Football fans buy the shoes of their idols, Formula 1 fans fly the Ferrari flag. We mountain bikers, on the other hand, have hit the jackpot in this respect. Mountain bikers can put the equipment of the pros under their bums 1:1 - like the Big.Nine Team from Merida, for example. The work equipment of Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå and Thomas Litscher makes no secret of the fact that its home is the toughest race tracks in the world. The downward-pointing stem virtually forces the rider into a stretched, streamlined position. As with the World Cup team, there is a firm SID fork in the head tube, Maxxis supplies the tyres and Sram contributes its top groupset. The only wheels the stars are likely to ride are lighter than the 3812 gram Fulcrum Red Power. It should be clear that professional material like this reacts badly to "operating errors". After all, not everyone can kick with Nike shoes like Lionel Messi.
Conclusionuncompromising propulsion: with the agile Big.Nine you can feel how hard the World Cup fights for seconds.
PLUS Five frame heights, team design and equipment
MINUS Relatively heavy wheels, heaviest bike in the test
The alternative If you don't want the team design and prefer to ride with the 22 gears of an XTR, you should take a look at the Big.Nine 9000. With Fox 32 and Schwalbe tyres, it only weighs a few grams more.
