Nicolai Saturn 14ST

Look, I’m being honest when I say at no point did I set out to get a new bike. Not now anyway. At the same time, trusty red was becoming long in the tooth. Not that its age bothered me, it didn’t – it was running pretty much all new everything, though finding new rubber was getting harder. Regardless, the San Andreas (II) continued to be a riot to ride, still made me smile and was always a talking point at the local park. That and riding to me these days, as long as the bike is in the ‘good’ category range, is about the ride far more than about the bike (yes, I know). 

The simple fact though was the frame was a size too small and started to become problematic. A shorter than ideal top tube, combined with a very specific bike fit, meant that I had to kick the saddle too far back and have a slightly longer stem (60mm) than what you really want these days. I made it work, but. As a result, the balance of the bike had always been somewhat off and when pushed past the comfort zone in certain types of riding, this imbalance became very prominent; on one occasion resulting in a nasty high-side that left me with a bung neck for months. So when a certain someone said after a short time riding it, that the Nicolai he’d bought was a size too big, it was like the proverbial aligning of the planets. I have always wanted a Nicolai, come close on several occasions, so this opportunity was well too good to give up.

So here we are.

The ‘radiator’ head badge. Machined of course.

100% German made Nicolai has been around a long time. Kalle, or Karl, Nicolai even longer, having started out working with Horst Leitner at Amp Research. Heard of the Horst Link a.k.a ‘4 bar linkage’? Yea, that Horst and that AMP Research. Karl put Nicolai on the MTB world map with a slew of, what at the time seemed like, mad designs which proved to be so far ahead of the curve – belt drives, gear boxes, decoupled drivetrains, that the industry is just catching up to them now. Despite this, locally (that being in Australia) Nicolai to most riders is more or less unheard of, not helped by the near non existence of reviews in the English speaking mainstream MTB media. It’s one of those names that ‘if you know, you know’ and if you don’t, you’re perplexed; high-end aluminium, in a market dominated by the big brands and their dubious lust for carbon, is just not a thing around these parts anymore, at least not to a large majority of riders. It’s not the talking point the San Andreas was, but for the people who know, they always ask and I always catch people having a covert stare.

What ended up then on the bike rack then is a Saturn 14 ST… ‘bike park’ approved they call the ST, meaning if you are so inclined, going big on it is not frowned upon. I don’t go big but at a ride weight of over 100kg, I appreciate the extra biff. The ST design actually dates back to 2022 and has been more or less unchanged since, but you need to understand why before you start thinking this is ‘old’.

Nicolai pioneered what they call today ‘Geolution’ geometry. In a nut shell, years before anyone even thought of doing it, and when 26” was the only wheel size, Nicolai were making bikes longer and slacker than anyone else and have been refining that idea ever since. So while you might think the new whatever it is currently being darling’d in the mtb media is cutting edge geometry, Nicolai were doing it years before – the whatever it is has just caught up. I am going to swipe Nicolai’s summery to help explain the 14 ST:

“The roots of the Geolution concept lie in enduro racing, and even if trends in frame geometries are slowly approaching a similar concept, Geolution can still be seen as a radical design in which performance is top priority. But not all of our customers also put the emphasis here or strive for the top steps at enduro races. They are more interested in a well-rounded bike that can climb well, master any trail and has strong downhill potential. Our Geolution Trail geometry appeals to exactly this clientele by taking the basic characteristics of the Geolution concept, such as the slack head angle and long reach, and transferring them to a more moderate, less race-oriented geometry. The seating position is more upright, the bike is more agile and responsive, but the Geolution DNA remains.”

The 14 ST is about as current as it gets geometry wise.

