Review: Niner RLT Steel Gravel Bike!
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2018
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One of the most requested bikes to review on the channel, the Niner RLT steel. How does this bike ride? Is there a difference with the Reynolds 853? Is it supple? Find out what we think!
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Excellent review, pretty much mirrors my own thoughts on the bike.
We built up my mates RLT steel with rival 1x and a set of 650b wheels, it’s a beast on the gravel climbs! 👌
Yeah, I was gonna comment that this is the only bike in the Niner stable that they actually concede will work as a 650b setup (presumably all the others would as well, but like he said, then they'd have to change their name).
So they can work with 650b ? Mine is a 47cm so I realize it is a little lower but I'd love to have a 650b wheelset with some fat 47 or 45mm tires. Mine is a 2015. I love it.
According there site, yes: ninerbikes.life/rlt-9-steel-gravel-bike/
I wish they specified if the aluminum version could do the same.
I follow you both.
I was just looking at their brand new model with a bit more tire clearance. Do I understand correctly that this bike has a press fit BB? I don't recall a steel bike without a threaded bottom bracket. Is a creaky BB as big an issue with a steel frame as it is in some carbon frames? A PFBB could steer me away from this buying this frame.
Great Review. Your comments are right on and I love my RLT 9. I did build a set of 650b's with Mercury Wheels and a set of WTB Venture 47's. On the new wheels I used SRAM's PG1130, 11-36 cog.(Finally getting that better then 1:1 with the 50/34) The bike rocks on single track with the 650b's. Great channel !! thank you
That's my bike! ...Love it!! It can definitely be ridden anywhere! Probably the most comfortable bike Ive ever ridden -logged a lot of hours on mine :)
Thank you Russ!
Great review ...! Thanks for sharing
Cool to hear about a steel and a niner. Thanks.
Good review! I have the blue and grey model and I like it a lot. Only downsides are the bottom bracket and the gearing. I'm definitely looking into Praxisworks and Wolf Tooth solutions for those problems.
I just picked up a pre-owned 2015 Niner RLT Steel which did not come with the mounting options on the fork, top tube, or seat stays. For hoops, it’s running Schwalbe 700 x 40’s with not much room for mud clearance. I just got it, and I’m new to gravel riding, so I’m optimistic that it will be a great starter bike for me. Thanks for your channel and everything you do! My best to Laura.
The Schwalbe G-one is definately my new favorite tire. They work well for me on both gravel and pavement.
Nice looking bike. I just purchased my first gravel bike. It's a moose gravel express from an emerging Canadian company called Moose. They typically started off making fat bikes but they've ventured into other styles and from what I see they're super affordable for what you get. We'll see when it arrives though. So stoked
Great review! Love the look of this bike, the actual looks themselves; just something about a carbon fork on a steel frame. And of course the set up itself just looks like a good time. Definitely a race bike... but for fun people. I would be switching cassettes on 95% of gravel bikes on the market if I bought one for myself anyways so this is no different. (definitely made up that statistic)
Ooooh, I've been oogling this one!
interesting comments on the fork.
When I test rode it the RLT 853 I loved it! it was 10x stiffer than my Trek Crossrip, yet 1,000x more comfortable!
My only gripe is a 50 is small a 53 is perfect but my inseam rubs. for long days in the saddle cool! For town, commuting, or scenic routes with stops and bar straddles that would get old.
I agree on the 50/34.
I do think it hits the sweet spot between being stable, yet also being lively enough.
Nice review! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for comparing to the Ritchie steel. Now to get your hands on a Gunnar... I love the idea of hand-crafted American steel custom build.
Great review, thanks!
I've loaded my RLT steel up with 40 lbs of gear for a four day trip in Pisgah and it didn't effect the handling much at all. I'm running a 1X system that is a ratio of 1 to 1 - 42 up front and a 10/42 in back This provides all the gearing I need for Pisgah when fully loaded. If you want more gearing then I'd use either the 40T or 38T rings that are available. This bike is awesome and would recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a gravel/all road or whatever you wish to call this category these days. You will NOT be disappointed! Please note; Since it is a steel bike make sure your shop coats the inside of the frame with "Frame Saver" to protect against rust. The bike does not ship with this installed. The one and only thing I'd like to change to my set up is the brakes. Sram brakes are problematic when loaded down. The just don't provide enough power to adequately handle the bike on steep decent when fully loaded. You MUST think ahead before braking. I've ridden this bike for five plus hours on rough washboarded fire roads, single track and even some crazy mob trails and at the end of the day I felt better than a two or three hour ride on my carbon road bike. Steel is real!
