A 29er bike is not too big for people. It LOOKS LIKE its too big, which is completely different. All the 26er vs. 29er debates can be distilled down to what they look like. That’s not surprising that most people are used to 26ers. The reality is they are not too big. You’re not sat any higher off the ground than you are on a 26er. 29ers are not less agile and have no undesirable characteristics relative to a 26er. The wheels are not harder to spin up or pedal, and the wheels are perfectly strong and robust enough. Yes the bikes may look different, especially on shorter people, but you’re sat in the bike rather than on it and they feel far more stable to ride.
Just last night I was on a very technical ride that needed alot of tight manouvering between big rocks and boulders, and hopping over them – and guess what – I was not hampered any more or less than my 26er riding buddies. I could pick through the same lines as them, turn just as tightly as them, put on a spurt of accellaration just as quickly as them, and was just as quick on the downhills as them.
Time to get over it. I’m not a fan of the 26er vs 29er debate, I don’t give two hoots – I like my 29ers – they ride better than any 26er I’ve had, but that is probably because they are fundamentally better bikes. But there is a huge amount of incorrect twaddle floating around these debates. they’re not better or worse than 26ers, just different. Others may have different experiences, but for me 29ers work and i’m a lowly 5’9″ tall, and I don’t care if I look too small for them.