[Closed] 29er's - are they measurably better?

If (as according to some) smaller wheels = better, why stop at 26ers?

If (as according to some) smaller wheels = better, why stop at 26ers?

I don't, I've got a BMX. 😉

I never said smaller wheels = better BTW. Smaller wheels = fine. I can see there are some advantages for giants/racers, but a lot of people frothing over them are just looking for something different for no real reason, IMHO.

[i]It's also a shame that none of the magazines are interested in doing proper product testing that could answer these sort of questions, instead of just copy & pasting press releases.[/i]

Ha ha ha ha

I've got a BMX

I had a Yeti ASR and now a Salsa Spearfish, they are both light-ish short travel (XC if you want to say it) bikes with similar design of suspension. I swapped most of the built-kit over so only wheels/frame/fork are different.

The Yeti was a very good climber, the Salsa is better.
The Yeti was a very impressive descender, the Salsa is better/quicker but not quite as much fun.

Both of these things are down to the wheels, i have noticed i can just point it where i want and it will go over almost everything in its path, the Yeti could do this to a point but often ran out of traction/grip.

Now of course the Yeti was designed as an outandout XC race bike while the Salsa was designed as an Endurance bike, and they state in the blurb it may not be as quick handling over short distance but will be steady easy to ride even when tired. Id agree with this also, its a lot nicer to ride when im shattered than the Yeti, but then you do lose some of the fun when your fresh.

Does this mean all 29er's arnt fun? unlikely, just as it donst mean all 26er's arnt easy to ride when your shattered. Horses for courses.

Sorry but you can do the science bit until you're blue in the face, so far everyone I've seen looks wrong.

I ride quicker for longer on my 29er because it fits better than any of my 26ers ever did, fit is everything, that saud I'm enjoying my 69er SS too atm so go figure

The differences between different 29ers are as big as the differences between 26ers and 29ers.

^^ This. Ascribing the same qualities to all 29ers (and, by extension, all 26ers) is as nonsensical as saying that all aluminium bikes are the same, or all 100mm travel bikes, or all red bikes.

If they were.....the uci would have banned them.
Now, which is betterer apples or oranges?

Mmmmm i think there better for the riding i like to do on the bikes i like to ride

Biggest thing i have seen is you can get a relatively cheap 26"wheelset and the feel doesn't change that much to a more expensive set

A cheap 29er wheelset will be heavy and slow where as a decent set of 29" wheels will be expensive but make a massive difference

I know Jeff was using a 26" front with a large tyre with a 29" rear god knows why on that one

Pears, silly

A nice pair? ......mmmmmmmmmm

Does anyone remember the full sus / hardtail what's better conversations we used to have?

steel, ali or ti? 😆

20" wheels ?
Pah, you should be on a 12er.

A bit like this Graham?

[img] [/img]

We need sticky FAQs so stooopid threads like this can get deleted.

BTW What tyres for a 29er?

lol partyboy 🙄

The main difference with 29ers seems to be the smugness and superiority complex of the people who talk about them on internet forums.

I'd say the main difference is that people who own 29ers don't keep posting on every thread that mentions a 26er saying how wrong they are.

It still makes me laugh how some people talk about 29ers like they're all the same.

Ride what ever you want i for one couldn't give two ***** what it is.

Ive only ridded dalby

That was definitely my favouritest bit in here, and I readed it all!

After 29er what next the penny penny? lets take big wheels all the way back to Victorian times

29erz are soooo last week dahlings......

36erz are the future !

do those that constantly knock big wheels use wide bars? is this something we should focus on next?

you know 700mm plus bars are like for attention whores only screaming "look at me I've got the span of a chimp! all you narrow baby bar users should worship at my temple of gnar!"

36erz are the future !

I'd say the main difference is that people who own 29ers don't keep posting on every thread that mentions a 26er saying how wrong they are.

Where did I say that?

You'd never catch me even trying on of them things out and forming my own opinion.

Wow what a bunch of crazy zany guys you lot are. 😐

I wonder if there is anything that can be dug up from the 24" vs 26" wheel debate that appeared back along, in the community of riders that I believe to practice a discipline known as 'dirt jumping'.

It'd be different [i]data[/i] of course, but the principles of smaller vs larger would seem to still apply here, given the relative equivalences in sizes.

I am rather taken with the idea of an '[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny-farthing ]Ordinary[/url]' bicycle ...

Stu,nor me. 8) crazee man,crazee yeah...... 8)

did you see what I did there.........

Where did I say that?

I never said [b]you[/b] did. Though you do seem to have some kind of addiction to posting negative comments on threads that mention 29ers.

Wow what a bunch of crazy zany guys you lot are

I know it's ridiculous isn't it. Next time i'll just read an out of date review on a forum. That'll give me a much better idea of how something works/doesn't work. 😆

come on stu.. be fair....Grum posts negative comments on lots of threads , not just ones about 29ers

The simple answer to OP is 'no'.

Not again folks! 😕

I've got a 29er - it's ok.I've also got a 26er & it's grrrrrreeeat....

& I'm faster than xckeith on either of them,although he is about 20 years older than me....

I'm faster than xckeith

to be fair an asthmatic snail with heavy shopping going uphill is faster than keef 😉

Ti456 and Scandal 29er are different styles of bike though, so not really a fair 26/29 comparison

I've run a scandium voodoo sobo as a total weight weenie xc race machine and a salsa selma scandium and carbon total race singlepseed 29er. My lap times around circuits on the chase are marginally faster with the selma, the flat out straight bits are much quicker with gears and small wheels, climbs are at a similar time and really rooty and boggy sections are faster on the big wheel. If I was using a mamasita 29er with gears the times would be much quicker than a comparable 26" bike over the same terrain for me.

Surely it's about the right tool for the job, have a selection of bikes and take whichever one is better for the task.

I can confirm that JJ takes it far,far seriouslier than me,and that I always let him 'win' because no one can stand to watch him blub.
oh,and he does something he calls 'hill reps' or somesuch.

Taz,I only stay behind you to give you a sense of superiority that you need .....

and I've been poorly,an that.yes,that's it,poorly an that.

partyboy - Member

29er's - are they measurably better?

Yes, 3"

Errmmmm - its only really one inch is it not?

You still seasick keef? 😉

Errmmmm - its only really one inch is it not?

Errmmmmm no

keef you stay behind me to look at my bottom!

no stu,I've recovered from my near death experience,thank you

I think Ringo poisoned me....

With manfat?

Taz,I was gonna say that,but I knew you'd get all excited !

Ah - just checked on sheldon brown - got confused cos 27" wheels are bigger than 29re

Just confusing.

26 x 1.00 through 2.3 559 mm Most Mountain bikes, cruisers, etc. except:

29 inch 622 mm This is a marketing term for wide 622 mm ("700c") tires.

27 x anything 630 mm Older road bikes

Ringo couldn't get it up to produce 'manfat' the amount he drinks.