Thanks for the feedback! Coming from a pure road experience I think I'd much rather prefer a bike like this than the super comfy/long bikes like the Salsa vaya/journeyman. Good to know you can also load up this baby without any issues! Where you using bikepacking bags or racks?
Good review. It’s too bad this wasn’t out when I bought my Kona Rove a few years back. I was in the market for a steel gravel/adventure/touring bike and went with Kona. I had tried the RLT and was really impressed with the ride....but it wasn’t steel. I also see you are decluttering the studio: that is great and makes for a better background for the bikesxbourbon, which is always fun. You won’t look like you are forced to stand because there is no place to sit down 😉
Most excellent review. I enjoy eating BLT’s while watching PLP’s and riding 650b’s. What’s your opinion of the Vitus Substance V2 steel gravel rig? It’s got 650b’s.
Looks freakin amazing!
I bought the Niner gravel fork for my Twin 6 Ti Rando frame. I can’t wait to complete the custom build and grind some gravel and rough payment.
Curious how that rides. Let us know.
I'd like to see you review the Jones bike H bars. I see several types of bikes using these bars and singing their praises.
If you're thinking of buying this get one now as they're currently on sale. I was torn between this and the Cosmic Stallion, but after seeing that the Niner was not only on sale ($2400 plus shipping online), it had better parts - more specifically, the wheels - compared to the Stallion. Plus the overall looks of the Niner IMHO are better. Plus if I want to add panniers to the fork I can, unlike the Stallion.
Would love to see a review of the Felt Breed 20/30.
I love my BSB9 RDO...most comfortable bike I own
Nice one! Would be really interested in a review of the Kona Rove LTD. I think that one may check all of your boxes!
Hey Willy, we've tried to contact Kona multiple times but to no avail. They don't even respond to our emails. You might have better luck convincing them. Joe@konaworld.com
Agreed, the compact road double is the wrong setup for "gravel" bikes. I'm going to be the one to sound like a bike grouch here, but for real swiss army knife gearing I'm all about running 3x10 or even 3x9. One drivetrain that can handle single track, long gravel rides, loaded touring, or morning commutes. Maybe if the bike can do everything reasonably well it doesn't need any qualifier and can just be called "a bike". This 1x trend is a great gimmick for selling more bikes I suppose.
Yup, I have 3x9 gravel bike and it is a knee saver. Next year I plan to improve it even further -- put MTB crankset (low gears) and road casette. This would allow to have the same ratios, but have a more gentle differences between rear gears.
I would love to see you review the jamis renegade exploit since you have ridden a lot of the steel gravel players.
Or maybe an expat. Please???
I'm curious with the comparison review between Niner RLT 9 and Jamis Renegade. Their geometry are almost identical and both brands came with aluminum, steel & carbon fibre options.
I miss great bikes like this, I used to work for niner during the huffy buyout era and we started refering to these as pre huffy niners (the chinese holding company people were not happy about this, but they had already told us we were fired in month)😂😂. Now they are but a distant bad memory here in FoCo, CO. They couldn't even keep up the farce of keeping an office open here to pretend like they weren't just huffy/united wheels at that point 🤣
I look forward to your review of a Kona Rove ST
If it ever shows up!
If you like this you would like the steel bombtrack hook ext though the inner has a better rims
Great review! You do bring up a great point about gearing. I don't understand why bikes designed to go off-road (unpaved), and/or loaded up with touring gear have road bike gearing. I was considering a Specialized Sequoia(48/32 crank), or this bike, but I'm sick of having to replace the drive train on a brand new bike. I was looking at an Alivio 40/32/22 crank, which will fit a 68 or 73mm BB(from what I can see online) to match the Sora nine-speed on the base Sequoia. Getting back to gearing, a 40 tooth chain ring coupled with a 12 tooth cassette and a 42 tire yields 27.54 mph at 100 cadence. A bouncy 120 cadence would carry you to over 33 mph! Honestly, if you plotted your TIME at 30+ mph, how many minutes of your annual riding time does this represent? Minutes out of hundreds of hours. 70 and 80 cadence correlate to 19.28 and 22.03 mph. I don't know very many people that can maintain 22 to 27 mph on the flats on any bike, I certainly can't, so to me, a fat-tired gravel bike with road gearing is just ridiculous. My solution? I bought a seat-post mounted rack & trunk bag, some hybrid tires, and a frame bag for my rigid GT Peace 29er hardtail. Commute option solved. The 46/30 sub-compact crank may be the best compromise, but like the compact crank on my road bike, I don't like the 16 tooth jump up front. I put a 50-39-30 triple on my road bike and an 11-34 cassette, and I found I'm actually running slightly faster times on Strava segments, in general. I can spin in the middle 39T chainring, especially on those long, 1-2% grades, and really optimize the middle 4-5 sprockets on the cassette. The lower gearing is just more efficient. This has been figured out on mountain bikes, but I don't understand why the road/gravel/adventure bikes don't have this sorted out.
