My Mrs currently uses my old Chameleon. I’ve got an FS frame on the way for her so I fancy using some spare bits to turn it into a winter bike to save my nice one.

Crazy idea as follows…..

Use spares lying about to build said Chameleon into a single speed but whack a 29er wheel on the front with rigid forks.

If this isn’t a fundamentally flawed idea, and bearing in mind the turn of the century geometry, if I was running discs would a 29er wheel fit into a modern 26 rigid fork that was probably suspension corrected and therefore a tad taller than necessary? I’m reasoning that the Chameleon was probably designed with a 100mm ish fork in mind so a shorter fork with a taller wheel might even things out?

No doubt there is a technical reason I’ve overlooked, aside from the fact it might ride like a bag of shite.

Suggestions welcome, just go easy…. 😉

Sounds reasonable, not done it tho!

Got a 440mm White Brother Rock Solid fork that I use with a 29er front wheel sometime when I go to the Peaks or anywhere rocky it’s ace ;0)

The bike I use it on was built for 100mm forks it feels a little bit slacker but just nice for rocky days out.

Ok. I’m glad I’ve received 2 posts now without pointing out an obvious flaw in my plan. 😉

Cheers for the input.

Jonny – I did similar with my Scott Strike. I couldnt fit a proper 29er front through the front fork so ran it with a skinny front tyre.

The only issue was that I was running Judy C suss forks and the tyre still rubbed against the fork brace.

Running forks wit6h a big wheel that fits is fine.

I run a 69er as my bike of choice. If you ar ever near Southampton feel free to try a ride

I have a ss scandal (26) that I put a rigid fork and then a 29 front onto

rides fine IMO and takes some of the sting out of the rigid front end

If you do decide to do this make sure your logos and valves line up otherwise you WILL CRASH AND DIE

My Inbred rode lovely with 29er rigids & 26″ front wheel on, but running a 29″ front wheel it was a bit too slack. I’m guessing you’ll need a 440mm fork to run a 29″ front, so your effectively looking at a the same angles as a 130-140mm fork. If you could run 420mm fork it might work, but probably going to be close. If I get a chance later I’ll stick my 29er wheel into the wifes 440mm fork & measure the clearance for you…

I was in the US recently and the latest niche is to run a 27.5″ front wheel on 26″ bikes/forks.

Thanks again fellas!

@WORLDCLASSACCIDENT Fear not, I’d never leave my drive without aligned logos/valves/rim sticker. Sadly I’m miles from you else I’d have had a go! 🙂

@Takisawa I’d greatly appreciate if you could test fit for me

@Phil56 I’m looking at combing a rigid front end with full suss rear and single speed and 650B wheels as i feel there are some riders, I mean niches going woefully underexploited.

Sounds like your plan should work.

I vaguely remember seeing an article about different builds you could do with a chameleon and 69er may have been in there. Rigid 26er forks should take a 29er front wheel.

A suspension adjusted 26er form may fit, but if you’re intending to use it as a winter bike, you need to think seriously about clearance, particularly, if you want to run reasonably wide rubber at the front (which I’m guessing is kind of the point of a 69er).

Unless you’ve got a spare 26″ rigid fork lying about (in which case I’d say give it a go, I’d be looking at getting a dedicated 29er fork – something like a Salsa cromoto, Surly KM or On One perhaps? You’re only looking at about 28mm difference in the F to C measurement compared to something like a 26″ Kona P2 fork.

There was an article in STW about different builds with a Chameleon and a “69er” was one of them.

If i recall, they used a 29″ front wheel and 29″ rigid front fork (470mm axle crown?), though a 29″ wheel will easily fit in a 440mm fork.

I’m thinking of doing a similar thing with my Chameleon. I tried 26″ wheel and 440mm fork and it was way to short so i either need a 29″ wheel, a 29″ fork, or possibly both.

Found this on mtbr:

http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.php/photo/226408/si/Chameleon

I have a 26″ specific rigid carbon fork on an old Hummer, which is designed for 100mm suspension. A 29″ racing ralph 2.4 has loads of clearance and it rides pretty well too 🙂

Thanks again for all the new input!

Tonto, if its not too much hassle could you measure your fork length for me? Failing that, is your fork one of the on one/nuke proof/exotic clones?

TIA.

Run a 26″ wheel on a 29’er fork and save valuable pounds on rims tyres and tubes. (Note bothe these combos are likely to give you issues with running rim brakes if that is your intention.)

About 65mm between arch & tyre (2.1 SB8), 29er version comes up 30mm closer.
I ‘d go with a 29er fork, & 26″ wheel.

Cheers for that Taki. 🙂