Niner RLT for GF

[panache_mode]

Hey forum,

I'm looking for advice for buying a bike for my
S/O.

She has been very understandable with my fascination with bikes and I'm just curious about what your suggestions would be. Her top choices for a new disc frame with bigger tires are the Niner RLT 853 frame, the new specialized sequoia frame, and she said she would consider the new Space horse that just dropped.

I'm looking for guidance on how you've gone about purchasing a frame for a loved one.

I've tried to convince her on getting a custom frame vs a frame off the shelf but she seems pretty set on the Niner RLT.

Anyway just looking for suggestions on how you guys would handle this situation. Any advice or comments are appreciated.

FA


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[soupless]

"she seems pretty set on the Niner RL"

Then why try and dissuade her?

[R3awak3n]

Get the niner, it seems like an excellent bike. I considered it for sure. Nice steel, looks pretty nice, clears big tires, discs, 3 bottles and looks pretty nice. Can't go wrong with it.

She could also go with something like an endpoint coffee grinder. Not custom but also they make em much faster, made in the USA, also 3 bottles, they are going to be releasing a pretty cool low trail, tons of mounts fork but right now you get a wiskey fork, discs, they will paint it a custom color for you for not much more.

[Cicli]

I let my wife chose her own bike. She chose her upgrades and she owns it. She likes to ride because she has something she likes not something I wanted her to like. Let he chose and be involved. If she is yet to be a serious cyclist your job is to make sure she gets something that will work for her. Thats it. Dont get into all the technical mumbo jumbo. She may not care.

[Likes2ridefar]

I have a niner rlt aluminum. Its one of my favorites out of many over the years from custom to top end stock stuff. It also comes in a lot of sizes.

I wouldnt go custom unless i couldnt fit a stock bike these days. There are so many nice choices...

[gomango]

First of all, fit is the most important task in choosing a bike.

If it doesn't fit, she won't enjoy it.

Find a shop local to you that will spend the time to get this right.

I live in St. Paul and there is a shop called Grand Performance.

I watched the owner spend an hour going over the fine points of fit and the customer didn't buy on the spot.

But when she does, I hope she remembers all of his great advice.

All of the bikes you mentioned would be great choices, so try to find that local dealer that will get her the correct size.

Make sure they spend the time working on all of her contact points with the bike.

It'll likely turn out pretty well for you two if you stick to that idea of fit.

Also, don't forget about service after the sale!!!!

[p nut]

Curious how the bike will be used? Niner is a nice bike, but long and low: more race oriented geometry. If that's her preference, then great.

I bought my wife a road bike because she wanted to ride on the road. Big mistake. Skinny tires and aggressive aero position didn't mix well. Ended up building her a Surly trucker with Albatross bars and a basket up front that she adores. Upright position and fat tires. She's a happy camper.

[sandyrs]

Curious how the bike will be used? Niner is a nice bike, but long and low: more race oriented geometry. If that's her preference, then great.

I bought my wife a road bike because she wanted to ride on the road. Big mistake. Skinny tires and aggressive aero position didn't mix well. Ended up building her a Surly trucker with Albatross bars and a basket up front that she adores. Upright position and fat tires. She's a happy camper.

The RLT isn't especially low. It's about in line with most "endurance" geometry in road bikes if you look at the stack and reach, and definitely a bit more upright than their cross racing bike, the BSB.

[Likes2ridefar]

Personally i dont think the niner is a race geometry at all. It rides like its made for long days on gravel and dirt roads in a relatively relaxed position. A typical 56 road/cross bike for me has significantly more drop than my rlt.

The rlt would not do so great on a twisty cyclocross course, but loves to descend technical single track, blast through rutted, muddy dirt double track, and fly down long gravel roads like i just did today in Poland/czech.

[p nut]

My bad: must have been looking at the BSB geo. Carry on. :)

[benb]

Nah.. it's all in perspective when deciding what's "long and low". It depends on the other bikes you're looking at and your own fit.

You mentioned the Space Horse Disc.. the Niner RLT in 56cm has over 1cm more reach and 14mm less stack than the Space Horse Disc in 55cm. (Which is really a 56cm IMO).

And long and low for a guy who might have typical average proportions is different than long and low for a guy with long legs or your typical woman. (I can't believe how stretched out most women look when I see them on stock bikes...)

Specialized doesn't have the geometry posted for the Sequoia yet but says "Adventure Geometry" which is the same as the AWOL, if that's the case it's midway between the Space Horse and RLT with the Space Horse being the most upright and the RLT the most "long and low".

Personally I am biased towards short and tall for these bikes as they are intended to be used offroad and on.. they are rigid there is no sense putting too much weight on your hands if you're going to be taking the shock of rough roads and/or offroad use, and if you are offroad the long and low setup will hurt your ability to descend in control. Aero doesn't matter as much in these cases as well since they're not race bikes and gravel/dirt speeds are lower.

[sandyrs]

Nah.. it's all in perspective when deciding what's "long and low". It depends on the other bikes you're looking at and your own fit.

You mentioned the Space Horse Disc.. the Niner RLT in 56cm has over 1cm more reach and 14mm less stack than the Space Horse Disc in 55cm. (Which is really a 56cm IMO).

And long and low for a guy who might have typical average proportions is different than long and low for a guy with long legs or your typical woman. (I can't believe how stretched out most women look when I see them on stock bikes...)

