not defensive – just really enjoy poking the opinionated little people with a stick – especially if they spout off having never ridden one. 😀

" What – just because I haven't owned one or had a go on one yet means my thoughts are not relevant? "

It devalues your comments somewhat don't you think? Not actually knowing that much about them, I mean, other than other peoples' opinions and experiences?

Expressing an opinion when you have never even bothered to try one, but think you are actually "put off by the elitist, niche lover, cock image that seems to go with 29er ownership".
Hummmmm.

At least some of us have gone out and made an effort to satisfy our curiosity and some have found them to their liking. I spent 2 x 6hr days riding 29ers and 26ers back-to-back with each other, so that's how I came to 29ers, not because someone told me what I should think; God forbid I form my opinions about such things solely on web forums!

So to pontificate about 29ers when you know so very little, is, best backed up with at least some first hand experience of the bikes; besides which, for you " it all comes down to one thing for me; cost" but "then I'm just the type of rider who needs convincing;" – why? – when for you it's all about being cheap?

I'd advocate trying one on a Demo Day (now is the time of the year), yellow ones are the quickest, Ti ones the most comfortable (also read expensive), SS the most niche! So for you it'd need to be a yellow, SS 29er 😉

i used to own a bike shop in Wells and i seem to recal the diamond back rep coming in with the "New" axis 700c (you see 29" and 700c are the same) it was fuly rigid (as was everything in 1995) and had panracer smokes and XTII on it. i had one as a demo and couldnt shift it for love. never seen one since though.
Just goes to prove that what we think is new is just a failed maketing ploy being re jigged 😉

A

cookeaa. i'm ace you'd like me:-)

if ya 6ft 5 it is

Well, I've fitted cx tyres to a flat bar roadie, so technically I have a 29er 😉 I am keen to give a proper one a go. I am only 5'8" though, is it just a myth that they're better suited to larger riders? Not having had a rigid bike since 1990, I found the downhills on mine fun, but much physically tougher. An alu/carbon frame is not especially comfortable!

**** it, s'all just an excuse to get another bike in isn't it 🙂

Anyone care to analyse cookeaa's points, rather than just poking until he swears?

Bunch of weirdos

I had my fist 29er ride today, and my first SS ride.
I totally forgot for most of the ride that it was a 29er but I think it coped better with the frozen mud rivers better than my PA would have. Also I heard people say that they don't work as well in twisty trails and are harder up to get up to speed but I didn't really notice that depite the 2.4kg wheelset.
Perhaps on fast summer trails it will be different but for now it's looking good.

Well, to be fair he wrote something about them rolling better, and no one has disagreed. Then he wrote about them suiting certain types of riding, and no one has disagreed (apart from maybe Maverick Boy). If these opinions are wrong, perhaps it would be useful to say why? For example, I found the bit about getting air interesting. I would guess that in general they'd be harder to manual, but unless people detail their experiences I couldn't be corrected.

Then he wrote about them being a bit niche still, and thus expensive, and harder to get bits for. And how that wouldn't really suit him. I think only Ti29er's had a decent go at looking at that point. And it's a valid point, no?

One thing that is a seachange type sign of err-change 🙄 is when you start to see cheap catalogue style bikes being offered in 29er sizes,
and thats what I seem to notice more and more kids on these days.

Yeah. 29ers will be getting bigger. I have been selling 29ers for about three years now and we sell more 29er parts each month.
If you are tall they are logical and work.
The majority of my riding buddies are on 29ers. They are generally the older and/or taller guys. I guess the age thing is about enjoying the flow rather than wanting to huck.

We have two demo 29ers in our shop. A niner SIR9 ss rigid. And a salsa dos 1×9 soft tail. You gotta try these bikes before you can believe in their magic flow powers.

Out of interest, why should they work better for tall people? The only obvious benefit is that if you're tall then there's fewer problems trying to shoehorn the larger wheels into a frame with the same contact points while avoiding toe-overlap and very bendy seat tubes and so on.

The fit (contact points) should be the same relative position-wise and I'm being told that wheelbase is barely any longer (though I'd actually like it if they had longer chainstays).

Or do you mean that they just look more in proportion on large frames which clearly they do?

