# Bird Aether 9 C - A Huge Bike



## telejefe (Mar 28, 2007)

I have been eyeing the AM9 for quite some time, waiting on a shorter travel version for better climbing. Now that it is hear, I am not sure I am ready for it! I am 6'5". What are your thoughts here? So far, only press release, no real ride reports.


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## manpurse (Feb 6, 2011)

It has some good geo numbers and it would be interesting to demo one. I'm riding a Pole Evolink 131 that has similar numbers but it's also an aluminum frame that weighs quite a bit more but it's a great fit for me.


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## GT87 (Mar 18, 2014)

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## TooTallUK (Jul 5, 2005)

Their own page says the bike isn't coming until the autumn, so it isn't available.

They make size specific seat tube angles, but keep the same 430mm chainstays. The seat tube angle will help, but I'm not a fan of short back ends on bikes. 210 x 55 is a decent shock size with enough for us bigger / heavier guys to work with.


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## telejefe (Mar 28, 2007)

Not sure looking at chainstay is as valid as it used to be. The seat tube is going to move us further forward while sitting, and the reach when standing. 

I had a kona satori for a bit with a 78-degree seat tube, 510 reach, and short 430 chainstays. It felt great climbing. The seat tube was great. Downhill was not so great, but was due to the 68-degree head angle. Chainstays never felt too short. I think with the reach and wheelbase, the chainstay length seems ok to me.


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## socalrider77 (Sep 1, 2012)

Being 6’7 I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the XL. I’m on an xxl transition sentinel v2 and while it fits me great, I wouldn’t have a problem going bigger 

OP I think for 6’5 the XL will be good as well. 


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## jonshonda (Apr 21, 2011)

My only concern would be the stack height relative to the reach. It's got a lot of reach and not a lot of stack imho. My saddle height is 32.5" from top of saddle to center of bb, and I am going with a stack height of 675mm (532mm AC fork sagged to 508mm) w/ a reach of 474mm (based around a 50mm 10 deg stem). I am 6'2" and using a 175mm crank puts me right around a 39.5" inseam, so I have a hard time finding a frame that has enough stack to get 1/2" riser bars level with the saddle.


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

Here is my contribution

These are the largest frame offerings in each model listed.


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## socalrider77 (Sep 1, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> Here is my contribution


What sizes are those? All XL?

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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

socalrider77 said:


> What sizes are those? All XL?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They are all xxl except for the bird is xl.


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## socalrider77 (Sep 1, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> They are all xxl except for the bird is xl.


Ah okay. I think some of your numbers are a little off then. Hightower carbon has a 660 stack, and the sentinel (v2 at least) has a 649 stack 521 reach (both in XXL)

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## brawlo (Mar 13, 2012)

You probably need to factor the Pole bikes into that list too. I'm sniffing around to move into a 140 or less FS bike and at 6'5" with long arms, there's not a lot out there for me to consider. I already have a Pole Taival, so I have that to compare sizing to. The Bird definitely has my attention but in comparison to my Taival, it shortens up the cockpit too much for the flatter stuff. The Pole Evolink 140 is very similar sizing to the Bird, but shorter stack. The Evolink has a 76° seat tube (78° effective) though which means that as I extend the seat to the lofty heights that I need it, it should give me a bigger cockpit when seated and climbing


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

socalrider77 said:


> Ah okay. I think some of your numbers are a little off then. Hightower carbon has a 660 stack, and the sentinel (v2 at least) has a 649 stack 521 reach (both in XXL)
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It may be the difference between years. I just took that list from another bigger list on this site and hid the other columns that I wasn't interested in for this thread. I shouldn't have hidden the year model.

Yeah the hightower is a 2017 and the sentinal is 2019.


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## socalrider77 (Sep 1, 2012)

brawlo said:


> You probably need to factor the Pole bikes into that list too. I'm sniffing around to move into a 140 or less FS bike and at 6'5" with long arms, there's not a lot out there for me to consider. I already have a Pole Taival, so I have that to compare sizing to. The Bird definitely has my attention but in comparison to my Taival, it shortens up the cockpit too much for the flatter stuff. The Pole Evolink 140 is very similar sizing to the Bird, but shorter stack. The Evolink has a 76° seat tube (78° effective) though which means that as I extend the seat to the lofty heights that I need it, it should give me a bigger cockpit when seated and climbing


How do you like the taival? Is it boring on flat/more mellow stuff like a typical enduro bike?

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## Fuse6F (Jul 5, 2017)

Please add the canyon strive to the list. Its a big bike


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## brawlo (Mar 13, 2012)

socalrider77 said:


> How do you like the taival? Is it boring on flat/more mellow stuff like a typical enduro bike?


I really like it, but it's about a 95% love and 5% meh. I honestly don't have a lot of experience in the MTB arena so I don't have a lot to go off.

I had a Scott Scale before and that was flat out too small, so the Pole just felt 1000% better from the start. I don't notice any issue on the flat, the only real issue is when doing tighter turns, it is quite simply a looooong bike. I have been spending more time on the MTB recently and I am beginning to notice more issues. I need to get the front up more but with Covid, it's proving a hard thing to get parts to do so. The trails around me are much more XC focused with a handful of downhills for the psychos. I have to travel about an hour to even think about trail/enduro style riding, so I just plain don't have much experience at it.

Now that I'm investing more time into the Taival I find that it's a bit too much middle ground for me. I feel I want 2 separate bikes now, a big XC 120mm HT and a XC/trail FS. The Evolink and Stamina reportedly play that game well. The Nicolai I have also had my eye on, but I can't justify the premium. It's nice to see this Aether come along and be a serious stack and reach contender in the type of bike I'm looking at


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

Fuse6F said:


> Please add the canyon strive to the list. Its a big bike


Looks like I need to revise for current model years too.


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