Took it out for a “proper” ride today (Hope Cross – Edale). What they say about 29ers is mostly true. Don’t believe that a 29er hardtail will feel like a 120 mm FS 26er – it won’t. It’s still a hardtail, and you feel it. Acceleration really is harder. But it rolls so much better than a 26, especially when the terrain is a bit uneven and you take the power off. It just keeps going. Manuals are *hard* work, and I can’t bunny hop it at all, but that’s probably just a matter of practice. Climbing? Probably no difference to a 26. More weight for the 29, but a bit easier to roll over obstacles, so works out about the same I guess.
It failed to bring the trail alive, definitely. The trail seemed dead to me – sorry, trail! Fortunately, there was a guy behind me on a 650b. He screamed a lot (“yeah, yeah”), but when I got bored with him I shifted into the big ring and never saw him again 8)