“Don’t call it a comeback… I been here for years…” It’s only fitting that I’m getting ear-wormed with L.L. Cool J., circa 1990, as I’m carving berms and boosting doubles through Southern California chaparral. The third-generation Niner Rip 9 has got me feeling nostalgic for a few reasons. I’ve ridden these same trails many times on my previous-generation Rip 9—a bike that served me well for two seasons, a bike that I have forsaken for a newer, shinier all-mountain bike even though I couldn’t have been happier with it. I’m going to make some comparisons to that bike, because as much as the v3 is true to its roots… there is not much that hasn’t changed for the newest Rip 9. And I would say that this bike is somewhat of a metaphor for Niner as a company right now (hang in with me for a minute while I explain) …

It’s easy to forget that Niner has been rocking big wheels for 15 years! When pretty much every XC brand declared that 29” wheels were too heavy and too slow to accelerate for the weight-conscious race crowd, Niner doubled down and put it on the down tube. Once the industry recognized that this was not a fad–and once better rim, tire, and suspension product was available—it was inevitable that the lycra set would eventually embrace this faster rolling technology. Then along comes this 27.5”/650B/Tweener size to offer “the best of both worlds” to those of us not attaching a number plate every weekend. There were a whole lot of folks who predicted the demise of the 29” wheel; and nearly everyone said, “well 29ers for XC, but twenty-seven-point-five is going to rule for trail bikes”. “Nearly everyone”—not Chris Sugai. Niner’s Founder was right about 29” XC hardtails in 2004, and Niner was right about 6” travel 29ers when they launched the first Rip 9. It’s no secret that financial circumstances have dictated that they weren’t first to market with a new “modern-geometry” long-legged 29er, but I’ll argue that once again they helped pave the way—and the “shreddy twenty-niner” is nothing new for Niner Bikes.