Specialized doesn't have the geometry posted for the Sequoia yet but says "Adventure Geometry" which is the same as the AWOL, if that's the case it's midway between the Space Horse and RLT with the Space Horse being the most upright and the RLT the most "long and low".

Personally I am biased towards short and tall for these bikes as they are intended to be used offroad and on.. they are rigid there is no sense putting too much weight on your hands if you're going to be taking the shock of rough roads and/or offroad use, and if you are offroad the long and low setup will hurt your ability to descend in control. Aero doesn't matter as much in these cases as well since they're not race bikes and gravel/dirt speeds are lower.

Since we know nothing about OP's gf's height or proportions I was speaking generically and in terms of the RLT versus other bikes. Obviously fit depends first and foremost on the rider.

[benb]

Well it is long and low in the company of the bikes being considered.. he did offer enough information to determine that. It is the long and low choice of the bikes under consideration.

And we know all 3 are men's bikes or are at least not marketed as designed to fit women. Women do not fit into the "long and low" mold nearly as often as men do.

Test rides are probably in order.

[sandyrs]

Well it is long and low in the company of the bikes being considered.. he did offer enough information to determine that. It is the long and low choice of the bikes under consideration.

And we know all 3 are men's bikes or are at least not marketed as designed to fit women. Women do not fit into the "long and low" mold nearly as often as men do.

Test rides are probably in order.

True, also OP, why are you trying to get her to go custom? Is it because of geometry or cache? I know my GF would need a custom frame to fit a road bike comfortably without a ton of spacers/quill stem, at 5'3" but atypical proportions.

[benb]

I know my GF would need a custom frame to fit a road bike comfortably without a ton of spacers/quill stem, at 5'3" but atypical proportions.

Nah, she is probably typical for a woman... my wife is the same way. I feel like even when I'm in a serious group ride if there are women in the group 75%+ of them who do not have custom frames are ridiculously stretched out to get the bars up to a height they can handle. Arms locked out, elbows well beyond the knees, torso angle way down below 30 degrees just to ride on the hoods. Women just do not have the same torso:leg ratio as men. I bet if someone did a good study female riders are far less well served by stock frames than men. Men design most of the bikes and probably run most of the companies, and then they see fewer women participating in the sport and so don't see the financial benefit to improving the options for women.

I have not been able to get my wife to really get into riding in any serious way, I have been joking about buying her a custom frame, that's what it would take. She's got a Giant women's specific frame right now and has the max spacers on the fork + 17 degree up stem and probably has at least 8-10cm of drop and a much much more severe torso angle than I've ever had to put up with. She's 5'10" and her saddle height is at least 79cm, her fit puts her saddle higher than mine and I'm 6'1". She's actually had a quality fit but they basically jacked the bars as far as they could go and it still wasn't enough. And she is tall enough lots of the stock women's frames at the time didn't come large enough for her. When we bought the bike we were pretty sure it was going to be a problem but there was no way I was convincing her to get a custom frame at the time.

[josephr]

"she seems pretty set on the Niner RL"

Then why try and dissuade her?

exactly! its an awesome 'do-all' frame as well....why belabor the point???

[panache_mode]

"she seems pretty set on the Niner RL"



Then why try and dissuade her?



I just want to ensure that we find a proper fitting bike. She really wants a Reynolds frame I know from experience that the fit will make a bigger difference than the steel would.


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[panache_mode]

Get the niner, it seems like an excellent bike. I considered it for sure. Nice steel, looks pretty nice, clears big tires, discs, 3 bottles and looks pretty nice. Can't go wrong with it.



She could also go with something like an endpoint coffee grinder. Not custom but also they make em much faster, made in the USA, also 3 bottles, they are going to be releasing a pretty cool low trail, tons of mounts fork but right now you get a wiskey fork, discs, they will paint it a custom color for you for not much more.



It would be a great option if she were just a bit longer. The biggest issue is finding a bike with a short enough top tube so that she can use a regular sized stem and not be so stretched out.


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[panache_mode]

I let my wife chose her own bike. She chose her upgrades and she owns it. She likes to ride because she has something she likes not something I wanted her to like. Let he chose and be involved. If she is yet to be a serious cyclist your job is to make sure she gets something that will work for her. Thats it. Dont get into all the technical mumbo jumbo. She may not care.



Noted thanks for the advice!


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[panache_mode]

True, also OP, why are you trying to get her to go custom? Is it because of geometry or cache? I know my GF would need a custom frame to fit a road bike comfortably without a ton of spacers/quill stem, at 5'3" but atypical proportions.



I think the fit would be the biggest key.

She is really set on getting a steel frame and would like to try the Reynolds steel. I think that if the high grade steel is something she really wants why not get it spec'd to her dimensions.

We spent a long time trying to find a road bike for her and she was able to fit a Ridley women's frame size 47.


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[bobswire]

I just want to ensure that we find a proper fitting bike. She really wants a Reynolds frame I know from experience that the fit will make a bigger difference than the steel would.


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Seriously, unless one has an unusual body shape long or short torso/legs,standard geo works for the vast majority individuals.
Of course if she wanted to race competitively then by all means getting
a race fit may be called for. Otherwise you're putting your wants and needs ahead of hers. IMO