trail_rat
so dont ….. i fail to see why its an issue that requires you to tell us 26 is better or 29 is crap.

I haven’t told anyone anything about 26 vs 29 being better, I asked a question on here about whether people had taken 29ers to the Alps (given it’s a thread about technical tracks) and explained why I’m not changing at the moment. I am trying to listen to opinion as to others experience.

as for ‘weak’ wheels, the cheap wheels on my Cdf are basically ’29er’ wheels.

i can confirm that they are practically indestructible.

they’re not even *that* heavy.

Bit more random thoughts have popped into my head.

For technical riding, it will be hard to compare my rigid raiding against a dual susser.

On fast open DH tracks, Fort William and Glencoe, not so tight or technical, my Karate Monkey was super stable.
I tried to jump a bomb hole on the old army road/jeep track at Glencoe, that burst the lower headset bearing.

On a tighter shorter more technical track, steering was fairly nimble, getting your bum out over the back may require some adjustment, bigger wheel=more bum buzz.
I found the limit of the v-brakes and steeper riding, hence discs to come. Under heavy front braking there is an element of the v-brake twisting the rim, not much but enough to veer off into clipping a tree.
I would expect a more up to AM/DH bike with disc brakes to ride as well as a 26″ once you are dialled in to it.
Have seen a fair few photo’s of 29ers ripping some of the technical trails out in Whistler.

🙂

The wheels on my Tallboy LTc are quite a bit lighter than the wheels on my Nomad.

I’ve ridden them both on the same trails and neither of them have exploded.
In fact the only wheel I’ve ever had explode was a 26″ Crossmax front that kept snapping spokes.

Mine copes fine with steep techy stuff – if anything, I feel more secure on it, and there’s certainly less reverberation on loose rocky stuff, which means physically it’s not as demanding. As I have a long standing shoulder injury, that means I can ride more demanding stuff, and for longer, without getting pain and fatigue in it.

Horses for courses though, the OH has 26″ and he’s not fussed about changing.

Both my QH and Tallboy Ltc really work on technical trails, haven’t ridden a 26″ wheel in over 12 months.

My 29ers are rubbish …but I can’t go back to 26ers cos everyone will point and laugh ..and say I told you so ..so I’m stuck with the cr4p

as stupid as it sounds also seeing over the front wheel when its pointing down to see what lies ahead (due to its mahooosive size!)

Why are you looking in front of your wheel?

Look at where you want to go, not where you’re going and you’ll stop getting tangled up 🙂

I’ve ridden 29er Sultan back to back with a 26er 5-spot. Pretty much no difference on technical stuff, just felt smoother on the Sultan. I still prefer the teeny wheels though.

Horse for courses, you picks your choice and you takes your chances. Some bikes will be a good technical descender, some will not. This applies across the board, regardless of wheel size, shoe size, beard size and how many pies you’ve just stuff into your face.

Cordial anyone? 😉