Originally Posted by
athrowawaynic
Niner is a little like buying a BMW--it's a bit (and probably noticeably) better--but is it $$$ better? Maybe not--at least part of that is paying for the badge and some finishing details.
This isn't meant to discourage... I'm very happy with mine (alu + Ultegra + hydro). Then again, I bought mine close-out for under $2000.
I rode the Niner tonight. It certainly is a beautiful bike and a great ride. I rode the 56 but pretty sure I need to move up to the 59. I'm going to take it on a longer ride next week before I decide.
Another factor in this is the service and time the Niner shop put in answering my questions and starting to get the fit right. They have demos of both the 56 and the 59. The Raleigh shop didn't really know anything about the Tamland. The Raleigh shop isn't bad by any means, but they didn't know this product.