Niner MCR 9 RDO - Full Sus Gravel

[Jaybee]

Alright, curmudgeons. Have at it. (https://theradavist.com/2019/04/sea-otter-2019-niner-bikes-mcr-9-rdo-prototype-full-suspension-all-road/#1)

https://static.theradavist.com/uploads/2019/04/SeaOtter2019-84.jpg?resize=1024,682&quality=75

[vav]

A true hybrid :eek:

[XXtwindad]

Wow! Cool! Don't really care for the aesthetics, but it terms of functionality...you bet! This will a new trend, for sure. Along with road suspension, similar to the Moots YBB. A good thing, from my vantage point.

[45K10]

I love Niner bikes but that thing looks so Fred

[XXtwindad]

I might spring for a build like that minus the rear sus. My only hesitation would be descending really steep dirt on the drops. I feel more stable with a flat bar set-up.

[weaponsgrade]

I could see a place for this if say 85% or more of your riding is long rides on gravel, washboardy stuff that doesn't get too technical. I like mtn bars when things start to get tight and twisty. Mtn bars make it a lot easier to place the front wheel as compared to drops.

[dddd]

But for the rather limited tire clearance of this Boulder Paris Roubaix from 1996, I would say that this isn't a new idea.

I did notice immediately how sensitive that the balance between cornering bb height and suspension air pressure was, so unless one doesn't mind a very high bb or a "hard" suspension setting, as a road-going bike these don't perform much like a rigid.
But I think that with the suspension set for movement only in response to very sharp jolts that the sporting feel of a road bike can be retained.

The article didn't mention the Niner bike's suspension travel, but looks like the same inch and a half of travel to me. But that Niner's got a niner's tires I have to say.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7068/6820080658_ac55f401de_c.jpg

[bcroslin]

Love it and would love to ride it but not sure about owning it. As a mtb'er who spends the majority of his time riding road there's a lot about this bike that appeals to me but it seems like overkill. When the Cannondale Slate came out I was convinced I needed one and then I took one for a spin and realized the lefty fork was overkill but the rest of the bike was a blast to ride.

[XXtwindad]

Alright, curmudgeons. Have at it. (https://theradavist.com/2019/04/sea-otter-2019-niner-bikes-mcr-9-rdo-prototype-full-suspension-all-road/#1)

https://static.theradavist.com/uploads/2019/04/SeaOtter2019-84.jpg?resize=1024,682&quality=75

You didn't mention your perspective on this. The "Kyrie Irving" of bikes? Too much hype? Or the "Joe Ingles" of bikes? Functional efficiency, aesthetics be damned?

[Jaybee]

This has 50mm of travel in the rear. The Fox gravel fork is usually 40mm, but I'm sure it can be modded to avoid the wierdness of having a shorter travel front end. It's a nice evolutionary step beyond the YBBs and Paris-Roubaix experiments. Fully damped, modern suspension kinematics.

There are a ton of cool things about this bike - fitting 29x2.0 tires and a double! That derailleur placement! A nice big front triangle for frame bags! I can see this absolutely railing certain terrains - washboardy loose stuff, buff singletrack.


EDIT: Also, I think it's weird that Niner can't come up with another 3-letter acronym. They already used MCR! It was a nice, if noodly, 853 hardtail.

[Jaybee]

You didn't mention your perspective on this. The "Kyrie Irving" of bikes? Too much hype? Or the "Joe Ingles" of bikes? Functional efficiency, aesthetics be damned?

Ha!

I think it looks like a ton of fun to ride. Not sure I would own one, as despite it's clear capabilities beyond the traditional gravel bike, it wouldn't be the best choice unless the ride was exceptionally washboard and loose, or had a ton of gravel road/paved connectors between singletrack.

Let's call it the "Aaron Gordon" of bikes. A ton of potential, needs proper use-case.

EDIT: Forgot to say - I think it's awesome that there are people out there still trying to engineer cool, ground-breaking stuff on bikes. Even if this isn't your perfect cup of tea, it might lead to something that is.

[hobbanero]

I rode with a Niner-sponsored rider who was aboard one of these and 700x42 tires. I was on my Crux with 40s. I am a good descender on a gravel bike and he smoked me on the rougher descents. At 22-24 pounds, though, it is certainly not a climbing bike. It seems like a good option for Marin where we don't have much real "gravel"....we just ride bumpy fire roads and easier MTB trails on "gravel bikes" that are basically 80's style mountain bikes.

[XXtwindad]

Ha!

