Carver 96er Review
29 inch wheels has gradually been picking up popularity over the past few years and in the XC category, it’s considered as a recognized standard that even some manufacturers like Niner and Gary Fisher build their entire line of bikes upon. However, with the 29er, there are certain disadvantages that has plagued its development for a long time. These disadvantages are the weight as well as the acceleration due to its bigger rotational inertia. Over the past 3 years, the gradual improvements in technology has now brought 29 inch to a level whereby it is able to compete with the 26 inch in terms of weight while retaining the added advantage of the bigger wheels when riding over offroad terrain.
So when Conticomponents rang me up to provide me with the opportunity to give Carver 96er a go, I was definitely keen on doing so. The 96er is not a full 29er in that respect. It’s a 29 inch front wheel, while the rear is still a 26 inch. What it stands to gain is the ability to move off the line and accelerate like a 26 inch bike, while providing excellent traction up and down hill when rocks, gravel and roots might throw a 26 inch off course. This concept isn’t a brand new innovation. Offroad Dirt Motocross bikes has been practicing this ideas for a good long time and to great effect. So if Motocrossers think its good, why shouldn’t we try?
The Bike: The frame arrived in Electric Blue colour and with the Eccentric Bottom Bracket(EBB) already installed. The paintwork looked excellent and the EBB provided you with the option of running it in multiple positions and the ability to have either singlespeed or gears. The size was a medium at 17inch which comes in pretty nicely at 3.75lbs and retailed at a very affordable S$700+ range. Parts wise, it was mostly XT and a few XTR in the mix, while shifters were SRAM attack triggers. The fork, which could not be used from previous 26 inch bikes, was a main consideration for me. Currently there are a few options one can try from Rock Shox, (Reba, Tora), and in my case, I decided to go with the Reba Race. It was simple, cheap and largely maintenance free. Though it wasn’t lighter than say the XX, it was possibly only 100gm heavier, something that I could live with. I set up my wheels with the ZTR 355 29ers with Stan’s Proprietary hubs and once sealed up tubeless, they were definitely light! Total amount spent with a new wheel and fork came in just under $700. With the ride all dialed in, I was ready to hit the trails.
The Ride: The 96er is a Aluminium Hardtail and with this in mind, I did have certain amount of perception that it was going to be a stiff and harsh and hard ride. I was previously riding a full susser aluminium and was prepared to take a beating when changing over. However, I was gently surprised by the amount of give this frame actually offered. It wasn’t in a sense of flexing, but the frame provided enough bump absorption comfort, yet remaining very stiff under acceleration. It meant that I was confident to crank it all out in big gears through single track and technical sections. I rode a mix of T-15 and BT trails and that provided me with a variety of terrain to try. On the T-15 open sections, the Carver excelled in acceleration and nimble handling. I’ll have to admit, it took me about 5-10 mins to get used to the slightly bigger turning radius but in no time, I was zooming through trails at insane pace. As for the more technical sections of BT, the bike was just great in the climbing sections as well as providing great confidence on the way back down. The bigger front wheel provided an increased amount of traction to the ground giving me the ability to climb with greater assurance and loosing less pace due to bumps or rutted parts. Downhill was equally pleasing with the 70 degree head angle, pushing the bike through big bumps wasn’t an issue even without the aid of a rear suspension. Tires combination was Continental Mountain Kings 2.2 on the front and Speed King Supersonic 2.3 in the rear, which provided me sufficient grip on the wet muddy course and boosted me with added pace, which was clearly seen when I timed myself through certain sections. I also found the bike geometry rather compact, and did not feel the rear end being overly long. In fact, under the measuring tape, it was exactly the same length as my previous 14 inch bike, which is quite simply amazing!
At the end of the ride, I think what impressed me about the ride is that it’s a bike that really brings the rider involvement to the next level while keeping it all natural and constantly encouraging you to go faster. The response you receive from the bike is always positive and every pedal stroke seemed to produce the result you wished. It didn’t take a genius or a pure XC rider to truly enjoy this bike, everyone from XC to Trails to technical Single Track could.
The Verdict: This bike could easily be your fast sunday weekend ride bike, while still being perfectly capable to step up on race day and bring back the medals. It’s fast, responsive and predictable, taking very little time to get used to. Furthermore, retailing at $700 range, its priced to give extremely good value for money. If you didn’t mind not riding a full susser, then this bike must definitely be an option.
The Best: Predictable, Smooth, Comfy and FAST.
The Worst: Got to change your front end.
Rating: Highly Recommended
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The Built Up
The frame unboxed!
Frame and awesome paint work
ZTR 355 in 29 inch.
Conti Tires
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Resources you might be interested in….
Carver Bikes – US builder specializing in bikes with strange wheel sizes figuring that 26″ market is pretty well covered by thousands of others. They do 29, 650b, 24 inch and of course, the 69er/96er.
