My latest and possibly last non E build took 4 months.
Last summer I decided I wanted a long travel, Enduro type Non-E bike. I've been runing a beloved 2017 Devinci Troy Custom Mullet w/140mm/160mm travel since 2018 at the bike parks & want something more jump friendly and capable. 3 mo. later I find this Niner WFO 9 RDO frame for a crazy low closeout price. A cpl. years old ('22/'23 design?) Br. N.O.S. unbuilt all carbon frame w/ Cane Creek Headset, rr axle, Fox factory X2 shock. For under $1200.
I tend to keep my bikes a long time. So fk the budget, sorta, i wasnt in a hurry so i could still dig for deals on the the best parts available, no E-shift/dropper BS, $2k Podiums, $1k crank silliness. I just dropped way too much on an Orbea Wild Build, & I got almost everything on sale or for a deep discount as everything while "top" spec is several years old design wise X01 is upper etchelon SRAM but its not XX1 or AXS. I took advantage of the best deals and discounts on the highest quailty new parts we'll see in a while im sure lots of NOS stuff and 2 year old OE spec close out parts. I havent built a new bike in 4y now, so 2 in 4 mo. is too many bikes this year, but the deals were insane, and I wont be looking at a new bike seriously for another 3-4y or so.
I went w/XO1 Drive train, ONEup Clipless pedals & Carbon 40mm riser, Lewis Ti stem, Fox fact. 38 & Transfer dropper, RF NEXT CF cranks, CF ERA chainring+ ARC 30 wheels. I replaced all the steel hardware w/ Titanium. The bike is running 29" 2.6 tires & wheels & the thing is ridiculously light! I bought the Madrone Cage and pulleys to fix up a spare X01 der i tweaked but the damage was more than the cage or links so i ended up installing it on another NOS der.
The paint on this frame is fantastic. looks wet all the time I went with a gold and red theme (not "COLORWAY" ffs..) & as obvious as it is now,…my nephew saw it and immediately said "Ironman" so there it is.
Super happy with how it all came together. I took a lot of time to find the best deals on the parts Br. new Fox Factory 38-170mm w/180mm air spring to upgrade it for less than half the retail price of the 38 alone..average 40+ % off….Crazy deals.
I ended up investing about $6500 total in this build. Full retail value would have run up to more like $9k+-
Let me know & if any of you have one of these Niner frames and how you like it..? I wont really get to hammer it for a while, at 180mm/170mm travel, it won't get ridden hard 'til summer time and Big bear opens, ( it just hit 90 deg here just north of LA today (!) all my local trails are pretty much buffed or rough techy single track so it's a bit over kill..
But HOTDAMN does it look pretty freekin' awesome 😉
( let all the WFO 9 RDO horror stories I missed before buying one of these begin….. 😉
by EdTheWrench