I built up my RLT9 steel with a 50/34 crankset and an 11-40 cassette. I wouldn't do a bike tour with like 40lbs of gear with it up 10% grades, but for any typical gravel adventures, it's perfect.
I'd like to see you reviewing the Soma "fog cutter", if it's possible.
Love to see you guys, except when you're drinking "bourbon". Lol. 😵
We taste and critique not "drink" :)
T'ill the and of the bottle... 🍷🎆😋
I'm aiming to buy the Fuji Jari 1.7 this fall/winter. Please review that if you could. I think for the money, its a great bargain and plenty of bike for me. It can run 650B 2.0 tires. Also it comes with handlebars which have 25 degrees of flare and 46/30 chainrings which few gravel bikes come standard with.
Here's my mini-review, I've owned it for a couple of months. I got it on super sale from Performance for $989. In short, I would buy it again. It is a super comfortable and stable bike. I am running the stock 35C tires and just got back from DuPont State Forest/Pisgah in NC, where I ran it on gravel, fist-size "gravel", smooth dirt, light singletrack and pavement. Never felt sketchy on any of those surfaces. The Tiagra groupset is fine after proper adjustment. The first thing I plan to upgrade is the chainring/bb. It is ok but it's square taper and the chainrings feel a little flimsy. This is purely a "feel" thing though, I have never skipped a chain or had any malfunctions with the drivetrain. The mechanical disk brakes are not so good, but they do work, you just have to be prepared to grab hard. I am going to replace the brake pads and hopefully this will help. I don't really want hydro brakes on this bike. No complaints at all with the frame and fork, which I believe are identical from the 1.7 all the way up to the 1.1. Superficially, I feel like the 1.7 has by far the best color scheme. Something about the olive drab with the gumwall tires looks so nice out in the woods.
Thanks for the mini review. I agree that the color scheme and tires make for a great look. I like how it looks classic and modern at the same time. It was truly the specs that sold me and I figured at some point when I become a stronger rider I would swap out the chain-rings and bottom bracket at some time but I liked the 46-30 starting out. Since I'm a light rider, climbing isn't much of an issue for me but I have a lot of hills.
I own this bike and my 48mm compass tires fits with very little margin around the chain stays. Fuji's claim of 2 inch clearance is the actually space between the chain stays, and it doesn't mean you can put 2inch rubber there. Something like WTB 47mm is the max I would put in the rear. however, the clearance is the fork is fine for 48mm
Manufacturer specs aren't always correct both with framesand tires. I'm curious, did you measure the actual width of your 48mm Compass tires? I'm curious to know.
@@schmojo33 Nope. didnt measure the actual width. FWIW its mounted on a 21mm internal width rim.
Would love to see you get your hands on some sweet sweet Ti bike to give your thoughts on. Thinking something like the Moots Routt 45 or Baxter. In my opinion, Ti is the gold standard material for gravel and adventure cycling.
Hey Jason, we've reviewed some Ti Bikes from Ren Cycles in Portland. Loved the Ivan which was their cross bike. Been trying to get a Moots Routt 45 to review, but being a small channel they haven't been too responsive. We can always keep trying though.
How about a bike path from Missoula to Bozeman
Really good review. Comparing with the Surly midnight special, I know the Surly is more of a quick agile road bike feeling but how about comfort and build quality? Thanks
I think the Niner has the better build but I would give comfort to the Surly. The Niner felt nice fit wise but a little stiff.
Currently this bike is on sale at backcounty.com and they will swap parts and only charge the difference. I went with the Ultegra 8020 with an FSA 46/30 crankset and Renynold ATR wheels. The front end is a little stiff but not bad with nice bar tape and bigger tires.
Do you know if they changed the geometry at all for the 2020 update? I'm basically the exact same size as you, and Niner's chart puts me in the middle of a 53, which seems large looking at some of the numbers. Whereas you say the 50 fit you perfectly, Niner suggests that for 5'2" to 5'6"
Great Review! How does this compare to the All-City Cosmic Stallion?
To my imperfect memory, rides a little quicker than the CS. Though the CS has a 650b option. So a draw?
I feel like they listened. They have a 650b build with better gearing now but it's gucci.
