anyone got or riden one of these nirves?
- Thread starter kingpin
- Start date
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I have ridden them, nearly got one for myself actually. Had I not landed my Felt El Guapo off craigslist for a nice price I'd be riding around on the Switchblade (same as the Cannibal). They are nicely finished, comfortable and pretty darn cool in my books.
They ride surprisingly well but you do notice the rake on the front forks and the bike is long. But that's what its about isn't it?? If you can test ride one do it for sure as the rake and handling may not be to your style but I found it kind of fun, they also dont pedal incredibly efficiently so are best on flat ground but the feet forward postion is a cool twist too. I'm still going to keep an eye out for a used one and if I find one cheap enough I'll grab it, it would be awesome to drop an electric hub motor in for cruising or just hanging round.
Just my thoughts but I quite like them. The bike shops don't take you too seriously though when you are asking about a bike like that, but when out and about people WILL notice. I get comments on my Felt all the time and it's not quite as loud as the Switchblade. But, it's all fun and if you want one get it :mrgreen: FWIW, try and haggle with the bike shops if they have one in stock as from my experience they dont seem to sell many of them so are pretty keen to see them go out the door :wink:
Here's my Felt El Guapo which I love.
And now with the electric hub motor. I have a new wide 24" rim and black spokes in the post to paint red and lace up next week so that i can put my other thick brick back on the bike. It's too much fun to cruise around on. :mrgreen:
They ride surprisingly well but you do notice the rake on the front forks and the bike is long. But that's what its about isn't it?? If you can test ride one do it for sure as the rake and handling may not be to your style but I found it kind of fun, they also dont pedal incredibly efficiently so are best on flat ground but the feet forward postion is a cool twist too. I'm still going to keep an eye out for a used one and if I find one cheap enough I'll grab it, it would be awesome to drop an electric hub motor in for cruising or just hanging round.
Just my thoughts but I quite like them. The bike shops don't take you too seriously though when you are asking about a bike like that, but when out and about people WILL notice. I get comments on my Felt all the time and it's not quite as loud as the Switchblade. But, it's all fun and if you want one get it :mrgreen: FWIW, try and haggle with the bike shops if they have one in stock as from my experience they dont seem to sell many of them so are pretty keen to see them go out the door :wink:
Here's my Felt El Guapo which I love.
And now with the electric hub motor. I have a new wide 24" rim and black spokes in the post to paint red and lace up next week so that i can put my other thick brick back on the bike. It's too much fun to cruise around on. :mrgreen:
Yeah, there's one here.
I bought it for my son, who doesn't seem to want to use it when he is home (and before he left) from the service.
This one is modified a bit. It has a Large Marge on the rear (with the Sturmey 3 speed), a Sturmey drum brake out front oinside of an Alex DX32 rim, with bars from a Jesse James chopper bike (flipped of course), a bright aluminum stem adapter instead of the flat black one. A Black Fatti-O sits out back with a black 26X1.95 Townie tire out front. I haven't painted it yet, but that is coming. The crank and pedals are changed as is the sprocket. I have been considering a 3pc crank set that is sitting here, but haven't made my mind up on it yet.
The bike was nice to begin with, but I have a bad habit. If it starts out nice, I have a tendancy to want to change stuff to my way of thinking.
I only have a couple of photos, and I don't think most of the above mentioned stuff was done when they were taken.
As far as fit to rider, I have no problem with it at 5'10", and my son is a little shorter and without problem either. It is a solid bike, and actually rides quite well.
Here is an older photo:
And one with the son:
It has lost the chainguard since this was taken, and the rear fender went away long ago...
Rat Royale
REC Elsewhere
I bought it for my son, who doesn't seem to want to use it when he is home (and before he left) from the service.
This one is modified a bit. It has a Large Marge on the rear (with the Sturmey 3 speed), a Sturmey drum brake out front oinside of an Alex DX32 rim, with bars from a Jesse James chopper bike (flipped of course), a bright aluminum stem adapter instead of the flat black one. A Black Fatti-O sits out back with a black 26X1.95 Townie tire out front. I haven't painted it yet, but that is coming. The crank and pedals are changed as is the sprocket. I have been considering a 3pc crank set that is sitting here, but haven't made my mind up on it yet.
