By popular demand, Nicolai’s short travel trail bike, the Saturn 14 gets the Super Trail treatment. In short, the Nicolai Saturn 14 ST is a gusset-reinforced burlier-tubed version of the Saturn 14, prepared to take 36mm stanchion forks. With a heavier reinforced frame, Nicolai are confident the Saturn 14 ST is capable of handling any feature a bike park might throw its way. Ride it as a 29er, 650b, or mullet it for the best of both worlds. Read on for the meat.
Nicolai Saturn 14 ST (Super Trail)
Weighing a claimed 300 grams more than the Saturn 14 frame, its 138/130mm travel burly brother, the Saturn 14 ST frame has chunkier tubing and gusset reinforcement at key stress points to meet and surpass Nicolai’s requirements for a Bike Park approved ride. The tougher Saturn 14 ST can now take up to 36mm fork stanchions with 160mm of front wheel travel, with total fork length limited to 550mm.
The downtube, top tube and seat tube get thicker, the head tube gains gussets and the chain stay and rear dropouts are upgraded to Nicolai’s stronger, stiffer version.
In keeping with Nicolai’s tried and tested GEOLUTION geometry concept, the Saturn 14 ST is slack at the head tube, steep at the seat tube and long in the reach and wheelbase. As with the Saturn 14, the ST can be run as a 29er, 650b, or mixed wheel size bike, with Nicolai recommending small wheels for small riders, big wheels for big ones, and mullet style for the best of both worlds.
Permitting this versatility are the mutator chips located at the seat stay-rocker interface and lower headset cups for alteration of stack height. By virtue of metric shock sizing, one shock length can offer two different stroke lengths for different travel options: A frame built with 27.5” wheels can use a 210 x 55mm or 210 x 50mm shock to provide 138mm or 130mm of rear wheel travel. However, with a 29” rear wheel, only the 210 x 50mm shock, for 130mm of travel, can be used due to reduced tyre clearance.
The ST retains the tension bar that has been a feature of the Saturn 14 since its inaugural iteration released in 2004. The tension bar sat parallel to the seat tube, tucked in behind the shock, acts to resist the forces that stress the frame under suspension bottom out.
The Saturn 14 ST frame is finished with ISCG splines to mount a chain guide or bash guard, cable guides for the outer routing and bosses for fitting a water bottle.
Pricing & Availability
The Nicolai Saturn 14 ST is available as the standalone frame & shock for €2499 with the full fat build options starting from €6,499. As usual, Nicolai are offering full customisation of parts, with components available from Fox, Intend, Hope, Magura, Tune, Continental, SRAM and Levelnine. Every single component piece of the frame is also color customizable, with any color including 100% anodised black. They may already be gone, but in case they haven’t it’s worth mentioning that Nicolai have just ten Ronny Racing RAW colorway frames available at a reduced price of €1999. The Saturn 14 ST is available in sizes S-XXL, servicing rider heights of 160cm right up to 205cm, with reach measurements spanning a wide range of 450mm to 540mm. For full sizing info, and geometry on all wheel size options, head to the Nicolai website.
