I borrowed one for our usual Tuesday night ride – XC style. A ride Ive done for a few years on a range of 26 inch bikes from FS to HT to crosser.
I was surprised how “not different” it felt. Apart from the wheels feeling like flywheels – so there was a slight feeling of taking a while to speed them up and them carrying that speed. But not much.
If anything it felt slow.
Also the geometry felt quite odd when trying to do very tight corners. It felt like it was going to tuck under.
So in both those respects I didnt like it and could not see any advantages at all.
To be honest the thing that stuck out most were the tyres being grippy as they were new – nothing to do with it being a 29er. I could have fitted new tyres to any bike. So I really couldnt see what the fuss is about, especially on normal UK riding XC style.
Overall I felt the hype did not live up to the reality at all.