NINER RLT 9 £999 (frameset)
Niner, the 29er mountain bike specialist, conceived the RLT 9 (that’s ‘Road Less Travelled’) as a do-everything cyclo-crosscum- gravel-cum-commuter-cum-winter-bike, one based on an aluminium frame that will take big tyres and proper mudguards.
We built ours up with SRAM’s Rival hydraulic disc groupset, carbon tubeless wheels, and a mishmash of finishing kit. (Niner now offers a similar build for £2299 with rather more modest clinchers.) The paintjob on our build is now out of date incidentally, but the current bike is otherwise identical apart from the welcome addition of thru-axles.
Despite a long wheelbase (1025mm on our 53cm bike) and comparatively slack head angle of 71 degrees, which offer sure-footed handling in the rough stuff (think bridleways and fire roads), the RLT 9’s ride is in some ways more like that of a mid-range aluminium race bike than your typical all-road bike.
It’s stiff, direct, and rather firm. Your comfort levels will depend a great deal on your choice of spec, but we’d recommend taking advantage of the tyre clearance on offer (up to around 1.75in/45mm) to get the most out of the bike, and we weren’t sorry we’d fitted ours with a posh vibration-absorbing carbon bar as there’s not a great deal of give in the substantial fork.
The RLT 9’s appeal is that it offers versatility in a reasonably light package, with boutique brand cachet. It’s not cheap though and its uncompromising ride makes it something of a niche product.
Wheels Finishing kit
Bontrager bar, Deda stem, Merida seatpost, Bontrager Paradigm RL saddle, Hutchinson Sector 28mm tyres