Dubbed “the mountain biker’s gravel bike”, the new Niner ORE isn’t a replacement for the RLT. Rather, it’s an all-new take on gravel bikes that lets you get out there and adventure, with a fit and ride that’ll make mountain bikers feel right at home.
ORE (Off Road Explorer) is a slacker, rowdier option than the racier RLT (Road Less Traveled). It still has a ton of mounts for bottles, bags, and other accessories, just with geometry that’s more fit for getting deeper into the woods and more at home on singletrack.
Front center is longer thanks to a 1.5º slacker head angle. Reach is about 30mm longer, but with a shorter stem and wider handlebars.
Chainstay length is the same as RLT. So, snappy acceleration, but with increases trail for a more stable ride and a cockpit that’s easier to manage on techy terrain.
The frame is full carbon, using their RDO (Race Day Optimized) layup and construction. The frame is 5.5% lighter than the RLT, and it looks it (very lithe!), yet it’s 28% stiffer both at the BB and rear axle. Headtube is 11% stiffer torsionally.
As you may expect, the fork is also new and suspension corrected for up to 40mm travel gravel forks. Stick with the stock carbon fork and you’ll get improved compliance than the RLT’s fork, and this one is 7% lighter, too. You’ll also get thru-bolt brake mounts, which are a little easier to install and adjust.
Speaking of easy adjustments, it sticks with fully-guided internal routing, using standard ports rather than integrated stealth anything through the headset. It’s compatible with 1x and 2x drivetrains, mechanical or electronic.
It gets 160mm rotors front and rear, a UDH mount, and comes in two colors. Two complete bikes from $4,299 to $5,299, frameset is $2,999.
