Shackleton – Member

I guess it depends on what you mean by fun but my take is being able to pop off anything, ping from obstacle to obstacle and move the bike around the trail.

TBH that depends a lot on the bike- my Trailfox (150mm 29er) despite being enormous has a ton of “pop”, it’s very easy to lift and drop and move. In fact easier than my old 26er, in some ways, I keep turning into corners too hard and having to correct… I think suspension and geometry and weight is as important as travel and wheels.

But it does steamroller some trails. Rode it down falla brae at glentress yesterday and it felt slow. Strava says it was my fastest ever, I can believe it but I wasn’t racing, I don’t want to go fast so much as I want to feel fast. OTOH pissing about on easy trails in the pentlands it’s fine. Maybe it’s fast easy trails that it takes some of the fun out of? And slower easy trails, it’s fine…

I must admit that I have no problems with a bike “flattening everything”. I like to ride up and down remote mountains in this corner of Scotland and no matter how capable the bike is I can always find stuff I don’t have the confidence to ride. So, the more skill compensation the better as far as I’m concerned.

My problem with long travel 29ers (and yes, I count 140mm as lomg for a 29er) is first that they might be a pain to ride up the mountain and second that it might be too much hard work to move it around in the tighter sections and to loft the front over the stuff that they can’t blat through.

bowglie makes some interesting points about ‘manualability’ though. I’m sure there is more to it that just “longer chainstays make it harder to manual”. Actually I wonder whether it’s just a case of different bikes needing slightly different timing and it taking time to adapt. I certainly notice that the rear suspension on my Five tends to absorb any input from my legs then give it back as it reboounds. So, the timing between legs and arms and relative to the obstacle is a bit different to my HT. If I just ride one for a while I find I strugle to lift the front on the other. If I keep swapping and changing then I’m equally crap on both 🙂

I ride a Whyte t129 SCR and a Niner EMD, both 29ers.

The Whyte is considered long but is a shit load of fun, the only time I can tell is in REALLY tight switchback corners, which I don’t ride too often, having said that it was awesome on the ranger descent of Snowdon.

It’s 120 rear and 130 front, doesn’t flatten the trail but it is seriously quick. I came off on Sunday on the final descent of the 5 dales route as I was carrying a bit too much speed through the final corner after the big berm.

The Niner is more compact and a real blast to ride with the ridged fork, smaller wheels wouldn’t be as good on a bike like this.

At this stage I wont be going back, but there are aspects to 26 that work better in certain areas. My change to 29er wasn’t exactly intentional or calculated either.

First off, I’m 6’2″ and ride L/XL frames (& I think this sways my opinion some). I regularly ride Peak District (mostly Dark Peak, sometimes White), trail centres (wales, Scotland), natural Welsh & Scottish trails and my local woods (twisty singletrack)

I’ve had a Mojo DH (160fr/rr 26″) for 3 years, absolutely love it. But was a bit too much for some of the riding I was doing (trail centres, local woods and White Peak), so got myself a Transition Bandit 29 (130fr, 120rr 29″) as a short travel rig for easier trails. My first time for a 29r. It sold me on the benefits of 29ers, better roll over, stability, lower BB drop giving great cornering feel.

Last year an opportunity presented itself to get an Intense Carbine 29 (160fr, 145rr)…..WOW, love this bike. For rough and rowdy rocky trails (think Dark Peak) then this is an awesome trail bike. Strange thing is though, this does not feel OTT on easier trails like the Mojo did, (maybe because Carbine is lighter?).

This issue with 29ers on very tight and very techy trails (think Les Arc hiking trails) is true though & I think the smaller wheels are better for this.

But for 99% of the rest of the riding I do (i.e. this country), the stability, traction, cornering stability (lower BB drop) I much prefer the Carbine, I do not think I would go back smaller wheels, unless the choice of available new bikes dictated it.

The Transition has gone – became redundant. The Mojo will stay for alpine holidays as I still love it for that.

Don’t think i’d change back from my transition smuggler, doesn’t feel big for a 29er, still has that fun playable feel and it just rides nice.

29ers aren’t for everyone though but I can’t see me going back anytime soon (and I usually change bikes a lot)

my Trailfox (150mm 29er) despite being enormous has a ton of “pop”

Maybe that’s because it’s only really 140mm travel? 😉

http://linkagedesign.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/bmc-trailfox-29-2014.html

Nice bike though!

Northwind.
You should try the B+ thing in your Trailfox.
I hear they’ll fit a 3″ tyre in the rear.

What tyres are those? They look huge.

Trax Fatty’s on 45mm rims.

If I keep swapping and changing then I’m equally crap on both

. Ah, now that sounds familiar… hee hee.

I think tandemodium has hit it spot on too

This issue with 29ers on very tight and very techy trails (think Les Arc hiking trails) is true though & I think the smaller wheels are better for this.

I took my Tallboy LT to South Tyrol last year and rode almost entirely on those type of hiking trails – I’m going back again this year and am trying to weigh up whether to take my Blur or the TB LT. I’m finding it very difficult to decide, as there were quite a few places where I remember being glad I was on the big wheels – but some of the exposed hairpins were proper a**e pucker jobs. I guess it comes down to working out the best compromise for the type of riding – personally, one of the reasons I’m swaying towards the TB is largely because its cockpit setup is more comfortable for long days in the saddle. The Devinci Atlas is faster and easier than the Blur or TB LT uphill, but I think both of the latter are more forgiving on descents than the Atlas when the rider is tired, and on unfamiliar trails (I still find it a bit surprising that the Blur feels less flickable and hyperactive than the Atlas).

I had a 110mm 29er FS with reasonably slack head angle and really low BB. It was waaaaay faster than it should have been. Did I like it though? Not really. It was ultimately a bit……boring. I designed myself a 650B hardtail and that’s way more fun, and have just built myself up an old Balfa Belair FS bike (26er) and I’ve had more fun on that bike in one ride than I did in a year on the 29er. Fun > speed.