Spring is here in Durango. The trails on the East side of town are drying out. The trails on the West side of town are a mess of glorious mud. Only trace amounts of snow can still be seen in the shadowy recesses of the neighborhood. Afternoon t-shirt sunbaths in the backyard are in full swing. Saturday trips to snowboard the local ski hills or backcountry powder exploring followed by Sunday mountain bike rides. Ahhhh Spring in Durango. Beautiful.

For me, Spring is time to start getting excited about mountain biking and backpacking. My first backpacking trip is usually towards the end of May. Last year we camped in 2 1/2 ft of snow above Lemon Reservoir. You never know what will happen here this time of year. But the sun is out today, it’s warm and I’m thinking Summer excursions for sure.

My first project to get ready for Summer this year was building up a Canfield Brothers’ Nimble 9. It’s a sweet hard tail, steel frame 29er designed from the minds of Lance and Chris Canfield: short chain stay, a bit more aggressive headtube angle, sliding/removeable dropouts, B.A.. Maiden voyage this weekend. I love Spring in Durango. The promise of a many sun soaked afternoons filled with miles of single track is in the air.

Nimble 9 Build:

• Small, Green Nimble 9 Frame
• Fox 32 Talas Fork
• Stans NoTubes Arch Wheelset
• Kenda Small Block 8 Tires
• Cane Creek 110 Headset
• Sunline XC Stem
• Sunline V-One Flat Bars
• Lizard Skin Grips
• Avid Elixer 7 Disc Brakes
• Sram X9 Shifter
• Thompson Elite Seatpost
• Brooks Saddle
• Sram X0 Rear Derailleur
• Sram 990 Cassette
• MRP 1X Chain Guide
• Homebrew 34t Chainring
• Sram X9 Cranks
• Crank Brothers Pedals

Update 4/5/2012:

I’ve ridden this bike on some local single track now the the snow is melting. I love the bike. The geometry feels great. The Nimble 9 is very willing to tackle fun, twisty sections of single track and climbs like a goat. Even on my first couple of rides of the year, I felt I had the energy to keep going. A very efficient pedaling ride.

The drive train is great! Love the Homebrew single chainring on the front and 9sp gearing in the back. Seems very solid and the SRAM shifting in the back is, as always, very crisp.

I don’t think I would change a thing about this build. It makes for a sweet trail bike to be sure. All in all I couldn’t be happier. The Canfield Brothers have, once again, delivered a very fun bike to ride!

Update 4/23/2012:

I’ve now been able to put a solid amount of trail miles on this bike. I am still really pleased with the handling and responsiveness of the frame. I’ve purposely put it through some tight and twisty single track and longer climbs and I have to say this thing gobbles it all up. It really gets in and out of the turns quickly and I’ve stayed comfortable and happy on some longer rides.

Uphill, the frame is amazing in the 95mm travel setting and climbs impressively well. I have ridden quite a few 26″ and 29er hard tails (I actually manage a shop where we sell the Orbea Alma – one of my other favorite bikes) and this one is certainly on par with other, larger production frames in its ability to get you up some pretty steep sections and keep you happy on longer sustained climbs. The bikes geometry provides a very efficient feel both in and out of the saddle while climbing.

Downhill this bike is awesome. It really seems to want to get in the air and tackle super tight sections. You can really just lean back and let her eat. The big tires are great for gripping and getting the frame horizontal to rip through the corners.

On another note, I read the Dirt Rag Review. An interesting issue that was brought up in the review was the shaping of the rear chain stay and the tend to strike your heel on the frame. With the touring build I did on my other Nimble 9 and while wearing regular sneakers on my Canfield Brothers Crampon platform pedals, I have hit my heel on the chain stay a couple of times (actually I thinks it’s the seat stay that I’ve hit). I have a pretty average sized foot (size 10 US/42 eu). With this build, I have yet to hit any part of the frame. On this Nimble 9 I am wearing clip in shoes and using Crank Bros pedals. So not a problem here. Not sure what the difference has been really, maybe just my foot moving around a bit more on the platforms. Nothing that would make me shy away from the bike however.

Overall, I would recommend this frame to anyone. Great price for an amazing bike that can be built up in a lot of different ways. I think I may even put together a rigid single speed on this frame in the near future.