Finding myself drawn to big wheel (29er) steel hardtails. Mostly for winter commuting and general abuse in bad weather. Ideally suit either single speed or a 1x set up. Liking the Swift and Cooker. Any others I should have on a wishlist?

Not quite the bargain they once were, but the Inbred works well in those modes.

Cooker?

Surly Karate Monkey.

charge cooker Mr rocketdog

Genesis have a steel 29er frame in the pipeline, which looks very nice, and it’s designed for short (eg; rigid) forks.

for me, this is a problem.

for you?

…for winter commuting and general abuse in bad weather…

it might be ideal.

def go for a Swift.

+1 Swift

Pace RC129

I have a swift and a Pace. Love both of them.

just got a swift as a winter bike, wicked so far, not as racey as my Niner mainly because i cant run a negtive stem, but i like that in a winter bike. Eccentric bb looks like it will cope with muddy riding well

Had a swift (geared) for just over a year, my most used bike by far in that time. Did wonder about the EBB as not owned one before but not a squeek from it.

Salsa El Mariachi or Surly KM, but the Swift is certainly the most popular of them all.

If you’re anywhere local to us, we’ve got all three in stock at present, so you can ‘go compare’, if you like.

Sing that song or turn up with a daft wiggly ‘tache and I’ll gob in your tea though.

Lol @ Tim

While there are a few useful people here:

Anyone know if I could put one of those bmx to euro BB converters in my Swift instead of the eccentric while I’m running it 1×9 with a 36 tooth cog?

The Swift is the nicest handling steel 29er I’ve ridden.

Nope, the eccentric shell has an ID of c55mm, BMX shells are smaller. About 52mm if memory serves.

Got a Swift and a Karate Monkey. They are both excellent but if you ever feel like adding guards and possibly a rack to your setup the KM would be the easier bike to work with. In single speed mode the KM has stupidly massive tyre clearances.

What about a Gryphon? – Like a Swift, but still different enough …
I love mine.

I’ve had / ridden a Peregrine for 3 years (almost to the day too!) with the same BB arrangement and it’s never ever given me any problems.

Salsa’s El M looks like a very tempting general purpose bicycle too …

Not that I’m in any way tempted tho’ you understand, nope, no way at all *cough cough* …

In single speed mode the KM has stupidly massive tyre clearances.

For real. We’ve built a couple of half fat KM, with an Endomorph front tyre (using a Pugsley fork) and a 26×3″ rear tyre on a nice wide Halo rim. Easy way to try the fatbike thing, without having to get a purpose frame.

Hmmm….interesting. Just bought a KM and am considering fattening it up for the winter

The Cooker isn’t out (I don’t think) until at least mid next year (I could be wrong). I just got a Swift. Love it.

Sorry for radio silence … work went super busy. Great feedback. I think a swift demo is on the cards.

I’ll also check out the KM it sounds like it could be fun to play with and give me more flexibility with the big wheel option.

Also rode the new Ashton Court trials and my full suspension bike feels a little ridiculous now on the buttery smooth trials, so I could see this bike being used for the events there, which I guess might mean the Swift might just edge it.

Haro Mary
Just built mine up and tested it tonight
I had forgot how much I enjoyed riding local singletrack on a 29er SS rigid
Especially as I have been a riding 6″ FS of late
Is happy, and I had the moral high ground when riding past the pub with all the drinkers outside by being healthy and exercising. Did feel jealous though
Will get a pic shortly

There you go, simple but effective.

Bernaard – I did the same tonight. Rode past everyone sat on the decking outside a local riverside pub. Felt jealous. Got home and sat in the garden with a pint. Nice.
+1 for the Swift.

Sorry messed up the piccy

Saw a charge cooker at the cycle show yesterday, looked quite skinny

Vassago Jabberwocky for the win!

Seriously, I’ve tried loads of 29ers, including the Swift, and non of them come close to the Jabber for fun.

Although the Swift is luverley lookin’…

As an aside…any drop bar (i.e. short) 29ers about for less than the £ of the Gryphon, Fargo etc?

swift is quite versatile (even if Sam hates this version)

day touring lite Swift by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Sideways Tim – Member
… We’ve built a couple of half fat KM, with an Endomorph front tyre (using a Pugsley fork) and a 26×3″ rear tyre on a nice wide Halo rim…

Pic?

Bugger, that’s what I was thinking of doing………..