All This Big Wheel Malarky – Techy Sections – Page 2 – Bike Forum

oscillatewildly · 2013-06-14T08:16:31Z

now ive only ever ridden 26" wheels (apart from when a child!), this got me thinking whilst out the other day on a rather techy section or two of stuff we only really do when its dry (and boy was it super dry and fun!) now these techy, rocky, rooty, narrow descents are tricky enough with 26" wheels, they are twitchy require a good bit of committment and a tiny bit of skill to some extent (some mates ride it and some mates get off and push completely) it just got me thinking whilst i was actually going down the said techy sections, how much harder/terrible it would be on a 29" wheel, the wheel id imagine would get stuck often in divets, it would be harder to maneuver the front end when it gets really steep and techy and as stupid as it sounds also seeing over the front wheel when its pointing down to see what lies ahead (due to its mahooosive size!) are all my worries dumbfounded? will i die if i ever have to get one? seriously starting to think its now the end of 26" bikes, especially the 'decent' branded stuff anyways :( i can see the advantage racing for 29'er 27.5' etc, but when it comes to AM type techy stuff i dont see any advantage at all, if anything i see it as a hindrance, trail centres i can see the advantage, most of the trail centres would be fine with them, as they are mostly smooth and not overly techy (bar the odd one)....im thinking for more like the riding of the sweary northerners (which is similar to the techy sections from other day we did to give you some idea what i mean), cant imagine how much trickier it would be on a 29er getting in some of those tight nooks and crannys! im not ranting as such, it is starting to become apparent that in another year theres going to be no decent 26'ers left

Candodavid

Posts: 0

Free Member

Both my QH and Tallboy Ltc really work on technical trails, haven't ridden a 26" wheel in over 12 months.

Posted : 16/06/2013 2:02 pm

singlecrack

Posts: 2

Free Member

My 29ers are rubbish ...but I can't go back to 26ers cos everyone will point and laugh ..and say I told you so ..so I'm stuck with the cr4p

Posted : 16/06/2013 3:43 pm

rickon

Posts: 1748

Free Member

as stupid as it sounds also seeing over the front wheel when its pointing down to see what lies ahead (due to its mahooosive size!)

Why are you looking in front of your wheel?

Look at where you want to go, not where you're going and you'll stop getting tangled up 🙂

I've ridden 29er Sultan back to back with a 26er 5-spot. Pretty much no difference on technical stuff, just felt smoother on the Sultan. I still prefer the teeny wheels though.

Horse for courses, you picks your choice and you takes your chances. Some bikes will be a good technical descender, some will not. This applies across the board, regardless of wheel size, shoe size, beard size and how many pies you've just stuff into your face.

Cordial anyone? 😉

Posted : 16/06/2013 6:58 pm

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