I think it looks like a ton of fun to ride. Not sure I would own one, as despite it's clear capabilities beyond the traditional gravel bike, it wouldn't be the best choice unless the ride was exceptionally washboard and loose, or had a ton of gravel road/paved connectors between singletrack.

Let's call it the "Aaron Gordon" of bikes. A ton of potential, needs proper use-case.

EDIT: Forgot to say - I think it's awesome that there are people out there still trying to engineer cool, ground-breaking stuff on bikes. Even if this isn't your perfect cup of tea, it might lead to something that is.

Totally agree with the last sentiment. Correlates with the "1X" thread ...

[dddd]

I rode with a Niner-sponsored rider who was aboard one of these and 700x42 tires. I was on my Crux with 40s. I am a good descender on a gravel bike and he smoked me on the rougher descents. At 22-24 pounds, though, it is certainly not a climbing bike. It seems like a good option for Marin where we don't have much real "gravel"....we just ride bumpy fire roads and easier MTB trails on "gravel bikes" that are basically 80's style mountain bikes.

I did a lot of rides on a rigid touring bike over the trails of Mt. Tam, the climbing part was no problem even with 1-1/4" tires that measured all of about 29-30mm wide (running tubes and 60psi for my 155#).
Getting back down the mountain was another story, without suspension (other than the sprung seatpost), and with concerns for the bike's durability, I used the view-laden paved roads for most of the descending.

I'll take your double and raise it to a triple (no reason not to unless I was running the really fat tires):

https://live.staticflickr.com/2410/1870224077_8dd3790802_z.jpg

The rack and rack-trunk often carried a 2-liter plastic juice bottle and greatly assisted climbing traction heading up to Eldridge Grade on the steeper fire-road sections out of Mill Valley. And I can say that the aux levers (even mounted as they were on an extremely narrow randonneur handlebar top) were life-savers on the trickiest descents.

[SlowPokePete]

Looks heavy.

SPP™

[papa bless]

This is ridiculous. It's like when Apple invented the iPad as a solution to a problem that didn't exist. And then they slowly made iPhones bigger while making iPads smaller, so that at one point there was only a few inches difference between the two.

Suspension on a gravel bike is a solution to a made-up problem. This is essentially a mountain bike. I get that their engineers have to keep innovating to put bread on the table, but I'm for sure having nothing to do with it.

[Jaybee]

This is ridiculous. It's like when Apple invented the iPad as a solution to a problem that didn't exist. And then they slowly made iPhones bigger while making iPads smaller, so that at one point there was only a few inches difference between the two.

Suspension on a gravel bike is a solution to a made-up problem. This is essentially a mountain bike. I get that their engineers have to keep innovating to put bread on the table, but I'm for sure having nothing to do with it.

Is it? I mean, suspension on a MTB is also a "made-up problem" in the sense that you can get up or down pretty much any trail on a Klunker. The difference being that your full-sus bike is faster, smoother, and doesn't leave your kidneys and wrists beat to hell.

[papa bless]

It is. Suspension on a MTB is an existing solution to the problem of riding extreme terrain. So if you're about to ride some extreme terrain, grab your mountain bike. Don't grab what is essentially a full suspension disc roadbike with thick tires and a *eye roll* dropper post.

Is it? I mean, suspension on a MTB is also a "made-up problem" in the sense that you can get up or down pretty much any trail on a Klunker. The difference being that your full-sus bike is faster, smoother, and doesn't leave your kidneys and wrists beat to hell.

[PaMtbRider]

Given the choice I would much rather ride a hard tail mountain bike.

[yinzerniner]

It is. Suspension on a MTB is an existing solution to the problem of riding extreme terrain. So if you're about to ride some extreme terrain, grab your mountain bike. Don't grab what is essentially a full suspension disc roadbike with thick tires and a *eye roll* dropper post.

Not all suspension is strictly for "extreme terrrain" - properly designed and damped suspension will 100% make you faster when the roads aren't smooth since they not only lessen the parasitic losses of too much vertical movement, but they'll also keep the tires in contact with the ground so more power is transferred into forward momentum.

That being said, as stated before unless the ride is on either very rough fire roads or very smooth single-track the amount of travel is either way too much or woefully inadequate. Read somewhere it's 40mm on the front with something similar in the back - seems pretty inadequate for any type of downhill runs.

[bicycletricycle]

I don't like anything new or different so I obviously hate this.

It cant even take down tube shifters.

[charliedid]

Cool bike