With smaller wheels you felt higher? Not sure I understand…

Never ridden 29″ i rode BMX for years….I’ve only just got used to 26″ going 29″ just seems insane but folk tend to be raving about it….might arrange a test ride.

Totally the opposite for me I’ve trained and raced all season on a 29er and after riding my 26″ I can say I’m going back to a 26″ and never going back! If that makes scene 😕

whatever makes them smile regardless of what’s on trend 😀

trailcentre gnarcoreminceliters ride whatever the mtb press tells them is cool

there is a difference 😀

I dont get the whole slack head angle thing. Rode my 26 inbread with some sus fork with quite a large a2c andit fet awful. Now on my 29 ive used the short ridgid forks of the 26er and its great but head angle is at about 72/73°. Still have the 26 full suss its not worse just different, never experienced the whole “sit in” thing with 29ers. But im 6’6ish so aways perched on a seat quite high.

Each to there own I think I’m tall and love my 29er HT plus am faster on it than my Five.
Rode the Five in the Peaks the other day couldn’t get on with it anymore so sold it. Can only compare it to the skill fade you get if you’ve ridden FS for years then get on a HT.

I think having so much choice is great! Else we’d all still be in Ford Model T’s and black ones for that

I just feel like a more capable rider on a 29er. I’m tall (6’4″) and always felt like i teetered on the top of 26″ bikes. I put it down to a lack of skill (which to some extent it is). On a 29er I immediately feel more planted and confident at low speeds and in technical sections, and I go faster. What’s more it’s just as much fun.

As sensible people always say, there’s 29ers and 29ers. I’m lucky in that mine seem pretty good. I’m sure they aren’t all as 26erish in the fun department.

I was going to ask why taller riders feel perched up high, can’t they just bend their legs more? But I suppose if you’re on a bigger frame you can’t drop your seat as low and if you’re using a dropper post you’re coming down only 4″ or 5″ from a much higher starting point.

As most 29ers have longer chainstays, and presumably longer front centres (to keep the F/R weight distribution balanced), they must have longer wheelbases. Couple that with the BB being lower compared to the front axle and the bike will be much better at avoiding endos on v steep descents.

I have to say I wouldn’t go back to a 26er now having ridden my Tallboy for the past 6 months, just so much faster and more capable everywhere, especially flat out downhill!

That said, I’m 6’6 on a XXL frame, I guess I can see how others might not get on with them.

Would be interesting to see how many ppl who have ridden 29ers want to go back to tiny wheels…? 😈

I have just got rid of my 26inch hardtail as it felt too wired switching between it and a simlair 29ner. It was faster in tight single track but the swaping over all the time was doing my head in.

Bol, What are you riding?

I’m 6’4″ and perched on top of a 26″ hard tail and trance.

Solaris curious!

Thanks, Tim

[quoteI enjoy riding my CX (which are 29ers for real men) [/quote]

Don’t most CX’ers still wear pink Lycra and those silly caps under their lids?…. just saying

seeing as mountain biking is a sport recently dominated by fat middle managers in troy lee gear, it’s best not to comment on clothing.

Cedric Garcia on a Santa Cruz Tallboy 29er…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohCMW2zHOo0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

26″ wheels aren’t tiny! But riding truly tiny 16″ and 20″ wheels gives you a real insight into the pros and cons of going either way. Don’t forget that whilst a bigger wheels rolls better it also accelerates slower and resists turning more.

In the real world it’s all shades of grey – only in marketing speak and fanboydom is it black and white, and such attitudes do 29ers a disservice. I wouldn’t be surprised to see 29er DH bikes in the world cup soon, although it’ll be hard to get the travel and bigger wheels into a smaller frame. I don’t see dirtjumpers riding them though! I also think that a year ago I’d have been quicker on my local trails on a 29er – I think that now the combination of lack of space, tight turns and higher speeds and more active riding would mean I couldn’t manhandle a 29er around fast enough, as I’m already throwing the 26er around pretty damned hard!

Horses for courses (and riders)!

Quote from Rob Cooksley (reigning Uk Gravity enduro champion)
“Right on the edge of that (trail bike use),on a 160mm bike that could be quite sketchy”
But then again what would he know eh? Probably rides over blinged overbiked everywhere…the mincer 😯

650B will appear in DH soon, some companies are about to test it out at WC level, will be interesting to see what that does to the wheel size debate. I would predict that 650B could kill off 26″ pretty fast but a lot of people laugh when I say that. I say it because a lot of 140mm+ FS bikes are going that way and we all know ‘everyone’ loves a hardtail that’s like a 140mm+ FS bike ) and the LT HT seems like it would be the 26″ MTB’s last stand in the UK.

But I still might get one 😉

I’ve also heard it said that 29s don’t go any faster, they just feel that way… You can’t go faster without putting more energy in in the first place.

In an XC situation 29ers are much quicker for the same amount of effort , feels like cheating in Gorricks when you belt past 26ers!

Going back to a 26er , you then realise how much harder you have to work just to keep up.

Yes , a 29er can be marginally slower in super twisty stuff , but this is a few hundred metres at most in a typical 8 mile lap.

For simply crossing XC ground at speed , there is no competition !