Johnny's space

I got a set of Industry Nine Classic Hubs about 11 months ago. I wasn’t sure what bike I would use them on, I had a brand new wheelset built up 13 months ago and two spare wheelsets laying around the garage. Not in any rush, I set them on my office desk and there they sat for the longest time.

While the months pasted by I caught a bug… the 650b bug and instantly knew how I was going to put the I9 hubs to use. So I ordered my 650b frame, and dropped the I9 hubs off at the local bike shop for a wheel build.

Considering there aren’t many choices for 650b rims, I opt’d to go with the Stans 355 ZTR 650b rims, laced up with DT Swiss Competition Double Butted spokes and the Industry Nine Classic Hubs. I got my wheelset back, a couple of weeks later my 650b frame arrive and I built her up.

I’ve hammer the hell out of this wheelset on some very difficult terrain and brutalized the wheelset a few weeks ago while riding in the Pisgah National Forest. Matt at Ultimate Bike did a bang up job lacing the wheelset up and it’s quite obvious to me that without his excellent wheel building skills, knowledge and experience I wouldn’t have the great wheelset I have. I’ve put this wheelset through the wringer, ridden terrain that I would consider is beyond what the Stans 355 ZTR rim is designed to handle and had one nasty (almost vertical… land on the front wheel) end that should have folded a wheel up… yet the front wheel is still true, round and solid as the day it was built and the same goes for the rear wheel.

The Stans 355 ZTR rims have exceeded all my expectations and I’m really impressed with the beating I’ve dished out to these rims. I haven’t converted this wheelset to tubeless as of yet and I’ve been really pleased with the fact that I didn’t get a pinch flat while riding the rocky terrain of the Pisgahs. I suspect that this is directly related to the lower sidewalls of the 355 ZTR rims and why I haven’t experience any pinch flats at all. The Pacenti Neo-Moto and Quai-Moto tires I have installed on the Stans 355 ZTR rims seated up nicely during inflation and considering how tight these tires where during the installation, I suspect that they’ll seat up perfectly once I go tubeless.

Some thoughts and comments on the Industry Nine Classic Hubs
As for the Industry Nine hubs, the first thing I noticed on my first ride is the sound the I9 Classics make is like a low constant hum. This constant humming sound is produced by the speedy paw engagement of the I9 hubs. The paw engagement is practically instantaneous, solid and with only 3 degrees between the engagement, you can’t find another hub that will engage as fast. The I9 rear hub also spins easily, with little to practically no resistance coming from the paws and the front hub spins like there’s no tomorrow.

As for the craftsmanship… these hubs are beautifully designed, machined with attention to detail and precision, they’re tight and show no play in the freehub at all. I’m really digging them! I’m confident that I’ll have this hub set for many years to come. I’ve actually got plans to build up another  wheelset for my 650b and the hubs I plan to use are another set of Industry Nine Classics.

We’ll I’ve ridden the hell out of my new Pacenti 650b now and I’m really digging the wheelsize, the frame, the steel frame, the handling… I’m really diggin the new bike!

The first ride was a bit squirrely for the first couple of miles while I got use to the smaller wheel size compared to the 29er I had been riding. I finally realized that it wasn’t the bike, but the fact that I was over steering. So as I got use to the snappier response and handling of this bike, I finally got a feel on it’s handling and I just love how it carves through a corner.

Pacenti 650b Steel Frame review
What really stood out about this new bike was how great riding a steel frame felt. After riding an aluminum hardtail for the past year, I can say without a doubt that I’ll never buy anything other than steel from this point on, except when considering a full suspension frame. The steel feels amazing and alive, likes it’s part or you, an extension of your body and not just something you’re riding. I really dig how snappy the bike feels, how it easy it is to flick around and I’ve found myself staying in the saddle much more because it just doesn’t beat the hell out of you like aluminum does. Props to Kirk Pacenti on the frame design… he got the tubing dialed in perfectly and I couldn’t be more pleased.

White Brothers 650b Magic 100mm Fork Review
The White Brothers fork feels great too! Considering it hasn’t even broken in yet, I’m really pleased with how great it feels and handles. I’ve notice zero lateral flex in the fork and it takes the bike where you point it with confidence. That’s a lot more than I can say for a few other forks I’ve owned over the years. I can’t wait to see how this fork handles once it’s pasted it’s break in period.

