matt black!

Together with the Anodised Red rocker links, bearing covers, cable guides, and the Hammerschmidt Pimp Kit that you see here…

…components with subtle red accents were selected to provide the Helius AC with some colour.

Don’t all these little details just make you want to take a closer look at it?

- Ben

Since it’s introduction in 2008 as the successor to the Nicolai M-Pire ST, the Ion ST has been the most successful downhill frame in the Nicolai line up.  Having won countless downhill podium finishes in Europe with the Gates Nicolai Team and Conti Nicolai Team, we are pretty sure that this winning streak will continue to even greater heights in the 2012 season. It has also appeared in the Dirt 100 as one of Dirt Magazine’s 100 ultimate mountain bike products in 2009 and 2011.

The Ion ST has since been renamed as the Ion 20 for Nicolai’s 2012 catalogue, where it will join the Ion 18 and Ion 14 to complete Nicolai’s ‘Ion’ range of premium gravity full suspension frames that feature the same 4-bar linkage design.

Having just returned from Perth for his summer holidays, the owner of this Kawasaki Green Ion ST got some new wheels built. The Atomlab Pimplite rims laced to a pair of Hope Pro 2 hubs makes it a strong, reliable, and lightweight combination.

Do stay tuned as we will be building up the first Ion 20 in Singapore soon!

- Ben

2 years, 1 returned frame, lots of patience and persistence later, the Nicolai Argon SSP that we were eagerly waiting for finally arrived last month, and boy were we glad to see it. Production started after the owner (the loyal Nicolai customer with the Fire Department Red bikes that you see on this blog) wanted a tailor made frame based on the Argon Road that could serve as a commuter that was capable of some fun when needed. That meant that Nicolai had to go back to the drawing board, which explains the long wait.

Why not just get a fixed frame you might ask? Well you definitely can’t run front/rear disc brakes on a fixie with and a standard 135mm MTB hub on the rear, which is why this is Argon SSP might very well be a one-off.

Since the frame had internal cable routing, we figured we could not leave out the front brake cable.

Some in-house modifications later, and the problem is solved.  To keep up with the clean aesthetics, the V-brake mounts and guides on the front fork were also removed before it was repainted.

Internal cable routing was specifically designed for the owner to run discs and an internal geared hub in the rear, which in this case is an 8-speed Shimano Alfine hub.

The Argon SSP is also running the new Middleburn RS8 X-Type cranks with a Gates Carbon Drive system (no surprise there).

For the owner, it was not so much a matter of challenging what Nicolai was capable of, but it was more about having the confidence that the wonderful team of guys in Lübbrechtsen, Germany, were able to deliver what no other bike manufacturer was able to. Well that was exactly what they did, because they can.

- Ben

The majority of Nicolai’s that we have built have all come with a certain story behind them. Reasons as why to why a particular frame, colour, or set-up was chosen, have usually reflected a lot on the various personalities of our customers. Well it wasn’t any different with this Nicolai build, but it was a pretty damn memorable one we must say.

Roland (a retiree from Switzerland, currently living in Malaysia on a 10 year long visa), approached us to purchase a custom Helius AC. As an avid MTB forum reader, he was extremely particular about every single measurement of his bike, down to the slightest millimetre/milligram. He had already set his mind on getting one with an effective 580mm top tube, after an uncomfortable experience back in Switzerland, testing out a size L Helius AC that had a 600mm effective top tube.

Upon the arrival of his frame, he was over in Singapore for the week to witness the assembly process. To be honest, he wasn’t too pleased at all when he realised that his Helius AC came with a top tube reach that was 5mm shorter that what he wanted. It took us quite a bit of effort to convince Roland that he should just forget about all the measurements, and focus on how he wanted his bike to feel instead.

In that short week, we taught him how to assemble/disassemble/service the bike, and we brought him to the Tampines MTB trail for a ride to make sure that all the adjustments were dialed before packing his bike and delivering it to the airport. Thankfully, he was really stoked with how his bike felt.

His AC was built with carefully selected components that were a fine balance between weight, stength, and aesthetics. Colour choice turned out to be mostly a mixure of red and blue as he could not decide on which colour he liked the most. He also requested for a tougher Helius AM front shock mount.

A Rohloff rear hub was chosen for it’s ease of maintenance, with no drivetrain issues once it was set up correctly.

The services that we provided for Roland were no different from what we provide our Nicolai customers. We set out to make things right from the start so that they would be able to enjoy their bike in the years to come. As Nicolai owners ourselves, we’ve realised that a Nicolai will only feel right once it has been built and set up correctly, and that it is not all about the figures. Although we can’t deny that everyone is entitled their own opinions on what would be their ‘ideal geometry’ for their bike, but to each his own, we suppose.