The big news for the Canfield Yelli Screamy is its new stretched out silhouette, bringing it’s geometry into the modern era. Here are the specifics, and how to get your hands on one. Canfield have looked to keep the nimble ride feel of this 29er hardtail by maintaining the short chainstays it is known for. Reach figures are drastically increased, the head angle goes slacker, and the seat tube sits way more upright than the Yelli Screamy of 2015. Weight: 5.5lbs (frame only) 24.5lbs.The 3rd Generation Canfield Yelli Screamy still looks very much like a Yelli Screamy despite the geometry overhaul.If you’re looking for a versatile 29er without cookie-cutter geometry, throw a leg over the Nimble 9. It offers excellent handling characteristics in an affordable package. The Nimble 9 is versatile enough to suit riders of many different backgrounds. Thankfully, this will be remedied with the introduction of an extra large size this spring. Finally, the Nimble 9 is only offered in three sizes. A 44mm headtube would have been a nice addition, giving riders the option to run forks with tapered steerers. The junction of the bottom bracket and chainstays acts as a shelf to collect mud and debris, something to keep in mind if you live in a wet climate. This is the only bike I’ve ridden that my heels routinely clipped the chainstays-a byproduct of trying to maximize rear tire clearance with remarkably short chainstays-more shaping of the chainstays could solve this. The Nimble 9 rode well, but there are design elements I took issue with. No bottom bracket sway while hammering up climbs and no awkward front and rear yaw under hard cornering. The frame as a whole was appreciably stiff. Perhaps this is due to seat and chainstays that are shorter than the norm, and therefore flex less along their length. Despite this, my impression was that the rear end was stiffer than most other steel hardtails I’ve ridden. Though I did find myself weighting the front end more than usual to get the front wheel to bite while cornering.Ĭanfield Brothers incorporated gracefully curved seatstays to act as leaf springs, taking the edge off. Even with 120mm of travel, the bike never felt sluggish nor did the front end wander excessively while climbing. (The Nimble 9 can accommodate 80-120mm suspension forks.) The Fox TALAS gave me a chance to test the bike with the fork in the 120mm and 95mm settings, which gave the Nimble 9 unsagged head angles of roughly 68° and 69° respectively. I was underwhelmed by the performance of the Marzocchi fork that came with the bike and promptly swapped it for the Fox TALAS 29 reviewed in issue #150. The frame is extremely playful and really comes alive as your speed increases. Pedal kicking over obstacles was also a breeze. I immediately noticed how easy it was to navigate tight switchbacks. I’ll get right to it, the Nimble 9 lives up to its name. (The sliding dropouts will change the chainstay length from 412mm to 429mm.) As for tire clearance, my test bike was spec’d with Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.35” tires and there was room to spare between the stays. This provides enough tire clearance to run a direct-mount front derailleur without running into clearance issues that result from big tires and short chainstays. The designer must get creative when building a bike with all three elements.Ĭanfield’s solution was to weld the downtube 35mm forward of the bottom bracket. Choose two of these three things and one can design a 29er without much fuss. He wanted the Nimble 9 to have short chainstays, ample tire clearance, and the ability to run a front derailleur. I liked 29ers, but the geometry of most is terrible,” says Lance. “All the products we build are things we want to ride. Lance Canfield designed the Nimble 9 to address some of the shortcomings of other 29ers. Basically all our bikes are built for downhillers,” says Lance. “As much as we love riding downhill, we can’t do it every day. The Nimble 9 and its aluminum counterpart, the Yelli-Screamy, were built because the Canfield brothers needed bikes to train on when they were not able to ride downhill. Lance and Chris Canfield have four bikes in their current line, two of which are 29er hardtails with short chainstays and slack head angles. Canfield is a small, Utah-based company that has been building downhill and freeride bikes since 1999.
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