Pacenti 650b Tires and Stans 650b ZTR 355 Rims Review
The Pacenti Neo and Quasi Motos seated into the Stans ZRT 355 rims nicely. I’m not running this bike as tubeless as of yet, since I’m waiting for the wheelset to stress out a bit more and get it retensioned once I have a few more rides on them. But once that’s done I’ll be taking this thing tubeless. I’ve read a few threads about the Neo blowning off the ZTR 355 rims, but considering how snug the tires where during installation… I think this was more of operator error and these guys where just over-airing the tires. I just can’t see these tires turning loose from the ZTR 355 rims and I think they’re going to seat up perfectly once I go tubeless.

Pacenti 650b Neo-Moto Review
The Neo tracks and carves great. I’m use to riding Panaracer Rampage tires on my 29er and the Neo feels very familiar and I know what the Neo is going to do, how it’s going to handle in a corner, what to expect in a loose sandy spot, mud, rocks and the flataways. The Neo-Moto even has my tread of choice.

Pacenti 650b Quasi-Moto Review
The Quasi is nice, it’s not a the kind of tire I would typically choose for my bikes, but that was the whole point of choosing the Quasi in the first place… I wanted a rear tire that I could spin up fast. The first thing I noticed about the Quasi is that it wasn’t like the Neo. It was a little looser than what I was use to, coming from a 29er with a Panaracer Rampage in the front and rear. But unlike the 29er with the Rampage on the rear, I can spin this thing up really fast. Part of this is because of the fact that’s a 650b and takes a lot less effort to get this bike moving along, but the Quasi really does spin up fast and that’s why I chose it for my rear tire.

Now that I’ve have a few miles on the Quasi, I’ve begun to understand what to expect from the Quasi and have adjusted my technic accordingly. I’ve gotten in more miles than I can remember now on this new bike now and I like the Quasi-Moto tire. It’s predictable and tracks well. It’s not the Neo-Moto and will break traction a little sooner than the Neo, but hey… it’s not the same tire and has a considerably lesser tread profile and this is expected. I dig the Quasi and it is exactly what I expected, a fast tire that tracks well, spins up fast and corners good.

Follow-Up:
Over the weekend I made a few adjustments to the While Brothers’ 650b Magic 100mm fork and air’d down the tire pressure a bit. The White Bros’ fork feels great! Dropping the air pressure on my tubed tires also helped out a lot and both the Neo and Quasi are hooking up great! I had the tires bumped up around 40lbs starting out. Dropping them down to 35lbs made a huge improvement! I can’t wait to get the tires set up tubeless.

2 Months later

Kirk did a bang up job on designing this frame! This is hands down the best Mtn. Bike I’ve ever ridden!!! I had planned to have a preliminary review posted up by now on this bike, but I’ve been riding it so damn much that I haven’t had time to sit down and pull together some thoughts to best describe how great this bike handles and how perfect the steel feels!

When I contacted Kirk about designing this frame, we talked, I told him what I was looking for in the new bike, what kind of trail conditions I’d be using it for and my riding style… we hammered out the details and the end result is nothing less than riding perfection!

3 Months later

I absolutely love this bike! 650b wheels ROCK! I’ve been having more fun on this bike than any previous bike I’ve ever owned! My 29er is gathering dust and will be torn down in March when my second 650b frame arrives.

White Brothers 650b Magic 100mm Fork

The White Brothers Magic 650b 100mm fork is handling great and I’ve been very impressed with how it handles cornering, floats through rock gardens and over roots. But what has really got my attention is how well it handles while climbing or hammering out of the saddle… there’s zero bob!

Final Review:

I told Kirk I wanted a bike that cornered great, was fast and snappy in turns and technical trails. Carving is one of my strengths and I wanted a bike that would would be very responsive and turn on a dime. A bike that felt fast and highly responsive… we discussed it in much more detail that that, but that was the basic overall request for the Pacenti frame. I also wanted to go on the smaller frame size spectrum to tighten up the cockpit and yet have a high bottom bracket so I could pedal through corners none stop without striking my pedals. I like smaller frames with high bottom brackets for riding the locals trails here in Charlotte, NC. I wanted a frame that was Fast, Nimble, Responsive, for technical flat to rolling hill trails like what we have here in my home town. Kirk nailed it and the Pacenti is like a bullet… It’s exactly what I wanted for my Charlotte bike.

White Brothers Magic 650b 100mm Fork:

The White Brothers Magic 650b 100mm fork is hands down one of the best performing XC forks I’ve ever owed! It’s laterally stiff, the IMV Damper Technology rocks and I really dig how well this fork performs! There’s zero bob when hammering, zero bob when climbing, yet when you need the suspension it’s there and feels super plush. The Magic 650b is the first fork I’ve owned in a long time that has smitten me with it’s performance.