The bike I ended up building is probably more than originally intended when the frame turned up…. OK, it IS more. My approach though was bound by a level of, to me anyway, rational sanity – to build a bike that will last. I have been around this game for too long to buy into the latest and greatest. Most of it, most of the time, is just a rehash of something before that worked and went out of fashion for a while. That, plus you can enjoy riding on an old bike as much as on a new one; hell, if the San Andreas was a XL instead of a L, I might be riding it until it died. The ‘more’ bit of this build comes from having put a lot of ’new tech’ on the bike, not so much because I could but because said tech promised to properly better my riding experience. Note I said ‘experience’, not riding? You only get better at riding by riding, not by putting more tech on your bike. As such, unpacking the ‘complete’ ride of this particular 14 ST will take a while, coming one bit at a time as I break down each of the elements that make up the bike as a whole.

Before I go on any further, there’s a proviso:

Buying the Nicolai was not quite a whim but at the same time was a jump into the unknown. I did not plan on buying this bike and I more or less said yes knowing nothing much more about it other than it was a Nicolai in the right size. Yet, being a Nicolai, I knew that it just may not be my kettle of fish, so I was prepared to move it on if the fit was not right. As such, the below is a totally impartial opinion…

On the stand, it became clear that there is an attention to detail applied to the frame that is over and above. Everything, and I do mean everything, is considered and rational. A prime example of this design philosophy came when I pulled off the guides on the headtube to route the cables. While most companies would have the guide and then maybe some clear film against the headtube, Nicolai machines a recess into the headtube itself and inserts a rubber pad for the cable outer to sit against. And literally the detailing list goes on like this from front to rear. But what’s really obvious is just how much of a rider’s bike this is. There’s no stupid cable routing, or internal routing (and having cabled the Ibis we have, I consider internal routing the work of the devil). Cable guides are strategic, placed exactly where you need them to be and in some cases with two options. The drive side chain stay has a rubber chain guard that seems like it was made by Pirelli Rubber – super thick, formed to fit the stay perfectly and last more than one season. But! The guard also acts as a guide for the rear derailleur cable housing and is held in place by zip ties, not adhesive, so you can take it off easily. And the rear drop out? Apart from every dropout (they provide a spare with each frame) match aligned to the frame and catalogued at Nicolai HQ (so if you have to replace it, they provide you with one that ensures the wheel is perfectly aligned in the frame), it has a CNC machined guide for the derailleur cable, making sure it lines up where it’s supposed to. The design and manufacture of the frame is… nuts. What’s more, Nicolai, as they make everything in-house in Germany, guarantee a 10 year and beyond supply of parts.

And did I mention the welds…

Yes, that’s a wrap on the raw aluminium. I found my sweat stained the raw finish and ended up a cleaning nightmare, especially with the decals.

The 14 ST can be set up as 29, mullet or 27 though the use of what Nicolai call ‘Mutators’, chips or spacers that are added to the stays. While it came set up for 29, I dropped it to 27 as I wanted a more playful bike; that and I had three sets of Praxis C35 carbons rims in 27. The rear suspension can be either 130 or 138mm, depending on the shock stroke (50 or 55mm) and the fork allowance is up to 160mm (570mm axel to crown), though running a Manitou Mezzer, with its lower axel to crown measurement due to the reverse arch, means I am running at 170mm with no penalty, though I might eventually drop it to 160.

It’s true, reverse arches give you extra length!

Once together, it unusually took me several weeks to dial in the bike. The first ride was horrific, with brakes that did not stop (bad pads), riding position that was off, unbalanced rear shock and having inadvertently (read not paying attention when ordering) gone from a 32T round chainring up to a 34T oval (the oval was intentional). Consecutive rides over the course of a month slowly dialled everything in bit by bit so that the bike ended up exactly where I wanted it to be, but it demonstrates that the Nicolai is not a bike for beginners or those that don’t want to put in the time to do things right. And while early on I was seriously starting to get worried that this was not the bike I was looking for, like a scratch-n-sniff, each ride gave a little more of a glimpse into its potential. Over time, with everything fully dialled in, the Nic came alive and started to show me that yea, it is better than I am. By a lot.

