You nailed the riding characteristics of the Niner. I owned a 2022 Rip 9 and sold it over my Evil Offering. Love it when reviewers get the riding aspects of a bike correct. Get job.

Shouldn’t matter but, when spending that kinda $ better love the way it looks also. I personally think Transition has some of, if not the best looking bikes on the market right now… coming from a non transition owner.

Spot on review. Funny, as a prior owner of the rip, I did get pedal strokes galore in the low position. But the rip seems like a great all rounder. Transitions definitely lean towards stability at speed/rough trails. Niner= all round FL bike. Transition= Pisgah bike :)

That tight left turn on Middle Black is tricky. haha

I chose the Norco Optic C1 for my trail bike but there isn't really a bad bike right now, both of these are sweet (I'd pick the Niner out of the 2)

I prefer shorter wheelbase as they are getting too long these days. My last bike was a 2019 Stumpjumper and only had 1171 mm wheelbase! It never felt like I was under gunned.

I have a Niner Rip E9 love it super capable

I went through a re-org of my bike stable recently trying to get the "right" quiver for my uses. I've been dabbling in XC olympic/marathon racing so I went with a 120/115 Blur TR, I needed a fun trail bike so I got a mixed wheel 140/130 5010 and I have an enduro/park bike that I can still pedal no problem in the 180/165 HD6. This covers all my riding in 3 easy to pick bikes. If I need to move fast, Blur. Regular trail bike ride with a variety, 5010. Park or enduro style trails, HD6. No waffling From this review, I really don't see a big enough gap between these bikes and the Spur. I've spent significant time on my buddy's Spur so I know keeping that bike seems like the right move...it's so fun. But will you really ride it over your XC bike or the Smuggler/RIP9? Pedaling those bikes isn't that much worse and you get more fun on the descents. You won't be racing the Spur anyway, I feel like it'll be the bike collecting the most dust. My buddy has a Spur and an enduro bike. It makes his choice pretty easy too.

Having recently ridden the 2020 Yeti SB 130, it's hard to believe how it rides like it less travel than the 2022 Specialized Stumpjumper carbon expert. The Switch Infinity Link keeps the rear-center in check without the " just pedal damn it" mentality to firm it into place. At the same time, it's surprising how well the BB height is maintained on the Yeti, being a longer front center style of bike without a flip chip. That said, the Stumpjumper carries far more speed up the root ledges and seems to be about 1 or even 2 gears quicker on average as a result. Then again, on non-stop technical rocky trails, the Yeti just sorts it out with very little bob of any sort. Essentially, that's the only time the Stumpjumper has to be "firmed up significantly." On the Trance X Advanced it seems to climb similar to the Yeti, but it's got more bob built in to where if you don't keep the chain tensioned over the root ledges, you'll sag deep into the mid stroke and have to power out of that to get the bike back up to speed. I'd say it's a touch slower with the root ledges as a result. But, the Trance X Advanced is about the same weight as the Stumpjumper Carbon. Like you said, the weight kind of isn't the issue, per say. Conceptually, I suppose its kind of how free we are to let things go and/or how strong we are to make things go. Thanks for the great video. I'd say it sounds like the Smuggler is leaning towards the Jack of all trades and master of none. But, I do think the 435mm chainstay will make for a relatively quick ride pace with light duty fast tires. If you had the Fox 36 on the Smuggler, that would probably be overkill. Looking forward to the next video comparison. And cool shot of the two bikes in the BG on this head to head. Way to use your camera's depth of field. Looks great.

2023 Smuggler GX AXS (L) owner here…. Completely satisfied with my purchase, with 400 plus miles on it. Noble TR 37 wheels with Onyx hubs, Wolftooth 210mm dropper… purchased late for my northern Mn. area.. so looking forward to really putting it through its paces come spring of 2024.

Looking for a bike similar to these two bikes and am curious how they compare to stumpy which you recently demoed. I spend a lot of time riding trails like Bear Creek, Pinhoti 1-3 and Stanley Gap.

@ClintGibbs

7 ай бұрын

My stumpy versus smuggler video comes out next week.

Hi Clint, is The Niner still available.?

Niner I Love Shimano ❤️❤️❤️

9:56, That's my biggest dislike of these Transitions (Spur & probably this Smuggler from what you are saying) is that they get their capability from the frame geometry by making it slacker & longer instead of the sophistication of their suspension. They are GREAT going up & down & very capable for their class, but not as agile as some of the other great bikes in their category like the Pivot Trail 429 that can climb just as well, go downhill just as well AND is still agile. When I tried the Spur on tighter switchbacks, you can feel the length, and I can imagine the same would be for the Smuggler from your description.

The longer wheelbase of the Smuggler may be a factor in the pedal strikes.

@ClintGibbs

7 ай бұрын

True

Very informative. How tall are you .?

@ClintGibbs

5 ай бұрын

173cm

Niner RIP9 Large = Smuggler Medium

If they both would record jump statistics I think the smuggler would win in air time and distance😊

Longer bike for sure imo. You could run 165 cranks.

Too bad you don’t have the Specialized Stumpjumper to test against theses two, also.

@ClintGibbs

7 ай бұрын

I’m still doing a smuggler versus stumpy review review that will post next week.

@ChadCoulter

7 ай бұрын

I was going to ask how these compare to the stumpy.

Put a bigger stem on the Niner

@ClintGibbs

7 ай бұрын

I highly prefer shorter stems. The handling is much better.

@jayswavely6371

7 ай бұрын

@ClintGibbs I went from a 40 to 45 mm on my Rascal. It made all the difference.

That's one ugly mf'ing toptube on a Niner. While Smuggler's lines are gorgeous.