Why 29er, Mini WFO9 and RIP9 Review From an Enthusiast Rider:

My name is Henry and I ride a couple times a week and on weekends I like to ride for several hours at a time. I prefer single track, cross country riding. I also ride a Fuji cycle-cross bike for road rides, dirt roads, horse trails and for long endurance rides. In the past, I worked at a bike shop (Storm Endurance Sports) so I have ridden many kinds of bikes. For the past several years, I have ridden a Tomac Taos hard-tail. This past summer I purchased a Santa Cruz Blur LT. The change was tremendous.  I had ridden full suspensions in the past but the Blur out performed them all. My lap times at the local single track (6.5 miles) went from the high 40’s to 42 minutes. I was able to ride longer and faster. Boy was I happy.

One evening at Governors Creeks MTB, not long after buying the Blur, I ran into FatBob who was setting up several 29ers for test riding. I had seen 29ers around but never ridden one. FatBob asked if I would like to try out a Rip 9 (Ride in Peace 9) from Niner Bikes. Not wanting to overdo it, I rode it for just a mile or so.

When I got back to the parking lot Don O was there. We decided to test the 29ers a full lap around. My riding buddy was on his Trek Carbon Fuel (26er) and is typically faster than I am. Don was testing a Specialized Stumpjumer FSR 29 and FatBob setup a Pivot Mach 429 for me. Another friend was testing out the Rip 9. The first thing I notice was how well the Mach 429 rolled over everything. I had always assumed the larger wheels would require more effort to get rolling. But even climbing seemed faster and required less effort.

My buddy on the Trek seemed to be falling back. Don was having a little trouble getting use to the Stumpjumper 29. Even so, he was pretty fast. I was able to stay with Don fairly easily (which I never do). My Trek buddy was way back. For the first time all year, I had to stop and wait on him. Man I was loving this.

FatBob had ridden out ahead of us to take some pictures and shoot some video. At some point, we rode past FatBob and I yelled “Man this is like driving a sports car for the first time”. Log crossing, rock sections, switch backs, the Pivot was out performing the Blur. I could not believe it. What was I going to do? After all  I had just purchased the last mountain bike I was ever going to buy!

After the ride, FatBob explained the suspension systems of the Pivot and the Niner. I thought the Niner was a softer plusher ride having 110mm of rear travel and 120mm front. The Pivot has 100mm of travel and much firmer making it a little quicker handling and giving it a racier feel. He explained that the large diameter wheels roll on top of obstacles instead of into them. I also noticed that the front tire seemed to bite in better during fast, high speed turns. It was better than I had ever felt. The 29ers just simple climbs better, descends better, corners and accelerates better than any 26 inch wheeled bike I have ridden. Hands Down!

Back to my dilemma. What was going to do about my brand new Blur LT. How was I going to explain to my wife that I was getting rid of my new bike and getting a newer one. It took me a few weeks but I decided to sell my Blur and buy a Rip 9. I chose the Rip9 because of the plusher feel and the 120mm of travel. Niner is also a company that builds and sells only 29ers. They believe in 29ers and development of what they call “The Big Revolution”. When I talked to Charlie (Storm Endurance Sports) about buying a Niner, he said they had a special deal that included a Fox RL with a frame purchase. He said Niner often offered incentives to customers. Well that was it. I’d strip down my Blur, sell the frame, fork and wheelset and buy the Rip9. If only Niner came in lime green so my wife wouldn’t notice I had a new bike.

Since I have been without a bike between the Blur and the Rip9, FatBob was nice enough to let me ride one of his test bikes, a WFO 9 (Wide Full Open) also from Niner. It is a 140mm travel bike (same as the Blur LT) that looks like a beast. My first impression was this bike is going to be “a tank”. FatBob has the bike set up pretty heavy with X9 shifters and derailleurs , SLX Brakes and SLX cranks (great cranks and even better brakes) a Crank Brothers Joplin seatpost. Most of the weight being in the tires. The wheels are Stans ZTR Flow rims with a 15mm front axle , 12mm rear and 14/15 gauge DT Swiss spokes. They are great wheels but the build combined with the Panaracer Rampage 29 tires added weight to the bomber yet heavy wheelset.

The first thing I noticed was the speed on the downhills. The WFO just rode on top of the terrain. The suspension soaked up ever root, rock and washout. I could just steer the bike where I wanted. After a while I was looking for rough parts of the trail just to see if I could feel anything.

I was sure that the climbs would be a different story. Once I found a climb that the WFO’s momentum hadn’t carried me halfway up, I could not believe it. It was climbing every bit as good as the Blur. Once again, the 29 inch wheels covered more ground so climbing was easier.

The only time the bike seemed a little heavy was on long flat sections of the trail. However, the WFO 9 is classified as an All mountain, Enduro bike so feeling a little heavy is normal. This ride just reassured me that I had made the right decision in buying a Niner.

As of now, I do not have my RIP 9 ready to ride. I am waiting on a few parts to finish the build and I will be off. After my Blur sold, I did tell my wife about my new bike. Like so many times before, she said that was great and she hoped I will Love my new bike. When she saw the Rip 9 frame, she even said it was the “Prettiest” bike I have ever owned. And I agree. It is Beautiful. Thanks again to FatBob for expanding my world to 29ers and “The Big Revolution”. FatBob has also quietly made riding more enjoyable around here by spending countless hours doing trail work and  course design that no one knows about. To that I am all so very grateful. Go out and test ride a 29er. You’ll be happy you did.

HD

EDIT: Since this has been written, Henry has been riding his RIP9. He has been raving about it! One more convert.