I’m thinking of buying a 29er for general riding duties. I’ve a Gryphon which is great for long distance, touring stuff but i’m a little uncertain on getting a hardtail 29er as my general day to day ride. I’ve a 456 at the moment but a ride on a mate’s Carver 69er got me thinking about 29ers…

I like the look of the Swift, Ridgeline 29er, Salsa El Mariachi etc but the length of the top tubes / standover seems borderline for someone 5’8″ with a 31 inside leg.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone else who is 5’9″ or less who has bought a 29er and their reasons why, and their experiences in riding a 29er.

Thanks all

Chris

I’m a 5’7″ person of restricted growth and have a couple of 29ers.

16″ Haro SS with drops

16″ Inbred

Both are fine. Tend to use them for big days out and often don’t realise/forget I’m on a 29er. I’ve also got a Carver 96er which is great.

when they get rediculously small like the smallest scandals and spesh – the riders always look really aukward on them ! as noted at the weekend at kirroughtree 😀

I really liked the Carver i had a go on. Seemed to blend the best bits of both wheel sizes. I never had the chance to ride it somewhere steep and twisty but i wondered if a 69er would be a better bet for someone of ‘restricted growth’ in that situation compared to a 29er…?

when they get rediculously small like the smallest scandals and spesh – the riders always look really aukward on them ! as noted at the weekend at kirroughtree

I hope that wasn’t me on a hired Trek/Fisher!!

At 5’9″ or 10″ ish I found the 17.5 frame to be a bit close for comfort with the top tube to bollox interface but it was fine when out riding it. Was worried about toe overlap as I get on the roadie but wasn’t an issue. After a day of hiring one out I definitely want one now. May have to work on a way to strap my nuts up so the top tube doesn’t hurt too much!!

I know that it’s become a cliché but Willow Koerber’s bike seems to be pretty effective despite here diminuitive size.

Obviously hard to compare like for like – maybe she would actually be better on 26″ if it wasn’t for the sponsor – but it certainly doesn’t seem to be doing her any harm.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/pro-bike-willow-koerbers-subaru-trek-superfly-elite-27994/

I’m 5’7″ and I’ve ridden the Yeti 29er. I liked it a lot and didn’t feel it was in any way too tall for me.

A Carver? Good idea. If you’ve a Gryphon, why not try another Singular – the Hummingbird:

Hummingbird as a Penny Farthing by bent udder, on Flickr

I’m 5’7″ and absolutely love mine. Most of the time I run it as a pure 26er with suspension forks, but I’ve been very impressed with the 69er setup, especially with carbon bars. You do have to learn to ride technical stuff slightly differently, though (with a big wheel on the front, I mean). The only issue I have is with pinch flats on the rear when riding it as a 69er – the front wheel just goes over stuff at a speed the little back wheel can’t cope with.

That said, 29er geometry seems to be finally settling down – I hear good things about the Yeti Big Top.

What size Hummingbird is that bent_udder? What length stem are you running?

Chris

Size small, and the stem’s 70mm. Lovely handling with 120mm forks on – I run Maguras normally. Maxle Rebas would be perfect.

Seems to work for some:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=431328

There you go – geometry for the Hummingbird at the bottom of this page: http://www.singularcycles.com/hummingbird.html

If you’re around the North Downs area, just PM me. Happy for you to borrow it for a quick spin, and I think the local shop has a demo in Medium, which might suit you at 5’9″ – from memory they also have at least one 29er Singular, too.

Trio25 of these parts is quite petite but runs a rigid ss 29er as her main bike and she does rather well* on it too.

*ride lots (and lots) of miles, wins races etc

I’m 5’9″ and don’t think I look too out of proportion on a 16″ Scandal

maybe the riding at kirroughtree was just to technical for a 29er ….

>:)

just found that – i make ever 29ers look small 😀

Cheers for the replies everyone. Have to say, i’m liking the idea of a 69er such as the Hummingbird. My one concern about the Carver was the length of the top tube (too short) but the Hummingbird seems to have a longer tt for a given st height so might work well for me.

Anyone ridden a 69er 😐 and have any thoughts on them?

I stuck the 29er fork & wheel on my 26er Inbred & didnt like it.

5’9″ here, riding an 18″ Inbred. Not tall but am quite heavy & the 29er seems to handle me & my bulk better. Grown out of looning these days, prefering old fashioned ambling, bridleways etc; to trail centres. The 29er just seems smooth & more controlled. I dont buy this min height thing. If the bike works for you then go for it. I’ve kept hold of my 5″ FS bike, but dont really know why. I would really love to try a Ti 29er. I’ve run my Inbred as a rigid SS, & latterly 1×10 with some maxle Rebas. To be totally honest, I prefer it SS & rigid. The gears are nice for longer days out, but the Reba seems to take something away from it.

some small riders look good on 29er’s

5’8″ and 30″ inside leg riding a M Swift here.

