Niner

EMD 9 1-Star Complete Mountain Bike - 2016

The build on Niner's EMD 9 1-Star Complete Mountain Bike is, admittedly, a frill-free affair, which has its ups and downs. The downside is that your machine won't inspire tech-weenie hype on the weekend coffee shop loops favored by Lycra heroes. The upside is that it leaves the ostentatious ornamentation to the spring foliage and mating birds. Instead of posturing, it eats up singletrack with its confident, durable aluminum build and a spine built to transfer power to the trails, not generate envious glances from the plastic bike crowd.

The EMD 1-Star's kit continues that ride-focused theme, and — while Niner calls it an "introductory build" — we contend that the Shimano Deore 10-speed drivetrain checks off every box on our trail rocket list: it's durable, reliable, efficient, and durable. Deore's durability bears mentioning twice, because the only danger to this bombproof frame is that the groupset will fail after an unplanned tree/cyclist interface on the ragged edge. Shimano disc brakes round out the build to help ensure that those interfaces will be few and far between.

The EMD's 29er speed stems from its geometry, which is similar to the one Niner developed for the Air 9. The key differences are the head tube and wheelbase, which are steeper and tighter for a concise footprint that gives the EMD more agility in technical spots, while the tapered head tube keeps tracking on point while allowing for a built-up down tube and bottom bracket, ensuring that all power is spent going forward.

The EMD 9 is similar in many regards with Niner's Air 9, with a slightly steeper head tube angle and shorter wheelbase than the Air 9 frame. This gives the EMD more agility in technical spots, while the tapered head tube keeps tracking on point while allowing for a built-up down tube and bottom bracket, ensuring that all power is spent going forward. The EMD does weigh more than the Air 9, but the difference is less than 200 grams, claimed, so it's hardly noticeable on a full bike that's meant for the trail, not the scale.