Niner’s Jet 9 RDO is a 120mm travel, 29″ wheel trail rocket designed to be fast pretty much everywhere but the chunkiest and steepest of trails.
Pete checks in with his opening thoughts on Niner’s second from raciest bike, the 120mm travel trail weapon, the Jet 9 RDO.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Fox 34 Rhythm 120mm fork
- Fox Float X Factory shock
- SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed drive
- SRAM Level brakes
- Niner alloy wheels
- KS LEV Si dropper
- £4,899.00 RRP
- NinerBikes.co.uk
Niner’s Jet 9 RDO is only bested in the short travel stakes by the cross county race weapon, the RKT 9 RDO. With 120mm travel on offer from is CVA (Constant Varying Arc) linkage sat neatly around an RDO carbon fibre frame. The goal with this bike was to merge the efficiency of the the RKT with trail bike capability for a very fast trail weapon. The bike comes with a flip chip that increases BB drop by 7mm and drops 0.5 degrees off the head tube angle. The current iteration frame moves to a trunnion mount shock to improve frame stiffness as well as packaging that area of the frame more neatly.
I rode this bike for a couple of days last year at Woburn for a video with Niner that you can watch here. Woburn and my local trails could not be more different, so it’ll be interesting to see how it fares on home turf. Other than the Merida Ninety-Six I rode two years ago, this will be the shortest travel full bouncer I will have ridden in a while.
Spec shown here is the 2-Star, with a Fox Rhythm 36 out front and a trunnion-mount Fox Float X factory in the middle. Drive is SRAM NX with the now defunct SRAM Level brakes bringing things to heel. Wheels are Niner’s own alloy numbers shod with Schwalbe Nobby Nics. Finishing kit is primarily Niner’s own alloy kit, bar the cockpit which is RaceFace Aeffect alloy. Frame bearings are Black Oxide MAX or Double Row Enduro bearings.
Geometry
The Niner Jet 9 RDO is available in SM, MD, LG and XL.
Reach on the MD in Low Mode is 450mm with a seat tube of 406mm. Head angle is 65.5 degrees with a seat tube angle of 75.5 degrees. Chainstays are 430mm across the sizes with a wheelbase on the MD of 1180mm.
Opening moves
Like the Hope HB916 I tested, the Niner Jet 9 RDO comes with a handy, laser-etched sag indicator on one of the bearing caps in the main linkage, making shock setup that much easier. The Float X Factory also comes with more dials for damping than it’s lesser brethren too which is great for fine tuning. It’s partner in crime being a less sophisticated 34 Rhythm is easy to set up thanks to its lack of dials.
Brake lever throw and angle were good, so it was time to get to the trails. I can ride both the SM and the MD Jet 9 RDO, and this small bike does feel a touch on the small size but then it’s a far cry from the chunder munching bikes I am used to. This size also comes with a 125mm dropper, something I will likely swap out for a slightly longer model so that I can run the post slammed and still get the right saddle height.
Go forward is something this bike is keen to do from the off. Low weight, fast tyres and an efficient pedalling position makes this a blast for getting to the trails. There is a touch of pedal bob out of the saddle but find me a bike that doesn’t do this and I’ll eat my hat. You can always use the ‘Firm’ switch on the shock to negate this but I always forget to flick the switch again before dropping in.
At first, I struggled to find the fizz with the Jet that I’d experienced at Woburn. The bike feeling very firm, skittery and with a nose-down preference. Winding on some low speed compression to the shock and speeding up the rebound on both dampers brought the bike to life.
Only at the bottom of a trail not really in the Jet’s wheelhouse did the SRAM Levels start to fade. Pick a smooth line or get airborne to clear a rough patch and the Jet would reward you with a ride that just brough a smile across your face. I’m still yet to be convinced of the merits of the Schwalbe Nobby Nic, especially on the rear, but this bike managed to make them passable.
Tyres aside, the Jet 9 RDO is a cracking wee bike that will go almost anywhere bar the steepest chunk or the fastest gravel gallops. Anything else in between is this bike’s bread and butter.
