$1500 Niner RLT9

just announced:


http://www.ninerbikes.com/RLT_Bike

specs are purposely low to keep it in the price point but man, that is a fine looking piece of work.  If they come out with a Reynolds 853 version with that paint job, I might have to move on from my Fargo

I wish they'd take a step in the other direction too and come out with a carbon version.

Scratch that thought...they should NOT come out with a carbon version. I don't need tempted by yet another bike. 

I like it!  That looks like a very nice bike at that price.  It seems they're using the older style fork, and frame, w/QR dropouts.  And though the components could be upgraded, it looks very ride-able as is.

I actually like the color options of the current 853 models.  The gray/orange looks good in person and I like and could ride the white/red one too.  But I ended up with the IMBA Special Edition which actually has even weirder colors   It's a sort of titanium/pale yellow/brown and not something I would have chosen.  But it's growing on me and I like it.  And it's quite unique.  http://www.ninerbikes.com/IMBA  It's a great bike.

Nubster wrote:I wish they'd take a step in the other direction too and come out with a carbon version.

that's what the BSB9 is for.  The RLT9 has Reynolds 853.  It's in the 21ish# area, for a bike that needs to be able to handle the type of weird forces that occur with racks and panniers, a 21-# bike is pretty impressive, and that's with 'normal' wheels.  A set of carbon hoops with DT240s would make it quite fast and get it down into the low 20s, upper-19s i'm sure

DrSpoke, I like the gunmetal gray/orange combo, but this new RLT9 Complete, the paint job is just perfect for my tastes.  

does the RLT9 come with rear and front rack mounts, as well as fender mounts?  (edit - read response in other thread, thanks!)

Or a Ridley X-Trail Carbon

I haven't weighed mine as yet but it definitely feels to be on the heavy side especially with Easton EA70 XCT w/WTB Nano 40s.  That's with SRAM Force1 group.  I did put on a set of DT Swiss XR 1501 w/Schwalbe Pro-One 28s for a road ride and it lightened it up a lot.  And it was very nice as a pure road bike too.

I agree re the color on the new one - that is, it's about the nicest color combo on the RLT yet.  Guess we'll have to wait for the 2017 models to see if they change colors for the Steel.

Ok, just weighed it - on a floor scale accurate to .1 lbs.  It came out at 22.5 w/pedals.  The DT Swiss/Schwalbe combo I'm sure would be about 1.5 lbs less.  So that would be very close to my Cinelli Supercorsa road bike.  And with a few carbon bits, I'm sure you could get to around 20 lbs.  My plan is to keep it pretty stock though and use the Ridley for faster mixed road/trail rides and the Niner for more all trail/wilderness adventure rides.

The BSB 9 is a CX race bike. Not an adventure/gravel bike. 

Nubster wrote:The BSB 9 is a CX race bike. Not an adventure/gravel bike. 

Bingo...What I want is my RLT9 geometry in a carbon RDO package (i.e. a dedicated gravel racing bike).  I've raced my nice carbon cx bike on gravel in the past, but the RLT geometry works so much better for that purpose.

The RLT is nice as it is, but a much harsher ride than I prefer, and that is after upgrading the seatpost and bars to nice carbon.  It was downright uncomfortable with the stock alloy parts.  Planning to swap my frame for the Raleigh Roker (nearly identical geo) for more comfort, but that frame still isn't a light racing frame.  Friend's Roker actually came out slightly heavier than my RLT  with comparable parts.

tsunayoshi wrote:

Bingo...What I want is my RLT9 geometry in a carbon RDO package (i.e. a dedicated gravel racing bike).  I've raced my nice carbon cx bike on gravel in the past, but the RLT geometry works so much better for that purpose.

that's what the (basically nonexistent) Salsa Warbird carbon is for.  

tsunayoshi wrote:
The RLT is nice as it is, but a much harsher ride than I prefer, and that is after upgrading the seatpost and bars to nice carbon.  It was downright uncomfortable with the stock alloy parts.  Planning to swap my frame for the Raleigh Roker (nearly identical geo) for more comfort, but that frame still isn't a light racing frame.  Friend's Roker actually came out slightly heavier than my RLT  with comparable parts.

yeah, I won't consider an alloy bike that doesn't have suspension. steel or carbon only.  my old body and beat up bones and joints can't take the beating that alloy provides.  

sgtrobo wrote:

that's what the (basically nonexistent) Salsa Warbird carbon is for.  




yeah, I won't consider an alloy bike that doesn't have suspension. steel or carbon only.  my old body and beat up bones and joints can't take the beating that alloy provides.  

