Originally Posted by dwmckee

You will get a variety of opinions on here of course. For me, I own a Steel Renegade and have ridden the 9er as well. The 9er has a nice paint job and is somewhat ligter, but I do not feel it is worth the extra cash unless you have a lot of it to spare.. The Reengade is an extremely popular bike and in certain years you can get a carbon frameset, nit sure about this year. A dealer still may be able to order ome for you even if it is not listed. The 9er is made in smaller batches which can drive up the cost and Jamis does almost no advertising to keep teh cost down. There is no proprietary magic in making a steel frame as they have been making them the same way with the same materials for decades. The Jamis is probably the best value for a steel frame you can get anywere and it is quite well made, just not a boutique brand. If you have cash and care about cachet get the 9er. Jamis for a gerat bike and a great deal. This bears out in the bikes sold numbers if you look around. Jamis has also been around sicce the 1920s too and is a very trusted company with great warranty service if you ever find you are in a situation where that matters.