Niner Launches New Jet 9 RDO

Just as we were wondering what Niner had been up to, it launches not one, but two radically different new bikes for us.

Niner JET9 RDO

Let’s start with the 130mm/120mm Jet 9 RDO. It has been lengthened and slackened – by a considerable number of degrees and it is also compatible with 3in plus tyres that aren’t 29in in diameter – they’re 27.5in. This in itself is earth-shattering news, though Niner calmly points out that a nice set of 29in x 2.35in tyres fits just fine thank you.

The ‘trail taming’ JET has been Boosted, shortening its chainstays while still leaving room for a 2x chainset if you love gears and knees. There’s even an ISCG05 mount for extra security.

In other news, a ‘finally’ moment has arrived in the shape of a threaded BB shell, which should keep creaks and grumbles to a minimum. The bike still uses Niner’s well-liked CVA suspension system. There’s no ‘flip chip’ or whatever for the different wheel sizes, though Niner recommends a 140mm fork for the 27.5+ wheels and a 130mm forks for the 29er version. There’s no adaptors or headset cups if you want to readily go between the two sets though and Niner reckons that anyone wanting to do that will live with the slightly slacker angles of a 140mm fork on the 29in bike.

Talking of angles, Niner has dramatically relaxed the angles from previously steep 71°/74° angles to a waaaay slacker 67°/74° combo (or 67.5° with 29in wheels and a 130mm fork). We say yay!
A medium size bike has a horizontal top tube length of 23.5in or so and a Reach of 426mm. Our medium here had plenty of spare seatpost showing, so if you wanted a longer bike in keeping with the times, there’s room to size up to a large for an extra inch of reach.

We’d like to thank Brett from Niner who came to see us this morning right off the plane on the start of his UK and European (and Israeli) Tour. Sorry we got your bikes all wet.

The bikes are due to appear in the UK in very late August/Early September. Unfortunately due to the current financial mess that Britain is in, the frames will top the £3,000 mark, but importers Jungle is doing all it can to make the complete bike price start as low as possible, with an first-level build coming in at around £4,500.

Stay tuned for the next bike, the no holds barred RIP 9 RDO.