DH Rotec RL9

Nick53

Nick53

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Had this bike since May last year and have been loving it. I may be biased but it really is the best bike I have ever had the chance to ride. Couldn't really ask for anything more excluding a swift rider.

Pretty much revamped the entire bike with new parts a few weeks ago and I couldn't be more stoked to get back into it all again, just in time for the race season.

A big thanks to Kegs at AvantiPlus in Wollongong for helping me out heaps over the last few years and in particular with this bike. Couldn't have asked for a better or more helpful mechanic.

Frame - Rotec RL9 (only anodized one in Aus)
Rear shock - Rock Shox Vivid 5.1 with Obtainium 375lbs spring and running it with Obtainium thrust bearings.
Front shock/fork - 2010 Boxxer Teams (however pictured with 2009 World Cups)
Handlebars - Deity Blacklabel
Stem - Point One Racing Split Second {DM} Ltd edition stem.
Headset - FSA
Grips - ODI Ruffian
Saddle - SDG I-Fly
Seatpost - Thomson Elite
Front brake - Hope Tech V2 (Goodridge braided lines, Brake Authority ceramic pads)
Rear brake - Hope Tech V2 (Goodridge braided lines, Brake Authority ceramic pads)
Rotors: Hope Floating 203mm
Cranks - Shamano Saint
Chainguide - MRP G2
Chain - Shimano Yumeya
Pedals - Deity Decoy LT 2.0
Rear derailleur - Sram X0 super short cage (no longer has ghetto cable crimp ha)
Rear shifter - Sram X0
Cassette - Shimano Dura-Ace 11-21
Front hub - Hadley
Rear hub - Hadley
Front rim - Mavic 823
Rear rim - Mavic 823
Spokes - DT Swiss Revolution 2.0-1.5
Nipples - Big and red
Tyres - Front: Maxxis Minion DHF Super Tacky 2.5 (tubeless)
...........Rear: Maxxis High Roller Super Tacky 2.5 (tubeless)
Tubes - Nein
Total weight - <18kg
















Photo's are a bit sketchy as I literally took all of them in just over 3 minutes (says the camera) because I was in a rush heading off to Thredbo.

Just about happy with everything on the bike. The forks pictured are just a temporary replacement while I was waiting on a replacement part for my 2010 Teams. Have a few Twenty6 goodies in the post while to be honest won't make much difference. Tyres are also temporary and will be getting the new Schwalbe Evo tyres when they come out but if they don't pick it up I'll go back to the Continental Kaisers.

Culata
 
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yakuza857

yakuza857

Likes Bikes and Dirt
man that looks sick, im a sucka for red n black bikes:eek:
i have those pedals and must warn you the red on the pins does rub off:(
 
R

red

Likes Dirt
WTF!!! 17.59!!! What the hell. what was it with the teams? Are the brakes lighter then CRs? I think i might lighten mine up a little bit
 
sockman

sockman

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Were you in a shell petty station on pennant hills rd at about 7am on sunday? If so i cruized past on my moto and died a little inside.
 
cluster

cluster

Likes Dirt
that looks sick!!! if it rides half as good as it looks then i wont be surprised if all the pros are on Rotecs next season :cool:
 
peachy

peachy

Ripe 'n ready!
Nick53 said:
Front brake - Hope Tech V2 (Goodridge braided lines, Brake Authority ceramic pads)
Rear brake - Hope Tech V2 (Goodridge braided lines, Brake Authority ceramic pads)
Culata
Click to expand...
Gorgeous bike mate! I love your attention to detail with all the red anodizing. It's perfect, any more red and it would be over the top.
Wondering whether you had a chance to ride the V2's with the stock brake pads? If so, how do they compare to the Brake Authority Ceramic pads?
 
J@se

J@se

Breezeway Bandit
Got a scale shot? :p

Hahaha, jokes. Looks great Nick. How are the brakes compared to the Saints?
 