Have you had any feedback on the specialized sequoia?
There's one for sale near me, £1000 - I'll have to check out pricing, but I'm concerned that looking at the pictures, it might have toe overlap which I wouldn't want. Does it? I'm the same size as you are, and the frame size is also a 50. If it does, do 650b wheels solve that, and is it as simple as buying new wheels?
thanks for the review, can somebody compare it to the curves kevin grx steel?
you made a comparison at the end to the long haul trucker, but it seems to me to be a direct competitor to the straggler (i.e light touring, disc brake, drop bar). what do you think about it in regards to a straggler? it seems nicer in terms of components (carbon fork, hydro brakes, rival versus apex sets).
If you can believe it, I actually haven't ridden the Straggler. I used the LHT as sort of an extreme example. Also it's a bike I'm super familiar with. Getting a Straggler to review though soon.
no, i can't believe that! haha! straggler was my new bike purchase recently, so its on my mind a lot. i built it up to address a lot of the points you made about the drivetrains on these bikes. went with a bigger cassette and a sub-compact crankset. also, blueberry muffin top is just a sick color.
Nice! Have you reached out to Velo Orange to do a review of their Piolet?
Getting a Polyvalent soon.
Did you say that your tried the size 50cm? I feel like that would be small given Niners height recommendations and the geo. I’m 5’7” with long legs and the 53cm look like the right size, on paper at least.
I'm 5'8 and short legs (29inch inseam), normal torso and prefer the bars to be about even with the saddle. I usually ride road bikes with a 52 top tube. The 50 has an effective toptube of 525, so that's why I tried that and it worked out great for me.
Makes sense. I have like a 32" inseam. I like more relaxed bar height too, but I usually have to go for a little bigger frame, so am used to being a bit more stretched out.
Check out OTSO Warakin. I have the Sram 1x and it’s a serious gem at $2300!
I would like to know how these "boutique" bikes compare with gravel bikes from say Giant, Trek, and Specialized because they are easy to find and ride.
Have a video about that tmrw.
I own a 1st generation RLT9steel and that is my #1 complaint -- the gearing. They should outfit these bikes with something closer to MTB gearing
Same problem with Jamis and their Renegades. We'll see if they adjust things with their '19 lineup.
Great review overall! No offense, but I hear you saying a lot "that's not someone I would do" or "that's what you can do" in reference to loading it up different ways. Rather than hearing what you would do, what I want to know is it possible, safe, and are there any tradeoffs in doing it? You have the bike, why not really test the bike and give us some real feedback of how it performs?
Appreciate the comment but I'm trying my best. I don't have the bikes for very long. We have no production budget. And I'm trying to put up atleast 3 videos a week. This is pretty much what I can do as a solo creator with little money and still posting consistently. While I would love to ride every bike in every possible permutation that's not possible. Niner needed the bike back quickly so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to test it loaded, but I feel gave a fair description of how it rides unloaded.
Path Less Pedaled alright no worries man, your reviews are wonderfully done and super helpful just the way they are! Love your videos in general, I was probably pointing out the obvious in terms of ways to improve your content... apologies for coming off harshly.
Re: the steel frame feeling somewhat stiff- that's the 853 for you. It's a super strong steel, but it's not the plushest stuff in the world.
My first experience with it. Nicer than 4130 but not as nice as the stuff used in the Breadwinner or Ritchey.
853 is an air-harding alloy- so, while most traditional tubes come heat-treated and need to have their heat exposure minimized (to not destroy that heat treatment...), 853 has a *minimum* temperature it *must* hit during the build- and it re-heat-treats as it cools from that. It was designed for welding (though, to be fair, it can be brass brazed, too). That's the metallurgy- and part of what makes 853 relatively stiff for a steel.
The other part of this is tubing profiles- diameters, swaging, butting, etc. Those things have HUGE differences on the ride of the bike (as I recall, the stiffness of a tube increases by the cube of the radius...), so it's more likely you're feeling those differences.
So it's a matter of both material *and* application here- 853, metallurgically, is an extremely impressive steel- likely more advanced than the Ritchey tubing you're referencing. But if Niner isn't picking the right tubes of 853 (butting, diameter, etc), then those advantages can get lost.
I guess what I'm saying is that the 853 isn't the problem- it's the application. That steel alloy is better than the bike they've built out of it.
Thanks for the info!
hello, someone can tell me maximun tire clearance for this bike,I mean 700 wheels,thks
Did I hear you say 5'8" and size 50 ? That seems smaller than other frames you have tried in the past. I'm 5'4" and right in the middle of the suggested range for 50... Just trying to narrow things down as I don't think I will be able to test ride one of these.