The bike was nice to begin with, but I have a bad habit. If it starts out nice, I have a tendancy to want to change stuff to my way of thinking.
I only have a couple of photos, and I don't think most of the above mentioned stuff was done when they were taken.
As far as fit to rider, I have no problem with it at 5'10", and my son is a little shorter and without problem either. It is a solid bike, and actually rides quite well.
Here is an older photo:
And one with the son:
It has lost the chainguard since this was taken, and the rear fender went away long ago...
Rat Royale
REC Elsewhere
Kingpin, I'm pretty large also. (6'5" 280) I rode one and liked it but ..... I dunno, just wasn't right for me. I love my Rockabilly Boogie by Electra bike. It was completely uncomfortable with the pull back cruiser bars. But riding it I knew I could make it work for me just right. As soon as I put 28" apes on it I was golden. I get more comments on that thing. people love it. And then they try to ride it. they can't. That says to me I modified the bike perfectly for a genetic misfit to ride it. :lol:
Rat Rod
Owner & Founder
Those aspects bug me about choppers too, but in my mind they always look like someone is really wanting a motorcycle, but has to settle for a bike.
I have this weird issue with wanting my bikes to look like bikes.
Not sure if I'm explaining this well. :?
I have this weird issue with wanting my bikes to look like bikes.
Not sure if I'm explaining this well. :?
Rat Rod said:
i kinda agree but i have found that i cant really ride baech cruisers etc comfortably without having the seat way to high. im hopeing the streched out but not to low thing might work for me.
i actually want a limo but they are too low for me
Wow....
Looks like I may have been better off to keep quiet.. (or I may have hit a NIRVE!)
Regarding the Nirve... I've had several other "chopper" bikes before it, and the flop is far less with it than with, dare I say it, the Rat Royale - a Felt Scythe. The longer bike (Stretch Orangestrong) doesn't seem to have a huge issue with that either, but I think the geometry of it is more similar to a basic cruiser in the fork angle area.
The one that was more prone to "floppage" than the others was a Yellow bike that is supposed to be REALLY good. We sold it as my son could not get comfortable on it... ever. We reduced the floppage slightly by going to a 26" front tire as opposed to the 20" one that came on it. It looked really cool though (for those of us who wanted a motorcycle but..), but was a pain in the butt to ride for any length of time. He did one roughly 8 mile round trip on it, and was moanin' about it for days. Come to think of it, I think he moaned for days over most long rides... Video games are far more fun or something....
Now.. truth be known, I like these "chopper" wannabes, but when you look around the house, they are GREATLY outnumbered by those "bikes that look like bikes."
Going back to my corner now...
Rat Royale
REC Elsewhere
Looks like I may have been better off to keep quiet.. (or I may have hit a NIRVE!)
Regarding the Nirve... I've had several other "chopper" bikes before it, and the flop is far less with it than with, dare I say it, the Rat Royale - a Felt Scythe. The longer bike (Stretch Orangestrong) doesn't seem to have a huge issue with that either, but I think the geometry of it is more similar to a basic cruiser in the fork angle area.
The one that was more prone to "floppage" than the others was a Yellow bike that is supposed to be REALLY good. We sold it as my son could not get comfortable on it... ever. We reduced the floppage slightly by going to a 26" front tire as opposed to the 20" one that came on it. It looked really cool though (for those of us who wanted a motorcycle but..), but was a pain in the butt to ride for any length of time. He did one roughly 8 mile round trip on it, and was moanin' about it for days. Come to think of it, I think he moaned for days over most long rides... Video games are far more fun or something....
Now.. truth be known, I like these "chopper" wannabes, but when you look around the house, they are GREATLY outnumbered by those "bikes that look like bikes."
Going back to my corner now...
Rat Royale
REC Elsewhere
you hit the nail on the head steve. to me most of these bikes look like they are trying to be something they are not. and because they are so long they tend not to be much fun to ride at least i think so other than a cool factor. then again (and i am not trying to stir the pot) you could also say that our boardtracker style bikes are trying to be motorcycles too. but in my opinion they are far more fun to ride. to each his own