Nick53

Nick53

Likes Bikes and Dirt
yakuza857 said:
man that looks sick, im a sucka for red n black bikes:eek:
i have those pedals and must warn you the red on the pins does rub off:(
Click to expand...
Yeah noticed that and I've only riden maybe 40 runs on them. On mine it's pretty much just the outside back ones at the moment but I'm not too fussed about it.

dodgerider said:
WTF!!! 17.59!!! What the hell. what was it with the teams? Are the brakes lighter then CRs? I think i might lighten mine up a little bit
Click to expand...
That weight is exactly how it is the in photo's. So you can add a bit of weight for when I put the 2010 Teams back on. Brakes aren't that light at all, a lot of that has to do with the braided lines, one part I didn't really consider the weight on. Not one area in particular where the weight gets lost but all little things. Like the stem weighs under 100g and even the spokes which change in diameter from 2.0mm to 1.5mm would save a bit. Ti spring, tubeless etc. I guess it all adds up.

sockman said:
Were you in a shell petty station on pennant hills rd at about 7am on sunday? If so i cruized past on my moto and died a little inside.
Click to expand...
Not that I know of haha. The 2010 Boxxers I have are black so I'm assuming it was the other guy.

peachy said:
Gorgeous bike mate! I love your attention to detail with all the red anodizing. It's perfect, any more red and it would be over the top.
Wondering whether you had a chance to ride the V2's with the stock brake pads? If so, how do they compare to the Brake Authority Ceramic pads?
Click to expand...
Definitely prefer the BA ones. Bit of an error in my spec list as well. Only ordered one pair of BA pads as I read 'pair' in the description as two, as in front and rear. Derp.

But I have them in the front while I order a matching set for the back. I have switched the BA and stock pads around from the front and back and the BA ones seem to not fade at all in comparison. At the same time having they have that 'instant' feel when you want it. Makes the other ones feel a bit spongy. Whether it is worth $60 to switch over to BA is up to you but seeing as no-one carries spare parts for Hope in Australia I just about had to stock up on spares so for an extra $10 over the standard ones I thought it was worth a try. That's the same reason why I have red levers. It came stock with black but if I snap one of them at a race or something I'd pretty much be screwed so the black are the back up now.

J@se said:
Got a scale shot? :p

Hahaha, jokes. Looks great Nick. How are the brakes compared to the Saints?
Click to expand...
Haha I was heaps surprised as well. it could be the method in which I weigh my bikes but on previous occasions it has been spot on. Weight will be going back on when I switch back to the 2010 Teams as well as when I put Continentals/Schwalbe tyres on.

Yeah brakes are going fairly well. I think I probably overestimated how good a brake could be and was expecting them to just be unbelievably and significantly better in all aspects than the previous brakes. That being said I am very happy with them. I'll compare them to when the Saints were at their prime. Saints do definitely have a bit more bite and power when you are really going at it but for a person of my weight (approx 70kg with riding gear) I never find myself needing these brakes to have more power. Lever feel is so, so much better than the Saints and they have a lot more consistent feel to them whereas the Saints were very on and off. The lever itself just feels more comfortable even without pulling the brakes. The holes they have drilled in the lever would be a bit of a pain if you were planning to ride without gloves but seeing as I don't it's not a problem. The adjustments on the Hopes are a huge advantage mainly because I never really liked how far the lever on the Saints was away from the bar. So basically the areas where Shimano would win would be in the outright power, looks and availability for parts but in every other aspect I'd have the Hopes. If I needed to buy new brakes tomorrow I'd be getting the Hopes over the Saints no questions asked. If the Saints had an option of a Saint caliper on an XTR lever then that might change things around quite substantially.

Edit: By the way did you still want the firm Boxxer spring? Never got a response back but if you were still after one then let me know.

Edit x2: Out of interest do you remember the weight of the bike when you sold it? I would be interested to see if I could account for the weight lost.
 
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peachy

peachy

Ripe 'n ready!
Nick53 said:
Definitely prefer the BA ones. Bit of an error in my spec list as well. Only ordered one pair of BA pads as I read 'pair' in the description as two, as in front and rear. Derp.