Like the look of the bike, took it for a test ride and put down a deposit on a frame 😀

As soon as I got on it just felt ‘right’. Was riding a 2010 Rockhopper before and this (despite being rigid) felt more precise. Mine has a suspension fork on and is my favourite bike by far

How’s the Swift for comfort? I’m thinking on replacing my ‘do it all’ Kinesis with a frame that actually fits me properly, and figure a 29er might be reasonably practical for the job.

What do you mean by ‘comfort’? it’s got a skinny (27.2) seat post so if you’ve got a decent amount sticking out that’ll help and clearances are good so you can use fattish tyres. The fork is also particularly flexy (in a good way, not flexy when you steer) so takes out more bump than you might expect (though it’s not a patch on a sus fork).

Something that doesn’t kick lumps out of you really… I went from an ancient Kona to the Kinesis and it is noticeably less flexy, but I agree a lot of this is probably going from a slightly too small frame with a 27.0 seat post sticking out like a telegraph pole to a shorter amount of 27.2 Thomson loveliness. Been using rigid forks for years on it, so I’ve no problem with that.

I guess I’m wondering whether larger wheels smooth things out a bit or not, relative to a similar 26″, or whether in reality it’s hard to tell. Going to get a rebuild on some old Hopes hubs to find out anyway.

Chris – one other thing about the Hummingbird, or rather the forks: they’ve got a slightly tweaked trail which addresses some of the handling issues (such as Takisawa2’s possibly) – seems to work a treat. I should say I’ve not ridden the bike as a 69er outside of the North Downs yet, although it’s only a matter of time. But I have pushed it hard on a few rooty / lumpy trails ’round here, and it does work.

You’re right about the Carver having a shorter TT. I’ve got long legs (if you can have long legs at 5’7″) and a short body. My Carver is a 16″ with a flipped 90mm, 6 degree stem, fit’s great.

some Carvers on Ebay going very cheap…….

I guess I’m wondering whether larger wheels smooth things out a bit or not, relative to a similar 26″, or whether in reality it’s hard to tell. Going to get a rebuild on some old Hopes hubs to find out anyway.

Yes, they definitely do smooth things out – if it’s smaller stuff – rocks/roots up to 4/5″ let’s say – bigger than that and it’s less noticeable, especially if you’re comparing to 26″ FS.

I have a short friend who rides a 29er. He looks like a little gnome perched on top of a grown up’s bike. It’s very sweet…ridiculous, but sweet.

Yes, they definitely do smooth things out – if it’s smaller stuff – rocks/roots up to 4/5″ let’s say – bigger than that and it’s less noticeable, especially if you’re comparing to 26″ FS

Sounds good to me. My lottery win purchase would have been a Moots YBB, but I think I need to be a bit more realistic 🙂
All the anecdotal evidence I’m hearing is that 29 does just what I want, takes the edge off the small stuff – I still stand up a fair bit even on the superlight on rougher ground.

I built a 69er hummingbird for a mate and it gets a lot more use than his Scott and Giant carbon full sussers… Nice big fat 2.4 Ardent on the front and off you go….

Really nice bike…

I am 5 8 and ride a 16” scandal fits perfect but I am on the limit of my seatpost.
As regards 29ers I would say they are better than rigid 26ers but not as good as a full sus 26er.
Having said that it is the bike I ride the most and most likely to take a picture of!

Undecided between a Hummingbird and a Swift. Anyone ridden both and got a view on which they preferred and why?

I’d run the Hummingbird with a 29 wheel up front so the decision is down to the chainstay length and 29 vs 26 rear wheel… Oh, and a little less standover on the swift.

Depends on where you’re riding I guess… If you’re on super twisty singletrack then the hummingbird has the edge for nimbleness whereas the swift has the edge on longer crosscountry riding for complete trail munching…

Chris, find a Singular dealer near you and ask to test ride both, then make your mind up. As I said, if you’re down South, then Head For the Hills in Dorking has demo Swifts, and you’d be more than welcome to try out my Hummingbird.

http://www.singularcycles.com/dealers.html

Alternatively, just give Sam at Singular a call and ask him his opinion – the number’s on the web site. He actually designed these bikes, so he should be able to give you a good run-down of what size person they fit.

Oh, and did I mention the Ti options? 😛

Rode this at mayhem, 14″ on-one frame with hummingbird fork, was great fun, little twitchy on the wooded sections but I put that down to not being used to the handling.

Ah! That looks cool, Nunuboogie. I experimented with the forks on a Genesis Io before buying a full Hummingbird, too:

Genesis Io 69er conversion by bent udder, on Flickr

The Io is a very similar frame, measurements – wise to the ‘bird, but is adjusted for a 100mm rather than 120mm fork. So, with the Hummingbird rigid fork, it was ever so slightly slack down hill. I was actually surprised at how stable it felt, although it was a little wandery on corners. None of that with the full hummingbird. Was / is your On-One corrected for longer forks than 120mm?

Bent-udder No not corrected as far as i know 😉 , love the look of the hummingbird but just couldn’t justify spending the cash.