Apologies for bringing this debate up of the new proposal that the world be dominated by 27.5 (giants idea)

I was dead set on buying a trance 29er frame and building it up with XT groupset, rock shox revelations, arch ex on hope evo’s, reverb etc.

I attempted to get a demo on a trance at my local giant dealer in radlet, only to be told they don’t stock the 29er…they have to order it in..
Attempted another dealer, got told the same..both pushing the 27.5.

At the moment I can get everything at a really good price for a 29er..

I’m interested to hear people’s opinions, if you were buying a new bike would it be to hold fire and see how the market turns out, or would you choose a 29er or 27.5 and reason why?

Cheers

If your not in too much of a hurry it’s probably best to sit back and see what happens.

I think offering 26 and 29 more or less covered most riders needs, is 27.5 that much better
than 26 or 29, I don’t think so! More like making one size bike is going to save us a whole
heap of cash.

Me, I just got myself a nice 26 Charge skinny duster frame off ebay for £150 and am looking
forward to building up a great bike at a very low cost with parts that people aren’t buying anymore.

Cheers!

Listen! If you are not prepared to have that there trail come alive, you shouldn’t even be riding bikes!!!!

Try and ride them or something equivalent. I know this always gets said but it’s sound advice. I bought a new bike recently and 29er was at the bottom of my list, in fact it wasn’t even on my radar until I had a test ride. It just felt right for me.

Conversely, I’d tried to keep an open mind then tried a friends 29er ( we are broadly same build and weight etc), riding it on a little of our local mixed terrain and I bloody hated it. I will continue to ride my 26inch trail bike til something happens to it or I really do just want a change, then see, I doubt 27.5 will put me off and if I end up on another 26er all well and good.
I also don’t think any of the “which is better” therads have much relevance, in as much as plainly some folk like bigger wheels than others, I think also, there just may be some merit in the taller riders / bigger frames / bigger wheels argument.
But for me I’ll just run what I brung and try not to get all screwed over by the hype , or what folk want me to do.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/275-v-29-hmmmm

with parts that people aren’t buying anymore.

Like forks and wheels 🙂

Everything else works!

Well, frame, forks, wheels and tyres is not a bad start is it? 🙂

Get one you like the colour and name of then make up a series of spurious reasons why you like it, like everyone else does.

Yep, that’s always worked for me 🙂

I see your issue OP, you actually know what you want to try but the dealers are not making that easy, correction the distributor (ultimately Giant) aren’t making it easy for the dealers to help you…

Your desire for a mid-long travel 29″ bouncer hasn’t coincided well with Giant’s change in marketing strategy, prices are driven down a bit but actually getting your hands on a demo bike may yet put you off…

I guess there’s no harm in you having a demo on the 27.5″ trance but you still want a go on the 29er if it can be arranged, can they arrange a demo on a 29″ Anthem? quite a different bike I know but it’ll give you some ideas of what a bike with 29″ wheels and maestro suspension is like to ride perhaps?

alternatively would you consider other brands, giant aren’t the only fruit, and some have considerably more support for 29″ wheels…

27.5 works for me, but I cant find any fricking tyres for the bastard! (yet)

To be honest if you don’t need a new bike i would wait a year or two, until there are tyres for 650b, there is a decision as to which of the three sizes will survive, etc.

The only givens, the mtb market is shrinking, you will be hard pushed to find an LBS stock all the sizes being made, the manufacturers aren’t going to support three sizes, in fact i suspect the point of 27.5 is to ditch the other two sizes.

mrmo…to ditch the other two sizes I doubt is true…I would try another brand tho. The Anthem is closer to an older style of 29 in terms of geometry than later offerings and there are quite a few out this year Transition Bandit/Covert, Whyte, Trek, Specialized Camber, Titus Rockstar, OnOne Codeine due soon.

If I have one piece of advice, don’t compromise on wheels, they can make or break the feel of a 29. The Mavics are a good choice if you can’t go carbon rimmed…