\nIt is not WHICH material is used, but HOW it is used.\nI have had two aluminum (steel is also an alloy) frames that are not harsh at all, especially with a carbon seatpost.\nMy steel frame with "small" diameter, thin wall tubes is more comfortable, but I designed it to be so. It does suffer some high speed shimmy that the AL frames do not .\n\nAlso had a carbon frame that beat the crap out of me.

sgtrobo wrote:

that's what the (basically nonexistent) Salsa Warbird carbon is for.  
 

Is the Warbird a more race-oriented bike?  I was under the impression it was similar to the Roker in that while it is more compliant than alloy, it was still built more towards robustness than being a "racing" bike.  I know someone with one of those as well, but she rides for adventure so it wasn't setup with lighter, high-end parts so I couldn't really compare against my RLT.

Nubster wrote:The BSB 9 is a CX race bike. Not an adventure/gravel bike. 

Might want to let the Dirty Kanza 200 winner that her bike isn't a gravel bike.  

http://www.gravelcyclist.com/bicycle-tech/featured-bike-amanda-naumans-niner-bsb-9-rdo-dirty-kanza-200-winning-bike/

Well I would say the truth is somewhere in the middle - or, at least, you are both right.  The BSB is, in fact, a cyclocross race bike.  But, Amanda Nauman is a world class cyclocross racer and sponsored by Niner.  And, of course, Niner does not yet make a carbon fiber gravel race bike.  So, in my opinion, she was just riding her regular race bike  in the event.  As noted in the above referenced article, the Niner BSB also can handle tires up to 40mm so the main non-gravel aspects of the BSB would be BB drop and head tube angle.  I see that she was running the Schwalbe G-One though I'm not sure what size - but I'll guess 35s.

BTW, Amanda also won the Belgian Waffle Ride on 4/24 which is a 146 mile race (ride, for me) in SoCal which includes 100+ mi of pavement and about 40 mi of dirt - some of which was technical singletrack.  Even more amazing, in my opinion, was she place 10th overall at the DK200.  Well done!

sgtrobo wrote:

Might want to let the Dirty Kanza 200 winner that her bike isn't a gravel bike.  

http://www.gravelcyclist.com/bicycle-tech/featured-bike-amanda-naumans-niner-bsb-9-rdo-dirty-kanza-200-winning-bike/

Still a race geometry cross bike. 

Nubster wrote:

Still a race geometry cross bike. 

Agree

DrSpoke wrote:Well I would say the truth is somewhere in the middle - or, at least, you are both right.  The BSB is, in fact, a cyclocross race bike.  But, Amanda Nauman is a world class cyclocross racer and sponsored by Niner.  And, of course, Niner does not yet make a carbon fiber gravel race bike.  So, in my opinion, she was just riding her regular race bike  in the event.  As noted in the above referenced article, the Niner BSB also can handle tires up to 40mm so the main non-gravel aspects of the BSB would be BB drop and head tube angle.  I see that she was running the Schwalbe G-One though I'm not sure what size - but I'll guess 35s.

BTW, Amanda also won the Belgian Waffle Ride on 4/24 which is a 146 mile race (ride, for me) in SoCal which includes 100+ mi of pavement and about 40 mi of dirt - some of which was technical singletrack.  Even more amazing, in my opinion, was she place 10th overall at the DK200.  Well done!

yeah I was being facetious.  Amanda could probably place top 5-10 among the women riding a Wal-Mart MTB.  

Yeah, she's a badass.

Jenson has the green 2016 Niner RLT 2 star for $1500 right now. Same price and way better spec'd (with thru axles).