This is my Niner RLT 9 RDO – a multi-faceted gravel bike that's at home on both the race course and for fully loaded bikepacking.
Like most of my bikes, it’s a full custom build, so you’re unlikely to see one in this spec anywhere else.
It’s my main testbed for anything gravel and it’s seen everything from everyday thrashings testing the latest kit through to bikepacking trips and a sadistically tough ultra-endurance race.
The RLT 9 RDO (short for ‘Road Less Travelled’) is Niner’s top carbon gravel bike. It is far more conventional than the MCR 9 RDO full-suspension gravel bike – who remembers that bike?
Despite being launched in 2020, the RLT 9 RDO still holds its own against the latest gravel bikes.
Very few gravel bikes can perform the double duty of gravel racing and bikepacking as adeptly as the RLT 9 RDO.
How did the Niner start life?
Before the Niner, I owned a Norco Threshold C – a cyclocross bike that was ahead of its time with its wider-than-average 38mm tyre clearance.
I quickly outgrew the bike – I started to ride more adventurous terrain and I got fed up with continuously de-clogging mud in the winter Chiltern slop. I needed something that would future-proof my riding.
Enter the Niner.
Mounting points to carry everything but the kitchen sink? Check. 50mm tyre clearance? Check.
Further sealing the deal were the fully guided internal cable routing (because who has time for fishing?), the sensible headset and the bottom bracket standard.
I expect some might raise an eyebrow over whether PF30 is sensible, but it offers good compatibility with all cranksets and I’ve always found it a reliable press-fit standard.
Finally, just take a moment to admire that classy Baja Blue / Sand paintjob.
While red is typically my favourite colour, the blue here is deep and rich, and I particularly love the topographical map graphics – in keeping with the RLT name.
But the stock builds Niner offers didn’t quite do it for me – I wanted to build the bike my way.
I bought the frame in October 2020, in the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and the bike took almost a year to build up.
Why the long wait? There was a big delay on the gravel groupset and wheels I wanted to spec it with.
I hadn’t found the SRAM Rival 1 groupset particularly durable on my Norco and the gear ratios weren’t very forgiving – a 42t chainring paired with an 11-36t cassette.
I didn’t want to go for Shimano GRX either. The variants around in 2020 were all 11-speed, which SRAM and Campagnolo had already superseded, and being brutally honest, Shimano brakes don’t do it for me.
Campagnolo Ekar felt the right option, having launched the same month I ordered the frameset. With 13-speed, wide-ranging gear-ratio options, mechanical shifting, class-leading braking and fabulous lever ergonomics, it met all of my criteria.
Unfortunately, it took the best part of a year to arrive. I slowly got more excited for the build as components were delivered one-by-one throughout the year – akin to making progress on an advanced jigsaw puzzle.
I opted for a matching set of Campagnolo Shamal wheels – their 21mm internal rim width (reasonably progressive at the time) meant they could serve double duty on this bike and as a more compliant option on the road.
Early in 2021, myself and a group of friends decided we’d ride the King Alfred’s Way in September, a 350km gravel loop encompassing many of southern England’s best trails.
I’d done all my training on the Norco and, as September approached, I grew worried about tackling some of the steep climbs fully loaded on the tall gear ratios.
With the Shamals nowhere in sight and the delivery date repeatedly delayed, I bit the bullet on a set of Fulcrum Rapid Red 500s in a desperate bid to use the Niner on the bikepacking trip.
I wasn’t able to borrow the Zipp 30 Course wheels from my Norco because Zipp didn’t manufacture a Campagnolo N3W freehub at the time.
Fortunately, the Fulcrums weren’t a heavy, throwaway wheelset and I’ve kept them to this day – they offer an impressively compliant ride quality and are reliably built.
As such, I tend to keep these wheels for winter and then bring the Shamals out to play in the summer.
Welcome to BikeRadar Builds
BikeRadar Builds is our occasional look at the team’s personal bikes, including custom rigs, commuters, dream builds, component testbeds and more.
