Editors Note: Crooked Cog Network would like to welcome “Grannygear” as its newest contributor. He has a wealth of experience and a passion for the sport, but you can read his bio and check it out for yourself.

A native to So Cal (yes, they do exist), Grannygear began mtn biking in the mid 1980s with the purchase of his first knobby tired scooter, a green Nishiki Cascade which was at least one size too big for him (bike shop saw him coming, apparently).

Granny attended many of the early mtn bike festivals in Moab and Crested Butte, raced the Kamikaze in Mammoth, co-founded a mountain bike land access group, co-authored and authored two riding guide books for mountain bikes, managed a race team for a small custom builder, and just generally fell in love with the mountain bike and all it entails.

He is also presently the Feature Editor for www.C4×4.com, a web-zine targeting 4 wheel drive, Jeeps, etc, and writes the VintageOne blog.

He still lives in So Cal with his wife of 29 years, son, dog, and a rapidly decreasing supply of 26” bikes and an increasing supply of 29” bikes, as it should be.

Niner R.I.P.9 vs Niner J.E.T.9

If there is one question that is repeated from the beginning of a cyclist’s time in the sport until the time they go to that great singletrack in the sky, it is this: “What bike should I buy?”

Should it be a full suspension, and if so, how much travel? Or a hardtail, but then made out of what metal, aluminum, steel, titanium, carpet fiber? How about big wheels, little wheels, brand X, brand Y, and so on.

Some times the decision is simple. No one looking for an all mountain experience will be wondering, “Hmmmm…Gary Fisher Superfly or Knolly Delirium?” But sometimes it may not be so simple. Consider the Lenzsport Leviathan in 3” or 4”…same basic frame, slightly different angles, one inch difference in travel. Or, still within that brand, the 4” Leviathan or the 5” Behemoth? Not so simple.

Add in factors such as where you ride, how you ride, what you expect out of a bike, are you a one bike person, or is this just one bike in a quiver…all of this comes into play when choosing the right bike.

Take, for instance, Niner Bikes and their two current suspension offerings, the JET-9 and the RIP-9. These two bikes are quite often the center of a ‘which one for me’ discussion and I thought it would be worthwhile to figure that out for myself on my home turf.

So that is where we find ourselves today, at the Niner booth getting ready to compare the newly refined RIP-9 to the recently released JET-9.

A quick run down of the similarities and differences:

Both are full suspension, the RIP is 4.5” of rear travel, the JET 3.1”.

Both use the Niner CVA suspension, designed to provide a neutral pedaling experience. From the Niner website: So what is CVA™ Suspension? Niner’s Constantly Varying Arc suspension design has a tuned wheel path with a wheel arc that constantly changes throughout the path of suspension travel. Niner was able to dial in the exact wheel arc required to meet the goals as stated above, “pedal neutral”, “brake neutral”, and fully active were all accomplished with a wheel path using a constantly varying arc. The wheel arc of the CVA™ system works to counter forces from the chain, keeping the “instant center” of the suspension design in line with the torque of the drivetrain. Finding the balance so that the system works in every gear is critical and every single millimeter or degree (or both) could hinder the performance of the suspension. In addition, Niner’s CVA™ wheel arc was tuned to keep chain growth at a minimum, insuring that the torque on the chain would not cause suspension movement.
Both are aluminum frames.

The JET-9 is designed to be a racier riding experience

The RIP-9 is aimed at the trailbike crowd

The RIP, with its heavily manipulated tubing and large gussets, looks obviously burlier, and conversely, the JET is a leaner, sleeker looking bike.

Well, how different or similar are they? Can the JET be a lightweight trailbike? Is the RIP good for long climbs? To get a better idea, I got the chance to ride them back to back on home turf on a ride that I do probably once a week all year long.

It consists of 1 mile or so of pavement, then a loose, sandy dirt road leading to increasingly steeper doubletrack climbs, loose, fast and rutted double track to singletrack ridgeline trail, then to a rocky and twisting singletrack in and out of a canyon bottom and back down the fireroad to the pavement and you are done. It is your typical Southern California ride. Factor that in to the review.

The RIP-9

I chose a large size for both bikes, and Brian from Niner made sure I was set up and good to go. Niner had just refined the RIP-9 for this next year and the hydroformed tube set and beefy links looked very stout. Good looking bike, really.

I ran Propedal off and with the Fox 120mm fork set to 50% rebound damping, off I went down the road. It pedals well and my 6’2” bod fit pretty nicely on the 24.5” TT of the size Large. The first rise in the road found me in the middle ring and standing. Looking down at the rear CVA linkage, I could see no pedal induced nonsense and the bike felt very stiff to my 185 or so pounds. I could feel no deflection in the rear triangle. Now with 2.3 Rampage tires and Stan’s Flows, it was not a flyweight wheel build, but it was not at all sluggish feeling. The older RIP had been called out as being flexy in the rear, especially for bigger riders. I think all the time spent re-working the RIP has paid off, as I sure did not see anything going on back there.

The turn onto the fireroad retained that good feeling and the bike motored through sand and loose rock with ease. This is a comfy ride. Seated pedaling was very cush, but not at the expense of feel at the pedals. I did find I was happier in the small chainring in places I might normally be pushing the top cog in the middle ring and I would expect that with a bike like this, but if I chose to get out of the saddle and stay in a bigger gear, it was happy to play along. It was a bit slower than I was used to, but it is heavier and burlier than my Lev 3.0. A climb up to a ridgeline called for the lowest gear and the RIP just cruised along, no fuss, no wandering of the front wheel. Once at the top, I had a feeling that the next section would be the RIP’s time to shine. Loose, rutted, rocky and steep, the RIP just flowed down it like it was barely a concern. I was very impressed with how the rear tire tracked under all conditions, climbing, braking, etc. Man, this is a fun bike for this kind of trail.