Most long, big travel bikes are like tractors on technical single track, especially uphill, but the 14 ST is plenty nimble and unless you need the all out climbing performance of a low travel XC machine, the Nicolai should satisfy most riders that like going up as much as down. For a bike as long as it is, it climbs and turns in surprisingly well and on steep singletrack climbs there is zero wheel lift, even with my neutral riding position. Does it turn in as quick as the San Andreas? Absolutely not but it is 120mm longer in the wheelbase, with much longer stays. That said, it turns in quick enough with a little more input at the bars, so really it’s just a matter of adopting a different style; I am still caught out trying to ride it like I did the San Andreas, which even though was the same travel, was extremely sharp in corners for a big travel bike. I know of two very sharp, uphill, 180 degree corners that were easy on the San An but I can totally screw up on the Nic – I am still working on technique!

It’s in the attention to details. The DVO Topaz G3 is a solidly good match for the frame too.

Of the almost non-existent English speaking reviews of the 14 ST, one reviewer complained that their hands were getting sore on longer flat or climbing stretches because of the so called ‘forward’ riding position. Now, it’s not for me to say but it sounds like we are talking about a bit of a cream puff here; either that or they didn’t bother to set the bike up properly because, when set up correctly, the riding position on the 14 ST is pretty neutral. Case in point  – one of my regular rides is an hour plus of smooth, undulating and fast singletrack and my hands never get sore. The position on the bike, a result of Nicolai’s Geolution, probably does put the rider’s weight a little more forward in the frame than other long travel bikes, which naturally contributes the the climbing manners of the bike, but in no way would I say that it does so in a manner that will cause sore hands. Maybe some riders just spend too much time in bike parks these days…..?

More detailing…

The Nicoali begins to show its true colours though when the speed picks up or things point down. I am separating these two things because you can go fast on windy, undulating singletrack as well as down flow tracks or technical down hills and not all bikes will have the same manners in the different scenarios. On fast singletrack, the Nic is exceptionally playful and the faster it goes, the more nimble it becomes. To really get the most out of it, you need to ride it properly, body and feet position and weighting the front end. Like I said, not a beginner’s bike. Do it right and you are rewarded with a bike that sticks like glue and rails corners like it’s on tracks. It flicks through fast sections with a smile inducing ride and asks if that’s all you’ve got. Don’t do it right though and you will very quickly find yourself in the rough, as the bike’s directness can have you easily overshooting corners and being spat out the other side. It’s not a tiring bike to ride in the least but it demands a certain level of rider attention and input – if you want to just go along for the ride, this is not the bike for you as to see the Nic shine, really shine, you have to ride it fast.

…and more. This is the level of thought high end should deliver.

On faster, down pointing trails, the 14S ST is very composed. It handles rough sections easily, feeling planted and assured, easily rolling through lips, kicks and rocks without becoming unsettled. Fast banked flow sections, like singletrack, are handled with a rail like precision and again, while it demands good rider input, it rewards it with a solid, planted and confidence inspiring ride. At no point on any ride have I felt the bike getting away from me or being put in a position where the bike was not keeping up. If anything, I’ve come out the other side of a section feeling at one level that was the fastest I’ve ever done it, but at the same time feeling I have not come close to tapping into the full potential of the bike. In all, not a bad feeling to have really.

As a gamble, the 14 ST could have bombed in a big way. But didn’t. The Nicolai has paid off in spades and really is the bike I have been looking for. From the design and build, through to the ride, the Nicolai has turned out to be everything I believe a bike should be. So how does one sum up a Nicolai so it’s easy to understand? I’d put it like this…. Buy a high end Trek, Spesh, or whatsit big brand, and you are buying a what amounts to a Lexus. It’s very polished, refined, quite pretty and goes well. But you don’t touch under the hood and you know in a year or two they’ll try and sell you the next ‘better’ one which is really the same one with a different shape and colour. Buy a Nicolai and you are buying a Dakar or WRC machine. A rider’s first machine that’s refined but still raw, not a piece of often impractical Industrial Design eye candy that dominates the market today. A Nicolai frame is designed and built with a fanatical precision and eye for detail, a product borne of a singular vision and purpose – to go hard and keep going.

Visit: Nicolai Bicycles