This is our chance to geek out about the bikes we’re riding day-to-day, and explore the thinking (or lack of it!) behind our equipment choices.
- Oscar's Pinarello GAN K custom build
- Tom's Transition Spur downcountry bike
- Oscar’s Specialized Allez DSW SL road bike
- Alex's Marin Alpine Trail custom test bike
- Simon's Planet X Exocet 2 time trial bike
- Simon’s 2009 TCR Advanced SL
- Jack’s refurbished touring tandem, Cecil
- Jack's fabulously flexible 1994 Lee Cooper 653
- George’s Mason Bokeh gravel bike
- Matthew’s Genesis Croix de Fer 853
- Tom’s Santa Cruz Chameleon mullet singlespeed
A meticulously curated build
With the big-ticket Italian fare out of the way, the rest of the components were fastidiously selected for my lofty demands.
I’m running an Easton EC70 AX carbon handlebar – I opted for carbon for the increased compliance. It's 40cm wide (I prefer a narrower bar) with a pleasing but not over-the-top 16-degree flare.
The Easton bar takes the sting out of rocky trail features and the flared drop profile inspires confidence when descending.
The bar is paired with an own-brand 100mm Niner stem, which sits atop a Chris King Dropset headset – providing there’s a compatible option, I tend to run a Chris King headset on all my bikes because of its longevity.
The seatpost is a Roval Terra, a very recent addition that replaces a Specialized COBL-GOBLR I’ve run for years – the rubber in the cobra-shaped head had started to fail.
One of the oldest components on the bike is the Fabric Scoop saddle, a long-standing favourite of mine, alongside the Specialized Power Pro Elaston.
The wheels are wearing a set of Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC-X tyres I reviewed recently. A hardier offshoot of the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC, they’ve proven resilient performers, but it’s a shame they top out at 40mm – I typically like to run wider rubber.
I’ll probably replace them soon with my favourite Vittoria Terreno Wet tyres in a 45mm width for winter.
If you’ve read my BikeRadar Builds articles on my Pinarello GAN K and my dearly departed Specialized Allez DSW SL, the beady-eyed of you may notice some shared finishing touches.
I’ve used Jagwire Mini Tube Top Frame protectors on the cables and hoses where they contact the frame to avoid any unnecessary rub.
I’m also running Silca Nastro Cuscino bar tape, which is luxuriously tacky and hard-wearing, but in a thicker 3.2mm width to cope with the bigger off-road hits. Another Silca product is the Sicuro titanium bottle cage, which I have two of – yes, they’re expensive but they look the business – and they just last.
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What’s next for the Niner RLT 9 RDO?
Although the Niner’s still competitive among the latest gravel bikes with its tyre clearance, there’s one area where it’s starting to show its age.
It doesn’t have a SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger dropout, meaning it’s not compatible with a SRAM Transmission groupset.
I recently tested a 3T Extrema Italia, which came with a SRAM Rival / GX Eagle Transmission mullet drivetrain and bar the uncomfortable Rival lever ergonomics (for my hands, at least), I’ve come away converted.
The 10-52t cassette offers far more range for tackling savage climbs and with the ultra-endurance gravel races I’ve been targeting, you can never have too low a gear when riding fully loaded.
It also means you don’t need to worry about bending or breaking a derailleur hanger.
However, you can’t have everything and if I race this Niner again, I’ll swap to a Campagnolo Ekar GT rear derailleur and cassette. This would enable me to run a 10-48t cassette and – having tested the groupset one tier below – there’s little to separate Ekar and Ekar GT in terms of performance.
I suspect when Niner refreshes the RLT 9 RDO (which surely must be any day now), it’ll have a UDH dropout.
Otherwise, bar a Cane Creek eeSilk suspension stem I’m going to install, I’ll keep things as they are on this Niner – I think you’ll agree it’s a pretty sorted build.
