Niner RLT 9: check-in and info thread

[bluesea]

What are its ups and downs? Lets see the latest rider impressions and pics.

Things I've gleaned off the web

- RLT is an over stiff frame for the road. For the short time I had my CAAD 10 I did three 100-165mi rides with no probs. Would you ride your RLT in a century+ with 25C?
- RLT's PF30 has the usual OBB squeaky issues (anyone using praxis BB's with success?)

[Kirk007]

I've built one up for commuting and winter riding. It is as advertised - stiff.

The build was a bit of a pita, but that was in part because I wanted to do some things different. I hate the pressfit bottom bracket design. A Chris King wouldn't fit as the shell wasn't precisely round, the shop didn't have the proper tool to face it yada, yada, So then I went with what I wanted to do anyway, which was to put an eccentric in. Niner claims they make one, maybe you can actually get one today but earlier this year it was a constant stream of yes its almost ready ..... Ended up going with a Beer components one that so far is working fine. But, contrary to everything every manufacturer claims, you can forget about using an Avid mountain bike crank in this setup. Needed a road crank. The replaceable rear derailleur is a piece of junk. It is an ill-fitting piece of metal held to the frame by a tiny set screw. The one that came with the frame stripped out; they sent a replacement, with a bigger screw, admitting that the original design was poor. I'm not convinced that the marginally bigger screw is the answer but at least it is working. The carbon fork is drilled only in the rear; not a big deal unless you want to run a dynamo hub and light, and mount the light on the fork where it is out of the way of everything. Can't do it, at least not if using fenders. And the headset expander plug could be better I think. And the little plugs they put in to cover the fender eyelets disappear on the first real bump on the road. Finally, the geometry was a little off for me - everything conspired to create about 1-2 cm more drop than I wanted, but I fixed that using the eccentric and moving the cranks down to the bottom position. It also feels shorter in the cockpit than I thought it would be given the specs and angles, but I've got that to an acceptable place as well.

But, now that it is built up, I'm very happy with it. It does what I want it to do (although I still haven't found a great place for the dynamo light so I'm using dinotte battery powered for now). It is stiff, but that, the reduced weight and the geometry make it better for how I'm using it that the bike it replaced, a Griffin Singular, which is a 29er mountain bike designed for drop bars (not a dig at all on the Griffin - I really liked it but the RLT9 is better in this application for me).

Did I say its stiff? I'm running Michelin jets - 30 mm (measure more like 32) with 65 psi and its still a rigid ride. When I wear these tires out I'll probably move up to something in the 35-38 mm range and see what difference if any that makes.

Overall, I think I'd be hard pressed to get any other bike to do what this one does for the price (although a custom Tsunami aluminum frame was a very enticing option - until I got this frame with a $250 credit from Jenson's that effectively reduced the overall build price). I wanted something other than steel - less worrisome in our constant drizzly weather. I wanted disc brakes, roadish geometry, clearance with fenders for at least 35mm tires, easy fender mounting and decent looking. With unlimited resources, this would have been a custom titanium Firefly. But purchasing as a frame/fork and moving parts over from my Singular, I've got a very serviceable and fun bike for a reasonable cost. I would recommend it, particularly if you just get a standard factory build.

[bluesea]

^ Excellent write up, thanks! Your description of the rigid ride however coincides with what I've read so and makes me pause big time.

Not every alu bike can ride like a CAAD 10, but come on bike industry!

[Kirk007]

I shouldn't overstate the stiffness - its probably compounded for me as my roads are really crappy with lots of broken and heaved concrete. This makes for a jarring ride on most anything. My roads are jarring on my Kirk with 28s. They were muted on the Singular but I was running 50mm Schwabe Marathons at 50 psi. There fine on my 29er moutain bikes!

If I had smooth roads the stiffness would be a nonissue.