You've been taking hardtails onto downhill-only singletrack since you first started biking, and somehow, not having the funds for a 6-inch enduro monster right off the bat translated into a love affair with XC that you'd never walk away from now. Though your passion for XC hasn't faded, your relationship with it has grown with time, and rather than a hardtail with just a little squish up front, you expect a little more from your bike these days. Devour bumps, clean race courses, and dive into big lines with more plushness than your younger, hardtail-riding self could've dreamed of with Niner's RKT 9 RDO 5-Star Mountain Bike. Kitted out with the drivetrain of the self-sponsored cyclist's dreams and continuing to reap the rewards of a smart redesign in 2016, the RKT 9 RDO is ready to take your relationship with XC to towering heights. When redesigning the RKT for 2016, Niner started with the task of trying to bridge the gap between low-weight XC race machines and high-confidence, line-holding trail sleds. It hit its mark last year with such precision that for 2017, the brand's made no changes to the impressive frame. That means you'll still get to take advantage of the long-and-low swagger of the front end when heading into chunky spots, with over four-and-a-half inches of squish and the line-holding confidence that 29er tires are bred with backing you up. The use of Boost axle spacing in the front and rear also gave Niner the opportunity to slam the back wheel up and reduce the chainstays to a stubby 439mm. That, paired with the RKT 9 RDO's low standover height, translates to agile, aggressive cornering and acceleration from the race course to shuttle laps. Niner shapes this do-it-all carbon fiber frame carefully using its RDO Carbon Compaction System (CCS) for a precise, flawless result. Using CCS, Niner builds a frame with as little excess material as possible, hitting stiffness marks without compromise while eliminating structural imperfections and inconsiste...