Niner Air 9 RDO Carbon 29er | Mountain Bike Review

6/24/12 1:59 PM

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Niner Air 9 RDO Carbon 29er

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By Francis June 11, 2012

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Introduction by Francis Cebedo Ahh the carbon 29er hardtail it is the weapon of choice by every XC racer and Strava KOM hopeful these days. But which one does one choose? What qualities should the rider look for? Niner fired the opening shot in this arena when they launched the Air 9 Carbon a few years ago. Here was a bike with stunning good looks featuring a massive downtube and tubes that were sculpted to look and perform good. It was extremely responsive to power input and it was laterally stiff for even the heaviest riders. It also had a flexible bottom bracket that could take a normal geared configuration or an EBB for singlespeed use. This bike was hot as it featured the best paint jobs and internal cable routing to deliver a clean looking bike. But upstarts like the Santa Cruz Highball and Scott Scale came to play and came in with smaller tubes that were more compliant with frame weights around 2.5 lbs, which were about .5 lbs lighter than the Niner Air 9 Carbon. Singlespeed configuration was not available but most buyers didnt seem to mind. So Niner has fought back with the Air 9 RDO Carbon. This bike has smaller tubes for lighter weight and a more compliant ride in the rear. It has a normal bottom bracket for simplicity and lighter weight. And it has a disc brake that is mounted inside the rear triangle as its bolted on the chainstay rather than the seatstay. This not only improves aesthetics but it also allows a more compliant ride as the seatstays can be tuned for ride quality without having to support a disc brake mount. The RDO frame is indeed .5 lbs lighter than the Air 9 RDO Carbon but it still feels very stiff and responsive to pedal input. The frame is laterally stiff and it still carves the trail well. The Air 9 Carbon however is the stiffness king of the family and a heavier, more aggressive rider may want that frame for better acceleration and better lateral stiffness. The RDO, with its smaller tubes is not quite at the same lateral
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Niner Air 9 RDO Carbon 29er | Mountain Bike Review

6/24/12 1:59 PM

stiffness as the Air 9 Carbon. The ride has improved as the rear seems more forgiving on the rough stuff. The bottom bracket is much simpler and more traditional than the Air 9 Carbon and it is much less prone to creaking. Brake adjustment is a little harder to get to but it performs well and looks very clean once set up.

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RDO with Enve-Kappius wheels built by Wheelbuilder.com How does it compare to the Santa Cruz Highball? I think theyre an equal match as theyre both 2.5 lbs and they both deliver a responsive yet forgiving ride. They have very similar ride qualities with blistering acceleration complemented by a fairly compliant ride. In terms of lateral stiffness, the Highball has a slight edge over the RDO. The seat tube on the Niner is shorter by two inches so a lot more seatpost is showing. The gives the bike a lower feel as the top tube is closer to the ground. Consequently, standover height is lower on the Niner giving it the rider more top tube clearance on those unplanned dismounts. Finally, the seat angle on the Niner is steeper on the Niner giving it a more aggresive, hammer over the pedals position, ideal for cross country racing. Sizing is different though as I ride a medium Santa Cruz Highball and that is about equal to a small Niner, particularly in top tube length. The Niner does look better though and it has a better component spec with 210 setups and Schwalbe tires. Santa Cruz still insists on 310 setups, house wheels and Maxxis Crossmark tires. Comparison Chart of the Small Niner RDO and a Medium Santa Cruz Highball both with 100 mm front fork: Seat Tube Effective Top (c-t) Tube S RDO 15.5 23.2 M 17.5 23.0 Highball Bike BB Head Tube Height Angle 12.0 71 12.0 70.5 Seat Tube Angle 73 71.0 Seat Tube Angle 4.2 3.9 Stand Over 27.8 29.1 Chainstay 17.3 17.3

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Both bikes weigh in at 2.5 lbs. The Niner Air 9 RDO frame is $2099 and the Santa Cruz Highball is $1999

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Review by Aaron Faupell In Niner lingo the RDO stands for Race Day Optimized. As the name attests, the Air 9 RDO is a bike built for a singular purpose and it suits that purpose very well. But as you might expect when a bike is built to a narrow focus it can often fall short in other areas outside of that. As a race bike the RDO is very good at helping you win races, setting PRs and and making you feel fast. The out of the saddle climbing is amazing with stiff bottom bracket supplying a distinct feeling of surging forward with every pedal stroke. However when you reach the top of the hill and point the bike downwards the race oriented setup catches up with you. The weight distribution is somewhat forward and the handling is fairly quick. It is definitely not slow enough to make up for the time gained on climbs but one has to be aware when bombing down technical descents. (Visited 9,479 times, 63 visits today)

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Niner Air 9 RDO Carbon 29er | Mountain Bike Review | Page 2

6/24/12 2:01 PM

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Niner Air 9 RDO Carbon 29er

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By Francis June 11, 2012

There are lots of good bikes in the light, fast, race oriented hardtail category so choices often come down to the details. In this respect the Niner has an interesting mix of great and not so great details. The green color is amazing and garnered many trailside compliments. There is much attention paid to the sculpting of the tube shapes ensuring that the form flows together into a cohesive whole. The top tube arches gracefully into the seatstay which drops into a continuous loop around the rear of the bike into the chainstay. Making sure the beautiful frame will last are a clear rock guard on the downtube, a metal chainsuck plate and even a small metal plate on the forward part of the bottom bracket in case your chain should drop. The standard Niner inducement to pedal damn it appears on the top tube and although it may not be conspicuous enough to help when you are cross eyed with effort it certainly adds a welcome touch of personality, as do the matching Niner branded seatpost, bars, stem, and even seat collar. However the details in the maintenance department are not so great. The slick looking rear brake mounting makes caliper adjustment difficult. Cable routing for the rear derailleur is positioned so the rear tire covers it in mud where it enters the frame. The internal cable routing ensures a clean appearance but is not the easiest to work on and the short cables between the shifters and where they enter the head tube seemed to add some resistance when turning the bars. These arent the kind of issues that you encounter often during the time spent with a bike but you quickly notice them when something goes wrong either at home or on the side of the trail. In the end how one feels about this bike would come down to priorities. If you spend a lot of time being your own mechanic, or need a go-to bike for after work rides or long stretch-your-legs type endurance rides then it may not be the best choice. But if there is room in the stable for a dedicated XC race bike then I would say the Air 9 RDO should definitely be on the short list.

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Niner Air 9 RDO Carbon 29er | Mountain Bike Review | Page 2

6/24/12 2:01 PM

73mm BB width PF30 BB adaptable to threaded via adapters (not compatible with aftermarket EBB designs) 31.6mm seatpost size 34.9mm seat collar size (not included) 34.9mm front derailleur, high mount, bottom pull 1.125-1.5 taper head tube with integrated (Campy style) headset (FSA headset included) Cane Creek standard description: IS42/28.6|IS52/40 Replaceable derailleur hanger Size Small has one inner triangle bottle mount Size Medium, Large and XL have two inner triangle bottle mounts 135mm QR rear spacing Aluminum Head Badge for Internal Routing Can fit up to a 2.4 tire (tire size varies by brand, some tires may not fit) Compatible with current-standard 3x chainring systems 2x chainring system recommendations: SRAM configs: 26/39 or lower SHIMANO XT configs: 28/40 or lower SHIMANO XTR double cranks have a non-standard chainline and are not recommended.

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Niner Bikes Air 9 RDO MSRP: $ 2099.00 Number of Reviews: 0 Overall Rating: 0 out of 5

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