Or is it that your centre of mass is nearer the axle line (which is higher off the ground than on a 26" bike). Not really sure what effect that would actually have since your 'pivot' point when leaning the bike is the ground, not the axles.

clubber – stop feigning interest! If you want to try them, come on over and try my bikes.

The bigger wheels mean that there is more of a drop from the wheel axle line to the BB than on a 26" bike, which keeps the BB and therefore the pedals the same height as a 26" bike. It makes me, as a tall bloke, feel more like I'm sitting in the bike than perched on top of it – so more my size.

Think of it as your little one getting a first bike – wee wheels to start, up to 16" wheels, perhaps 20", then possibly the big jump up to 26". These increase with size – so doing the same for taller people is the next logical step. You're easily taller than 95% of the people on the planet, so a bigger (IMHO) makes sense.

I've got a 29er and I love it. I'm tall and as Charlie the Bikemonger said

They are generally the older and/or taller guys. I guess the age thing is about enjoying the flow rather than wanting to huck.

Also I find that I can run lower pressures in the tyres and this seems to improve the grip, but I am in no way an expert. And I think my bike looks beautiful, Gary Fisher X-Cal (Red, very red)

Oh no, not another 29er thread…

For the record I love my 29er, and yes it is a rigid single speed but mainly because it suits me and the sort of riding I do (and no I don't have a beard or feel that gears are pointless). I wouldn't want to go back to riding a 26 incher as I never felt comfortable on my last one (I always felt perched on top of it even though I'm only 6'1"). 29ers aren't for everybody, just as full sussers with 6 inches of travel at each end aren't to everyones taste.

Can't we all just accept that different people like different bikes? The main thing is we're all out there riding. I don't actually think 29ers will be the next best thing as the 26inch wheel format is the most popular wheel format on the planet. Its gonna take quite a marketing push for 29ers to take over the number one spot…

29ers are sh1te end of !Anyone with half an ounce of sense can tell that just by looking a them……

& I should know because I've got one that I ride most of the time….

Then he wrote about them being a bit niche still, and thus expensive, and harder to get bits for. And how that wouldn't really suit him. I think only Ti29er's had a decent go at looking at that point. And it's a valid point, no?

Rich, I just stated (and I'm sticking with it) that it's more about the rider than the bike. 29ers are inherently going to be a bit longer (like for like) and the wheels will have slightly more gyroscopic effect (like for like) than a 26" wheeled Mountain Bike. They will also have (like for like) slightly longer chainstays which will make them a bit harder to manual and wheelie than a 26" wheeled MTB. But people need to witness what a bike is capable of under a rider with enough skill to do it justice (not me I hasten to add) before commenting on whether or not it's any good or not for a certain purpose. Steve Peat on a rigid 29er would still beat me down a DH run even if he lent me his Worlds Winning V10!

cookeeaa makes a valid point about the cost being a prohibitor to the masses trying out 29er wheeled bikes. You can't get away from that sadly though at the moment because of course it is still a relatively small market. I was lucky enough to buy a very cheap 2nd hand GF Rig to give big wheels a go, but not everybody is so lucky obviously. To dismiss his comments as foolhardy just because he doesn't have any experience of riding a 29er is somewhat silly, after all not long ago there were no 29ers on the market, so everyone was a 26" wheeled stalwart and needed convincing to try this new fad!

Going back though, I think the point of 29ers from a marketing point of view is that the wheels roll better once up to speed, certainly over bumpier terrain, and whilst the handling is probably slightly slower than an equivalent 26" wheeled MTB the benefits will appeal to a certain type of person more so than another. HOWEVER… The differences are small… It is probably akin to comparing a full suspension bike with 100mm of travel both ends (lets call this the 26" wheeled bike) with a bike with 130mm of travel both ends (lets call this the 29er). They're both capable of riding the same terrain, it's just that one is probably going to be a bit heavier but also a bit more comfortable (the 29er) whilst the other is going to be a little lighter and faster handling (the 26" wheeled bike)… The differences are small though!

I'm tall and young. See, it's not just tall old people that buy them.

GB

Keavo – http://www.chevincycles.com/

Yes, I'm Chevin Cycles

Matthew