Im going to flog my On One Lurcher frame to help fund either Niner Air carbon or custom made Titanium having now gotten the 29er buzz. Anyone on got experience of a Niner? or RDO wow but is it worth the extra £££, then the Ti frame something along the lines of a Burls or Torus they look beautiful. I intend to make it a light build to ride XC with & marathons next year.

If your going to be racing, Carbon, if it’s for everything, TI.

Current owner of a Singular Pegasus, previous owner of an Ibis Tranny.

I take it that’s because its lighter?

I’ve seen a couple of Burls in the flesh and have been quite disappointed with the finish. I had a Merlin works XLM which looked far and away much better finished. I got rid after so many of friends Ti frames failed. I don’t know of any carbon frames which have failed – though I’m sure plenty do.

Niner were up there when I built my hard tail a couple of years ago but went with an Intense Hard Eddie as I thought they looked better.

I’ve owned Niners, they’re ace.

Does that help ?

Ace helps immensely all is pointing to the Niner
Thanks for your input

I might be mistaken, but I think there was someone on here who, or whose friend, had a really bad experience with a custom Burls frame. Apologies to Burls if I’m mistaken but it rings a bell.

There’s enough broken Air 9 Carbons on the interweb too… Google cracked Air 9 Carbon…

Yup, Air 9’s can be fragile certainly the seat post area of the older versions (v1) that was sorted out by a more beefed up v2 and I’ve not heard of any issues and I have two mates that race Air9’s, one rigid and one bouncy.
I prefer them rigid and SS, I had mine down to17lbs before I sold it to fund my CXer. I had mine kitted out with full RDO and SRAM X0 and it was peachy indeed.
It does depend on what type of riding you intend to do on them ,let’s not make out they’re ace at rocky hacks or the stuff you get in the North Yorks Moors because whilst light and strong, they’re hard work. If on the other hand you’re using it for wooded single track then they’re ideally suited.
IMO

However, it’s your £’s and you should at least view the Air9 as an option and your ti variant too.

I owned an EMD, it also was ace, even after the scumbag nicked it.

Owned an Air9 moved to a Travers Rudy and never looked back.
A fraction heavier but so much more comfortable and just as fast.
The Niner is very rigid even with its carbon forks

Steel Niner here.
Can’t imagine ever selling it.
It’s about as perfect a bike as I’ve ever ridden.
It’s been in a lot of guises, currently semi fat.

The Niner page on MTBR manufacturers forum is about the busiest one there.
Seemingly a lot more popular in the US.

They seem to know 29ers well.

Pretty sure you can google anything issue or non issue and yeh there’s always gonna be story. I read all the blurb and factor in peoples views based on experiences then hopefully make a decision 🙂
I will take a look MTBR

That reminds me, I’m selling a Burls Ti 29er frame. I also have a set of carbon forks and a set of Rebas.

Mailed you Scott

I run my Air 9c rigid with and without gears. Have smashed it senseless through the rocky trails of Devon without any damage (and I’m not a rider with much finesse)
I love it. Its like riding a road bike off road with big tyres and discs.
However, I do think the basic concept of asking for reviews of bikes and kit from people who’ve spent a lot of money on them (and will always justify that outlay in their minds) as fraught with danger.
Except me of course. I’m very unbiased!!

Having owned off the peg and custom ti bikes I would suggest a closer look at the off the peg versions before getting something made. Let someone else do all the testing and take all the risk. That said, I had a custom Litespeed which was magnificent, but to have bought the frame new would have cost over £4K. I think you get what you pay for with Ti like anything else. In the tradition of recommend what you own – have you had a look at the Kinesis Sync?

I will take a look at the Kinisis, in a way Im hoping i hate it or there’s something that will not suit me otherwise its just another to pick from and now Im really swinging toward a Niner also found a Niner Air on Stiff discounted so long as I am happy with small and looking at the website small covers up to 5′ 9″ so I am 5′ 8″ perfect other 135mm QR and thinking better to future proof a little and have 142mm rear 12mm axle thingy thing 😉