I have short legs.
@@Dauntless.steadfast.fortitude u need a custom bike.
Would you consider reviewing the Specialized AWOL? I have one and really love it.
No. Just curious how others feel about it. Specialized discontinued the model sometime in 2018 or 2019. So it's not an issue any more.
Great review, but what is the cost?
Larry Mullins check out the niner website yoo!
Thank you
that carbon fork is mega stiff. i would swap for a steel fork for the lively feel and security when mounting racks
Didn’t know if it was the fork or the head tube, but definitely something up front could be more supple.
Path Less Pedaled ahhh the tapered headtube. a stiff combination
I swapped the carbon fork on my first gen RLT (no rack mounts) for an End Point Hunter Gatherer steel fork. It rides really good and can easily fit 650x50mm tires. I'll also confirm that with the stock fork will fit 47mm WTB horizons perfectly well!
All carbon forks are mega stiff. It almost defeats the purpose of a steel frame. Tapered head tubes are way too stiff - they're a fabricated demand for stiffness. Also PressFit BB's on any metal frame is simply ridiculous. Press fit should never be on any metal bike as well as oversized head tubes. We'll see straight steerers coming back as well as threaded bb's.
@@SurpriseMeJT I put a Wheels Mfg threaded BB on my RLT9 steel to avoid the pressfit issue....works like a champ.
is that bear spray in your feed bag?
Yep
MSRP?
About $3000
BLT... A tasty sandwich indeed ;)
Kona Sutra + Schwalbe G1 29x2.35= Heaven
i bought sutra 2019 recently, im not sure about 2.35 fitting. i figured that 2.2 might but bigger than that... and you would have to be 1x front for tire clearance.
Be nice if you mix up the bike reviews a little, perhaps some comments out on the trail, maybe load up the bikes with gear and do an overnighter (review some gear at the same time). Guess it's a hassle regarding audio quality and maybe needing someone else out with you to video the scenes. Don't get me wrong, I love the reviews, but I think it would be good to avoid repetition, over the long term.
Appreciate the comment but I'm trying my best. I don't have the bikes for very long. We have no production budget. And I'm trying to put up atleast 3 videos a week. This is pretty much what I can do as a solo creator with little money and still posting consistently.
Understand, looking forward to your next episodes!
5'8 and run a size 50? I would have thought that a size 50 is too small for you. I'm 5'11 and I usually use a size 56. You have me wondering if I have the wrong size lol
How much $$$
Curious on your sizing choice. I’m 5 ft 7 and ride a 54 cm generally.. is the geometry far different on gravel frames?
I have short legs.
Do you folks sell #suppleLife stickers?
Making some,
RLT Steel or Ritchey Outback? Which would you prefer?
I like the ride of the Ritchey, but the RLT is more versatile in terms of mounting racks.
Do you remember if the fork and fork can use fenders?
👋 what country do you live?
I think Niner RLT Steel is not as "supple" because they used a straight fork. At least the Ritchey Outback has a curved fork. Niner is still new to the gravel bike market. They don't know what they're doing.
Fork is part of it, but the headtube on he RLT is massively overbuilt for stiffness. The Ritchey on the other hand is not tapered and uses lighter tubing there allowing for flex.
Niner first release the rlt in 2013. they have been in the gravel scene a long time if you consider the first production gravel bike was the salsa warbird only a year earlier.
Tasty Sandwich!!!!!!😂😭😂
@5:21- not a Niner, Breadwinner :-)
Good eye. Dropped in the wrong clip. Subliminal marketing :)
lol for a sec i thought you swapped forks for a more supple life
Haha - it totally worked!
Spotted that silver King headset and knew shenanigans were afoot.
So its basically a 10 years too late Salsa Vaya?
Ha. It did take them a while.
Path Less Pedaled Not trying to be negative but I have been banging it out on my Vaya for years and it just seems like companies keep trying to keep “up to date”. It’s just weird that when they come up with a steel bike as a positive it just reminds me of my Vaya 😃
The bike we ride most on a daily basis is the Vaya. Really has held up well. I've converted mine to 650b. Messes with the ride a little, but still the daily driver.
Specialized sequoia
Why are so many carbon forks on steel bikes? I thought steel bikes offered some “springy” compliance? For bumpy off road or street bumps, isn’t carbon more vulnerable to a catastrophic event? For long distance travel and touring, SHOULDN’T I WANT STEEL??? I
People are weight weenies and freak out over the weight of steel forks.