OK – been toying with 2 ideas…

1: Steel hardtail with alfine for winter bike duties when the weather gets really nasty.
2: 29er hardtail for on/offroad touring, serious mid winter road training (maybe), fire road type pootling with the wee girl on the back (kiddie seat the now, then tag along) and, well, just another bike.

Now the wife, who’s always said she’s not interested in getting on a bike, says she fancies a bike for pottering about on quiet back roads in the Scottish borders (we live in Innerleithen) and occasional fire road/gentle off road stuff.

Can I combine all 3 of the above into one bike or am I mad ?

Wife is roughly same height as me.

Considering an Inbred 29er with rigid fork initially (may consider 100mm fork at some point) alfine rear hub and disks… 2 seatpost/saddle combos (one for me, one for the missus) and a short stem (60/70mm) possibly a shorter one for her and a longer one for me.

How tall is she? How does her leg and torso length compare to yours, as she may be a similar height but have longer legs and a shorter body quite possibly…

For your first 2 uses, I’d say an Inbred 29er with an Alfine is absolutely perfect… And is why I’ve got mine…

For the third, it’s really going to depend on your missus. 29ers are a bit marmite, you either love them or hate them, and the thing is you probably won’t know until you’ve tried one. I love mine, in fact I had a go on a Gary Fisher Rumblefish at the weekened too and am now quite convinced on the idea of a 29er full sus too. But they are not for everyone…

DEFINITELY try before you buy… Dunno where you’re based, but if it’s anywhere near Worcestershire, you’re more than welcome to come round and try mine out for size (it’s an 18″)…

Hey MBoy

thanks for pointers and the pic 🙂 Looks nice.

Reason I’m thinking 29er is that most of her riding will be on back roads and fire roads … and I’ll be doing a fair bit of that too through the winter. Being a part time roady too, I know bigger wheels make sense for this. Also, I was pretty impressed with how nimble Singlespeedstu’s 29er seemed to handle around Inners singletrack when I road with him last week.

We’re a pretty similar build, I’m a touch longer in the torso, but not much. I tend to like small bikes though, with short stems for handling, so that should suit her too I reckon. We’re both 5’8 or there abouts and I’m looking at the 16inch frame. Should be quite nimble.

Wanna try one?

I’ve got a 18″ 29er SS in Innerleithen if you fancy a spin for yourself or the wife.

Let me know, e-mail in profile

thv3 – that could be good mate!

Stu

Stooo just be careful with the TT length. I’m 5’7″ (long legs, short body) and find I’m too stretched on 16″ On One frames even with 50mm stem and some backsweep in the bars.

I’m 5ft 11 just about, I got the 18″ cos I wanted a fairly efficient riding position, but it is quite long to me with that 80mm stem on. I’m thinking of possibly swapping it for a 70mm, or possibly fitting slightly narrower bars to bring the reach down a bit.

At your height, the 18″ will be too big. I’ve seen a few women of a reasonable height (SSStu’s mrs to name but one) who get on well with 29ers, but then there will be lots that don’t. Ironically enough, it was a go on SSStu’s Jones that convinced me that 29ers could be good offroad, previously I’d dismissed them as a niche too far.

A 29er would definitely be a good idea for all the reasons you mention (and an ALfine hub even more so!), but fit is crucial, and if this is to be a bike for your missus to use too, she’s got to get on with it. I know there’s no way my GF even at 5ft7 would cope well with a 29er, it’d be too tall for her, she’s shorter in the leg and long in the body and probably couldn’t clear her crotch over the height of the wheel if you get me…

Just drop me an e-mail and we’ll sort it out.

I am away tomorrow at Kirroughtree, but apart from that I can drop it off for you and the wife to have a tinker with and test drive anytime.

You might find that an Inbred handles quite a bit slower than my Paradox. 😉

You might find that an Inbred handles quite a bit slower than my Paradox.

Because slacker head angles are known to quicken the handling? 😉

My 29er Inbred was a bit sharp with the Reba on at 80mm to tell the truth, it’s much better now I’ve got it set at 100mm. With a rigid fork the handling would be sharp for certain, though the 16″ version has a 1 degree slacker head angle to improve toe overlap when pedalling.

I think I’ll be going rigid initially until I can pick up a cheap 29er bouncy fork.

Quite like the idea of keeping it simple though.

There’s more to handling than head angles you know. 🙄

No need to be so touchy. 😉

SSStu – I obviously understand that without a fine pilot of clown wheels, such as yourself, aboard… mine won’t handle nearly as fast 😉

😆