I turned off onto the singletrack and rode up it for a ways then turned around and busted back down. This is a good steering bike and there was nothing on this trail that pushed its limits. Did I mention it was fun? I would have loved to have had this bike for last month’s Moab trip. The front end was easy to loft and the bike seemed very agile and well balanced with the Fox 120mm fork.

On the pavement return, I noticed the rear links were just slightly cycling in the big ring, so I flipped the Propedal on, locked out the Fox fork, and rolled down the road. Nice bike, even if it is a bit burly for most of my rides.

JET-9

If there ever were a ton of expectations on a new product release, it was on this bike. The RIP had been a wild success, but many were clamoring for a lighter, racier version of the CVA rear linkage. The JET was that bike with 3.1” of travel, steeper angles, and a fast feel at the pedal. But is the JET-9 a race day only bike? Can it be a light weight trail bike? We shall see.

First of all, there is not a huge difference in weight between the two frames, although Brian was not certain, he expected a pound or so. The rest was in the build, but hefting the two, it was obvious that the JET was lighter, but not dramatically so. Lighter wheels with the Stan’s Arches and more of a 2.1 sized tire were the most significant weight advantages.

Off on the road out of the demo area, it was amazing how fast the JET felt. Very fast for an full suspension 29″er, it pedaled very well and on the same rise in the road that I stood up on the RIP, the same effort resulted in a much zippier feel. I bet I was 1-2 cogs higher. However; looking down at the rear wheel, I could plainly see there was some flex going on. I could not really feel it, but I could see the deflection in the rear end. Perhaps the JET could use some of the refining that the RIP went through. Continuing on the pavement to the fireroad, the JET was really easy to push a bigger gear. On the doubletrack seated climb, I was back to the middle ring rather than the granny and I was much more inclined to drop down a cog and stand over a rise than I was on the RIP. I also was noticing a lot of trail feel coming back up through the saddle. I dropped the PSI in the shock juuust a tad. I had told the tech I was 190lbs, but with the light pack I was carrying, I was likely lighter by 5 lbs or so. Anyway, I did not notice much change, so off I went. I would not have minded a bit cushier seated experience (my old back nods accordingly).

The grannyring climb was a piece of cake, and just like the RIP, the shock was happy and steady unless I hit a bump.

On to the downhill doubletrack, from the first 100 yds, I knew I was on a much different bike then the RIP. I really needed to pay attention to the front end, not that it was evil, it just liked a firm hand at the tiller. This is where all that climbing prowess built into the design worked against me. The last rutted and steep drop on the road was a cakewalk on the RIP and this section always has me a bit nervous on my Lev. On the JET I had to be more selective of the line I took. Not scary, just not as fun.

The singletrack section was great on the JET. It easily climbed all the rock steps, but did hunt in the sandy wash crossings compared to the RIP. Some of this could be the tire width difference. On the return trail, it took a more aggressive posture and would turn fast and hold the line. The 3.1” of travel and the 100mm Fox fork worked well together and felt balanced. The RIP was more fun here, but the JET was no slouch and just rocketed up the rises in the trail in the big ring. (Editors Note: After confiirmation from Niner Bikes, it turns out Grannygear was correct after all- it was a 100mm Fox fork. Sorry about any confusion this may have caused!)

On the pavement return, I was wondering “Just why is there a Propedal on this bike?” I can’t imagine ever using it.

Summing it up: Neither bike is a stinker. No surprise there. Niner knows their stuff. If I had to choose which bike to buy and could have only one bike, it could be the JET-9, but only because so much of my rides are long, relatively smooth fireroads and in that environment, 4.5” of travel is overkill.

A good climber is one thing and the RIP is all that, but the JET felt great when the world tilted upwards, and on the road sections it felt like a hardtail. I would not suggest this bike for Clydesdales. If I can get it to hula dance a bit when pressed hard, a 200+ pounder might be unhappy. I would totally suggest this bike for anyone that wants the next step up from a hardtail and you need to feel fast, but have a break from the bumps in the trail. It is a fine race bike for events like 24 hour races or rougher XC courses. Not having to worry about flipping the Propedal switch on a rear shock is a good thing when all you want to do is put your head down and pedal. Score one for CVA. But it is not a relaxing bike to ride fast. You need to pay attention and in this sense it reminded me of the Racer X 29er. I would not likely buy this bike just due to where I live and my desire for a less demanding handling experience. But…………

Could I have the RIP as my only bike? Sure. However, if I could have two bikes, (and I can), I would pick the RIP in a heartbeat and get something like a Dos Niner for the long, smoother rides. Why the RIP? Cause outside of the narrow window of sharp response and snappy pedaling that the JET lives in, the RIP was just so much more fun to pilot and it has a wider window of rides and conditions it would be good for. It climbs well, just more leisurely. It turns fabulously, but not on a dime. It takes a quarter.

It absolutely felt wonderful when it got loose, rutted and rocky. It really has me thinking about a longer travel bike. I could take this on a road trip and ride Moab, Fruita, Thunder Mountain, whatever. I would not worry about running into a trail ride that overwhelmed the bike and frankly, anything this bike would be overwhelmed by, I don’t want to ride, but that is me speaking. Your mileage may vary. I don’t ride big, chunky stuff just on purpose and I don’t huck, so the W.F.O. 9 that Niner is rolling out is not even on my radar.

It is an excellent So Cal conditions bike as long as you do not need to be first to the top of the hill among a bunch of guys on hardtails. But, if you are in the all mountain/trail bike, 5-6” travel 26”er crowd, you have no worries. They may, though, once you get those big wheels moving and the grinning begins!

Thanks Grannygear! And welcome to Twenty Nine Inches!