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Rotec RL9 inquiry: your height, your framesize, your experience

mortulu

Chimp
Oct 12, 2009
3
0
Hi there!

Before spamming you with stupid questions and weird ideas I wanted to introduce myself properly.

My name ist Joerg, I´m from Germany and got into FR two years ago thanks to a coworker. (Thanks Ralf, for having to spend lots of money on the bike not only once but constantly.. just kidding).
So, honestly, since I first saw a Demo9 back in the days, I always wanted to have real DH rig. Of course I was after the Demo since then, but the 2010 model has a ridiculous pricing here in Germany, and when I stumbled upon the Rotec a few weeks ago, my engineer´s heart totally got me hooked on the four-bar design.. plus the company seems very genuine and sympathetic, and getting in touch with the company owner is not a thing you can do everywhere else... I already contacted John and Matt about this but I also wanted to hear about your experience and not overly waste their time..

so here´s the deal:

I´m a 5´10" (179cm?) and am really unsure whether to get the S or M model.
Taking into account other DH rigs´ geometry, I should get the S, but the wheelbase seems very short on this one.
I learned from a handful of people that the frame has a very long TT, but I´m just not sure what to make of all this.
Just for information, my FR bike has a TT of 23,2", but of course the stem is a little longer than on a normal DH bike...
I think I tend to have the frame more compact, at least that´s what I did on my Spesh SJ FSR and my freerider.

So, it would be great if you could just leave a comment about your body height / frame size, or if you want I´d appreciate any experiences with the RL9 as well.

Thanks a lot and greetings from Japan!
 

smoke brakes

Monkey
May 18, 2007
192
0
one step closer to the lord
im 6,3 went large - med will probably suite ya well
it is a very dif feel from a freeride bike imo - it is a dh rig
the tt has plenty of clearance to throw er around , the stand over is low
the center of gravity is low and fast
when you drop the hammer , the bike moves forward like a hard tail , very little bob at all ,
the sus is amazing , snacks on baby heads , plush plush plush
the bike loves to just get up on plane and haul arse , and once its their just pushes you to go faster
 
Hey Man,
I rode Rotecs for 4 years, Awesome Bikes!

I'm 6'1". In those 4 Years I've had both Medium and Large Frames as I'm right in between those two sizes. My preference was for the smaller of the two, the Medium with a 60mm stem as apposed to the Large with 40mm or 50mm stem.
I think you could go with either size and be happy, depending on how you like to set up your bike.
Small will be slightly more agile where the Medium will be slightly more stable.
 

freeridefool

Monkey
Jun 17, 2006
647
0
medford, or
I dont know much about the bikes. But I spoke with the owner at interbike last year and he was awesome. I pedaled one around a bit on the show floor. I was about as impressed as could be concidering it was a parking lot test.
 

Jase76

Monkey
Aug 10, 2007
176
0
Australia
I'm 176cm and ride a Medium.

Fits me fine, the mediums are pretty roomy, I rode a small to try it out prior to purchase but it was a little cramped.

The RL9 is an awesome bike, you'll love it.:thumb:
 

stinky6

Monkey
Dec 24, 2004
517
0
Monroe
i'm 5' 10" and ride a medium, fits perfect. I was worried about the bike feeling too big when I got mine but Sully told me to go with the medium, I have no regrets. Now I perfer a bike with a roomy cockpit over smaller bikes.
 

goodgrief

Monkey
Aug 13, 2008
104
1
Innerleithen, Scotland
I'm 5' 9" and ride a medium with a 45mm stem. it feels roomy but never too long. it's a rock solid bike, i could never imagine causing damage to the frame. i've had nothing but good experiences with this bike. i ordered some shock bushes and an axle direct from Sully and he sent them out to the chalet i was staying in morzine!
 

mortulu

Chimp
Oct 12, 2009
3
0
Hey guys,

Thank you for the various shared experience about the RL9. I had the ideal to summarize all comments about framesize and height in an excel sheet and see "who wins"... but in the end that seemed ridiculously sad to me.
Because now that Stinky6 voted for the M I think it`s leveled out, anyway.. combined with advice from other boards.

Well, I can`t tell you how glad I am to see people share their ideas with the DH noob.

So I came to the conclusion to go for the bigger size considering I wanted a bike that feels very stable and goes fast, even if I have to deal with disadvantages in cornering or air manoeuvrability. I still have some doubts, I`m not gonna lie about it, but I wouldn`t be the first one to buy the same rig in a different size again, right? Nah, just kidding...

I hope I`ll get all the parts and designs right, my ultimate dream is a black beauty like the "Stealth Rotec" that is on boutiquecycles.com... muahaha!

Right, I hope you guys don`t mind if I got some things on my mind considering parts, setup, or buying the small frame... lol.

Cheers, Joerg
 

mortulu

Chimp
Oct 12, 2009
3
0
lol, thats awesome!

Unfortunately I couldn`t get through to Sully yet, but maybe my email adress was blocked or something (does that even happen?)

I also wanted to order several things directly from the U.S., our European supplier (CRC) doesn`t have the bearings, for example, only the derailleur hanger and the frame.

Cya, Joerg