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Niner RLT9

252K views 774 replies 204 participants last post by  thesergeant 
#1 ·
#677 ·
If CaadX gave me fork lugs I'd be all over it. If the Cannondale Slate had better options for fenders, or even a Lugged rigid fork option I'd be all over it.
As in I don't race gravel. I want to ride gravel with the options for adding fenders, and adding some bags or water to my Fork.
So here I am looking at Niner RLT.
I also want a somewhat lively bike when ridden with out the overnight stuff on it.
Thus I am probably going to lean more towards the RLT RDO.

Trust me I really want a Cannondale Slate, its not practical for what I want. n+1, that don't work in a class B RV. Pull a trailer...annoying. I'd go class A before pulling a trailer full of bikes.
I figure I've room for 2 bikes.... my hi-mod supersix, and a niner RLT, already bummed at leaving the 29er at home.
 
#8 ·
Very exciting news. This frameset looks to have all the features that salsa dropped the ball on with the warbird. Looks like niner might be getting more of my business, my old la cruz is getting a bit long in the tooth and will NOT be replaced by a bike that cannot double as a CX bike... this bike looks like it would do just fine as a backup CX race bike while primarily being a gravel grinder.
 
#21 ·
This frameset looks to have all the features that salsa dropped the ball on with the warbird.
Where, do you feel, Salsa dropped the ball on the Warbird?
I was pretty convinced that I would be getting a Warbird this winter, but the RLT9 now is on the list. I'm interested to hear what the +/- are for each bike (I know it's too early to tell on the RLT9... but the specs look decent).
 
#18 ·
No it's not. You can run a 73mm mountain crank on a 68 shell with some spacers. This is being marketed as a gravel and cx bike. Why put a "heavy" and wide MTB crank on a bike that is going to see use on mixed road surfaces. That just doesn't make sense. It's not a touring bike... you don't need super low gears. With the new range of mid cage road ders, you can easily run a 34T little ring with a 32T cog.

In their promo shots they have it setup with a typical CX/gravel gearing setup on the cranks. Maybe it's just a typo?
 
#20 ·
No it's not. You can run a 73mm mountain crank on a 68 shell with some spacers. This is being marketed as a gravel and cx bike. Why put a "heavy" and wide MTB crank on a bike that is going to see use on mixed road surfaces. That just doesn't make sense. It's not a touring bike... you don't need super low gears. With the new range of mid cage road ders, you can easily run a 34T little ring with a 32T cog.

In their promo shots they have it setup with a typical CX/gravel gearing setup on the cranks. Maybe it's just a typo?
some spacers... i did that once. 3 was needed. messed up chain line real bad. it was a cx bike.
 
#29 ·
I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get miles in during the weekdays once day light savings hits in a month and I really don't want to get a true 'road bike'. I live in Atlanta and want to pickup a bike to ride the city streets in the early morning before work.

Apologize in advance for the dumb question, but would this bike be over/under kill for city riding? Wasn't sure if I need to cave and shop for a road bike...
 
#30 ·
Not overkill at all in my opinion. I use a Warbird as my gravel grinder and sometimes road bike. For what its worth, I'm more of a mountain biker, but I got the Warbird to do some gravel races that are put on locally and now I am in love with gravel grinding. The RLT seems like a good alternative to the Warbird and a do it all type of bike. $2k is not a bad price at all.
 
#35 ·
Compatible Chainsets

Anyone have any ideas of some compatible double chainsets. Don't fancy using MTB ones.

Niner have the following in their builds:

SRAM S350
SRAM S550

Any other light non carbon options? Don't mind running a FP30 adapter for external BB or ISIS. It's the 73mm shells that's seems to kill the options available. Even the Shimano CX chainsets are 68mm only :madman:.
 
#37 ·
Anyone have any ideas of some compatible double chainsets. Don't fancy using MTB ones.

Niner have the following in their builds:

SRAM S350
SRAM S550

Any other light non carbon options? Don't mind running a FP30 adapter for external BB or ISIS. It's the 73mm shells that's seems to kill the options available. Even the Shimano CX chainsets are 68mm only :madman:.
Can someone care to take a few minutes to detail for me the deficiency associated with mountain bike cranksets on CX bikes? Is it simply Q factor and weight? Because there are numerous low profile and light weight options. Is it the available bolt patterns and ring sizes?

Thanks
 
#36 ·
One of us should give Niner a call and confirm that spacing. I'm really thinking it's a typo. Those Sram cranks are PF30 road cranks. It is possible they have a longer spindle though.

If it truly is PF30 with 73mm spacing, I bet you could run any 386 Evo style crankset though. Those work on pretty much any BB standard. I have an FSA model on a PF30 (68mm) CX frame and it requires spacers to make up the extra width missing on the BB shell.
 
#38 ·
MTB cranks are great, on mountain bikes :)

Basically what you've said. MTB cranks are typically heavier and much wider than a standard road/cx crankset. Even a Sram narrow Q MTB crankset is about 10mm wider than a typical road crank. That's actually a lot and can mess with some people's knees.

Also, your mention of bolt patterns and chainrings are most relevant. A gravel bike or CX bike would typically be a 110mm bolt pattern, with something like a 46/36 chainring setup. You can run down to a 33T ring on that bolt pattern and up to 53T rings are easily found.
 
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