What happens at Singletracks.com when Niner announces their newest iteration of their flagship carbon hardtail, the Air 9 RDO? Lots of things. Drooling. Envy. Bank account checking. Thoughts of how to introduce one more bike to the significant other. But above all, interest. Good old fashioned heart-stopping interest. Like this.
Why so interested? It’s hard not to be stoked about a flagship offering from a known and respected brand like Niner. Say what you will about 29er bikes, you have to hand it to Niner for picking a wheel size they believe in and focusing on development thereof. They’re not making 100 different geometries.
And the bikes look freakin’ cool. Take a look and see for yourself.
The newest Air 9 RDO boasts a 100g weight loss over the previous version. Some of that came from a lightened headbadge, of all things. It’s made out of titanium, and so are the little guards around the bottom bracket.
Last time I bought a new bike I looked at my wallet and realized I had a choice: full suspension alloy bike, or carbon hardtail. I picked full suspension alloy, and, well, maybe I blew it on that one.
Niner will sell you an Air 9 in many different flavors. There’s the top notch RDO which has premium composite and layout at 1060g and $1999 MSRP for the frameset, but you can also go on up to $7999 for their “five star” build with XTR and a RockShox SID XX World Cup Solo Air 100MM. There’s a regular ol’ carbon choice as well, or even a hydroformed alloy bike with the same geometry at just $699 for the frameset.
Anyone got $8k I can have? Come on, guys. Help a rider out. I’ll even do a race on it if that helps.
