I’ve always been an advocate of 26in slack-n-low hardtails, and have tried 29ers before (years ago mind), however, this new slack-n-low 29er thing has me interested.

I should also note, never been against 29ers, just figured they were not for me.

Anyone else having the same feelings?

Not a problem with my current bike and have no plans to buy, just curious about others thoughts.

2013 has seen 29er’s globally realise their place, instead of all the sorted ones being US, or custom built US frames.

Most if not all 29er’s are well sorted bikes now, and slack & low seem popular… so, fill your boots 🙂

You could always get yourself a Raijin

2013 has seen 29er’s globally realise their place,

❗ when did 2013 happen? Damn I must be getting old http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/does-time-fly-as-you-get-older

I would say just go try one. I built a cheap rigid scandal as an experiment and really like it. But keeping my 26″ carbon HT as it offers something different.

like I said, not really interested in buying, but I may go demo a few just to compare to my current hardtail. 😉

bikeryder85, I admit that I come from the school of actively disliking them, which I fully accept is somewhat irrational never having ridden one. My views are based on riding a fair bit with a much faster mate with whom I couldn’t keep up until he got a 29er when I was able to ride everywhere with him. My other thought is that the inevitably heavier wheels would make them leaden and less responsive than a 26″ bike on twisty stuff. Again, I haven’t ridden one. I can see the advantages in technical riding eg rocks etc, but I don’t live somewhere with much technical stuff. Finally, I may be too short for one as they do seem to be giants bikes to me!

Having said all that, I do occasionally have slightly curious moments. I would like to give one a go just to see if my prejudices are right or not, are they just hype etc etc – ie can I actually speak from some knowledge!

ononeorange, those are the things I’d like to test out myself…my only previous 29er experience was with a very early xc one (pre offset forks) so I’m wondering if my previous opinion about them being “not for me” was down to tech not being there. Now that there are 29ers with 120mm forks, 68deg HA, short stays, ect….it kinda has me wondering if manufacturers have finally got them figured out.

I was going to ask if you lived anywhere near me but then I see you’re in the US – so no!

If you do ever get on one, post up on here what you think. Cheers.

yea sorry, it kinda throws ppl off, I’m one of the few holdouts on 29ers here it seems, never felt at a disadvantage tho. I have a friend who has a trek shop, if I can get out on a Stache I’ll post up what I think of it.

Yep, finding myself questioning whether I want one quite a lot. I like steel hard tails, so the Singulars tend to catch my eyes a bit.

Luckily every time I ride my P7 all thoughts of a 29er go out of my head.

When I said Singular, I meant Cotic… unless my subconscious is trying to tell me something…

Stache has long chainstays i think. Since you’re in the US where the Canfield Yelli Screamy is pretty common i’d suggest trying one of those, brilliant fun.

I love my Soul and wonder just how different the Solaris must be.

I’m waiting to see what my mates 29er is like, he’s got one of the Whyte’s on order, hardtail with 120 up front.

Mine is carbon frame with 100mm up front, I could use another 20mm for what i do on it ideally – I’ve convinced myself the frame can handle it, . .then i would be very happy.

Where are you? I’m in Sheffield if any good? Loving my 29er ht – about 5lbs lighter than my Yeti so something totally different.

the stache has 17.5 stays, longer than some, still short compared to others i figure. I’ve seen the Yelli Screamy, but I’ve never seen one in the flesh, so a bit rare where I’m at.

emmodd-as above I’m in the states, but thanks for the offer! What is it that you ride out of curiosity?

emmodd – if that’s addressed to me (not sure) it’s very kind but I’m Chilterns-based, so not local. Cheers

I am when I see things like this:

And then I go into the shop and they look daft in a medium.

I agree Wozza, TT needs dropped on the Solaris, it looks ace aside from that tho.

Always had a soft spot for Cotics, not sure why, never owned one (yet)

I was surprised how capable my SIR9 is with a bouncy fork, big vol tyres & a dropper post. If Cotic have managed to include some of the ability of the Soul in the Solaris, it will be a very capable bike.

I love he nicer air frame , the orange and black one? That Cotic is nice too mind!

I’ve had numerous 26ers over the years – Orange 5, Santa Cruz Blur/Heckler/Nomad etc, but am now on a Tallboy LTc and it is by far, for me, the best bike i have ever owned. I was initially sceptical of the 29er thing, but i can honestly say they climb the rough stiff very well and with me as a pilot it descends better than Nomad C that was sold to pay for it.

Draw backs – lack of tyre choice mainly, but that seems to be improving as the months go by.

where i ride its very rocky and rooty and the bike is a blast! I can only imaging that on smooth trails it would be even better!

You could always get yourself a Raijin

can i have one without the bent downtube?

I wasn’t convinced… thought that the 650b would be my imminent choice… but kinda kept wondering about the 29er.

Just happens to be a bit of a specialist LBS here who does a lot of 29er stuff (almost exclusively) and when I was in there the other day I started swaying that way.

The Niner that has been at Singletrack was tempting me too (it was in the shop today just back from Jon I think)… but they are a bit rich for my blood.

So looks like a Kona order is going to be made by me in the next couple of weeks if I can sell off the other bits and pieces (in the Classifieds now, and then onto eBay if no joy)

Orange, i’m only 20 mins from Chilterns, if you wanna try a Giant XTC29er let me know and we’ll hook up if you want, we could meet somewhere like Pangbourne ?

Loving this at the moment.

Snap!

sml2 by usedit, on Flickr

Weeksy – that’s really kind of you. Will drop you an email. Cheers! 🙂