But I have them in the front while I order a matching set for the back. I have switched the BA and stock pads around from the front and back and the BA ones seem to not fade at all in comparison. At the same time having they have that 'instant' feel when you want it. Makes the other ones feel a bit spongy. Whether it is worth $60 to switch over to BA is up to you but seeing as no-one carries spare parts for Hope in Australia I just about had to stock up on spares so for an extra $10 over the standard ones I thought it was worth a try. That's the same reason why I have red levers. It came stock with black but if I snap one of them at a race or something I'd pretty much be screwed so the black are the back up now.
Click to expand...
I like you're thinking. I now have an excuse to upgrade to gold levers, gold bore caps and gold master cylinder lid hahaha.
I think I'll try a pair of BA's once the stock ones start to die. Thanks for your input mate
 
J@se

J@se

Breezeway Bandit
Nick53 said:
Haha I was heaps surprised as well. it could be the method in which I weigh my bikes but on previous occasions it has been spot on. Weight will be going back on when I switch back to the 2010 Teams as well as when I put Continentals/Schwalbe tyres on.

Yeah brakes are going fairly well. I think I probably overestimated how good a brake could be and was expecting them to just be unbelievably and significantly better in all aspects than the previous brakes. That being said I am very happy with them. I'll compare them to when the Saints were at their prime. Saints do definitely have a bit more bite and power when you are really going at it but for a person of my weight (approx 70kg with riding gear) I never find myself needing these brakes to have more power. Lever feel is so, so much better than the Saints and they have a lot more consistent feel to them whereas the Saints were very on and off. The lever itself just feels more comfortable even without pulling the brakes. The holes they have drilled in the lever would be a bit of a pain if you were planning to ride without gloves but seeing as I don't it's not a problem. The adjustments on the Hopes are a huge advantage mainly because I never really liked how far the lever on the Saints was away from the bar. So basically the areas where Shimano would win would be in the outright power, looks and availability for parts but in every other aspect I'd have the Hopes. If I needed to buy new brakes tomorrow I'd be getting the Hopes over the Saints no questions asked. If the Saints had an option of a Saint caliper on an XTR lever then that might change things around quite substantially.

Edit: By the way did you still want the firm Boxxer spring? Never got a response back but if you were still after one then let me know.

Edit x2: Out of interest do you remember the weight of the bike when you sold it? I would be interested to see if I could account for the weight lost.
Click to expand...
It was in the vicinity of 18.5 with the point 1 pedals etc. Have you put any Ti bolts on or anything?

Argh, I completely forgot about that. For sure I'll grab that spring off you, I can get down your way tomorrow arvo as I'm dropping by to pick up my bike off Kegs. I'll chuck you a PM. :)
 
MB

MB

Intense Australia
That's beautiful, great colours...

If that rides anything like the old Yeti DH9 then I'm sure it would be amazing... Enjoy your ride bro!
 
Roly

Roly

Likes Bikes and Dirt
that is such an excellent looking bike, well done.
lets see some riding shots!!
 
D

driftking

Wheel size expert
Thats so nice, I have two mates on these, they are such a nice bike, that build looks amazing, the ano black brightens up the red and white on the frame, looks great.

DH - racer said:
im not a fan of the back of the bike, but apart from that it does look awesome
Click to expand...
until you ride one then you will love the back of the bike. They feel amazing to ride and the lawwill design is very plush.
 
K

Kokentoe

Squid
Forgot to ask... does anyone know where to get derailleur hangers for the RL9? I checked the Rotec website but they don't have them listed.
 
Nick53

Nick53

Likes Bikes and Dirt
J@se said:
It was in the vicinity of 18.5 with the point 1 pedals etc. Have you put any Ti bolts on or anything?
Click to expand...
Main changes I can think of that would save weight are the 2009 World Cups and the Maxxis tyres over the Conti's. From there other smaller weight savings would be in the bars, shifter, derailleur, seat, cutting the post/excess cable housing and even the chain. After weighing all of this up I can still only see a weight loss of between 670-690g which would give the bike a weight of 17.81-17.83 which is still ~200g difference from what I stated. From there it depends on a few factors if the weight I stated is correct or not. Things like how accurate the 18.5 was when you had it and there's every chance I might be out as well.

I can safely say it is <18kg anyway so we'll run with that for now. I'm happy with the bike regardless of the weight :)
 
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