Can you lock the FS out when pedaling?

If no then there will be an efficiency increase going hard tail I would imagine. I would also say the bigger 29 wheel would hold its momentum better making it easier for you to maintain a speed on the flat black stuff.

From 26—>29 on road, like for like there will be a small advantage in rolling resistance. But it will be small.

Biggest advantage will come from the tyre tread patterns, or lack thereof. You’d be better off spending £50 on a decent set of the baldest tyres you can get away with still being able to ride offroad too, for your current MTB, than you would chopping it in and buying a 29er and losing a load of money in the deal.

That said, if you want a 29er anyway, don’t let anyone stop you!

Ok then, well seeing as I work in a bike shop…

“You obviously need a new bike sir, and it sounds like you need a 29er. And you don’t want that cheap tat over there, look over here at the Carbon Fibre XTR loveliness of this one, a mere snip at £4k!”

Or words to that effect… 😉

http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_info/rolling_resistance

http://www.mtbonline.co.za/info/mtb-tyre-rolling-resistance.htm

yup everything else being equal bar wheel size

speed would be a function of input effort not wheel size.

you may accelerate a bit slower though

are you spinning out 44:11 on the flats – if you are it will make your gearing a little taller and your spin out will be faster.

Same input effort applied to a larger wheel will result in a higher speed assuming gearing is the same. But importantly they roll over things better which is more likely the reason for the increase in speed that I’ve noticed. Lower rolling resistance.

My local riding is 50/50 on and off road and the biggest difference I’ve noticed since getting a 29er ht is there’s less compromise between the Tyres, they roll well on road like semi nobbly 26 Tyres but still work well in the slop off road..
On my 26er I always wanted either better mud Tyres off road or slicker Tyres on road.
I’m not finding this on the 29er which seems happy to do either..

Interesting – for me it was the opposite! I swapped from a lightweight carbon FS 26 to HT 29 earlier this year for MTBO + trailquest competitions – ie I was considering the same things – on/off road speed etc. 29 HT has been everything I hoped for – way quicker on the roads, especially on climbs (ie locked out FS still had flex in the rear triangle + I can now run slicker tyres on the 29er) + better off road on the majority of terrain.

If you’re riding style at trail centres involves pumping the bike to get some air whenever you can though, then stick with the 26 FS – as you’ll lose much of that with a 29 HT – if you’re a ground lover, get the 29er + it’ll smooth out the trail.

Tyre wise, at the Polaris I ran a Schwalbe Sam back + Ralph front – ie more road orientated – I’ve now put Ralph on back, Maxxis Beaver front for an MTBO this w/e – woodland trails, fire road climbs, little bit of tarmac. Both have been good combos – hope that helps a bit!

+1, the cheepest/fastest option.

-1, The difference between 26″ and 29ers isn’t that much, compared to the jump from 20″-26″ anyway. And it depends how you ride trail centers, unless you’re doign Bubba Scrubs over every jump the inertia of the wheels is pretty irelavent to riding/jumping in a straight line. My only downside is the 29er feels slower (it’s not, it’s very definately faster, just less perception of speed) so you have to pedal harder and go even faster again to get the same “whoooaaaaa this is quick” buzz (or buy a BMX and take it down a trail center, small wheels + brakes for decorative effect only = epic riding buzz).