Put together mostly for show, this Niner RKT9 full suspension gravel bike mashup swaps the riser for drop bars and uses the left hand shifter in a rather ingenious way. It’s something they say is perfect for the front range and the type of off road gravel and dirt riding they do, but really this is just a conversation starter for a dedicated full suspension bike that “might” be in the works. If we happened to see a mockup, it “might” be rad looking, and we “might” be very excited to see where this leads.
In the meantime, if your idea of full suspension is long travel, finely tuned, enduro crushing, then the new Push Edition RIP9 RDO is for you…
The front shifter was rerouted to the rear shock’s lockout, and they 3D printed a reducer and stuffed it into the frame so that the lever throw matched the shock’s dial range.
The new RIP 9 RDO Push Edition comes with an all-new version of Push Industries’ ElevenSix coil rear shock. Normally, their shocks are tuned specifically for the bike and rider it’ll be going with, so for an OEM application, a few changes had to be made. In the video above, Niner’s Brad Cole explains the project, then Push founder Darren Murphy describes how they created the shock.
The bikes will come stock with a base rate coil spring, but they’re offering a free swap to get you on the right coil weight…as long as you don’t ride it first. The PUSH ElevenSix uses specific springs based on rider weight with all kit and equipment (shoes, hydration pack, helmet, gloves, etc.), which puts it at 80-85% ready to ride. From there, you’ll make minor tweaks to the compression and rebound settings to dial it in for your personal preferences. So, once you get the bike, let them know your ready-to-ride weight and they’ll swap out the stock spring for one custom to you. If you ride the bike before swapping the springs, they’ll have to charge you for the replacement coil.
You can get it as a 29er (above) or 27.5+ complete bike in four different builds, with the top model’s price proving this is meant as a top shelf offering.
All models will be available in May 2017.
