[Closed] erm..... can someone please explain the whole 29er thing to me? Please.

700c is normal if you are a roadie

It's so owners can come on here with their holier than thou superior attitude......

imho of course.....

😉

Bigger is better - obvious no?

So if you're a roadie, why don't you just ride on roads?

What on earth could be the appeal?

ride one, might work for might not. they're all bikes, it's all good

Think about it in a car sense, you usual family car has 16 inch wheels but something like a disco/land cruiser etc has 18 inch wheels.
Big wheels are better for off road, end of.
Folk that come on here showing off their wagon wheelers have seen the light whilst you still live in the dark ages and drown witches.

For me being tall i can have a large bike that looks in proportion the same as everyone elses normal sized bikes.

This is how it was explained to me.

[i]

I've gone all 29er' now...

The spin off to this was that I became happy recipient of a box fresh Indy Fab ti Singlspeed in 26 inch flavour.

At 6"4 I feel like it fits better, this may be all in my head and if I rode the 'right sized' 26" wheel bike I might change my tune, but I'm quite happy with my 29er.

Rolls smoother, feels like it carries speed better, feels slower in tight corners.

Not for me tho, 6' 0.5"

[img] [/img]

big wheels just roll over stuff better 😀

If you need it explained, you haven't ridden a decent one.

f you need it explained, you haven't ridden a decent one.

bit like having sex with a fat lass 😉

Taller people ride bigger bikes. Why shouldn't that be extended to the wheels? It means you can get the BB shell lower than the axles and lower the C.O.G. too.
Others like the smoother rolling action of bigger wheels. They just roll over the holes created by 26inch wheels on a trail.
Bigger tyres will do the same thing though.
Some people just like to be different, and that's cool too.

As someone who rides a 5 inch travel thing with normal wheels. What on earth could be the appeal?

none, stop thinking about them, move on to a more interesting discussion topic, nothing to ponder about

It's just another type of bike.

If you don't like the first one you try just try a few more.

Bit like anything else realy.

Or failing that you could try reading someone elses take on a subject and quoting that as the only option.

I'm waiting for a 33er before I take the plunge...

29 is so last year

Oh, thank God for that, I really don't understand the magic 29..

loddrik - Member

I'm waiting for a [s]33er[/s]* 36er before I take the plunge...

29 is so [s]last year[/s] ten years ago.

*33er.? Not such thing

There fixed that for you.

Please try and keep up to date.

36er?

I'm halfway there

This is one I brewed up earlier - being tested by Steve of Square Wheels 🙂

[img] [/img]

I honestly don't know, but it just feels right to ride. I guess the fact that every other incarnation of offroad transport has bigger wheels than its on-road counterpart says something. I also have a tasty 575 and it has not turned a wheel since I got the 29er. All very welcome to have a spin on it and see what you think....... That's all

i ride 29rs cos i am a fashion whore, and also cos i have got shit loads of money to waste................. 😉

Rumbled me Tony 😆

You do realise that the whole 26er thing is just a historical accident and not the product of years of exhaustive empirical research by "The Founders of Mountain Biking™" into what is the best wheel size?

Think about it in a car sense, you usual family car has 16 inch wheels but something like a disco/land cruiser etc has 18 inch wheels.
Big wheels are better for off road, end of.

And a rolls royce phantom has 21 inch wheels. This must be mental off-road, whooping those disco's 😳

Have you taken a roller off road?
Didn't think so.

Big wheels make things smooth which is why rolls have put them on, have you seen our pot hole infested roads recently?

Troll alert!

You do realise that the whole 26er thing is just a historical accident and not the product of years of exhaustive empirical research by "The Founders of Mountain Biking™" into what is the best wheel size?

Supposedly, Gary Fisher built a bike with 700c wheels in the early days & it worked very well; only snag was the very limited availability of suitable tyres (which came from a pre-phones Nokia in Finland IIRC).

As above, the main reason 26" is the default MTB wheel size is because that's what the cruiser bikes modded into the first MTBs took.

Anyway, 650b is the new 29" 😛

Andy

(26" wheels on mine & happy enough with them)

binners, [url= http://www.rutlandcycling.com/21966/Diamondback-Mojito-29er-Bike.html ]find out for yourself![/url]

complete bike, £230.

The Rolls is famous for its smooth ride = those big wheels must help.

Also- it's a myth that 29ers are just for tall people.

I'm still waiting for 2.35" tyres for my 27" rims.

That would make it a 30er.

[i]Big wheels make things smooth which is why rolls have put them on, have you seen our pot hole infested roads recently? [/i]

Its not about wheels, but the outside rolling circumference (of the tyre) that counts, plus obviously the bump absorption of said tyre.

But in simple terms, a 29er has a shallower 'attack' angle to a bump/ridge than a 26er.

binners, find out for yourself!

complete bike, £230.

I bought one of those - I now ride it more than my Ti inbred!

[img] [/img]

...I have upgraded heavy parts with kits from my parts bin. And whacked gears on.

For me being tall i can have a large bike that looks in proportion the same as everyone elses normal sized bike

see back in the day I had to ride this garden gate - 26" wheels just look silly...

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

anyhow the cranks snapped then it got stolen after fitting xtr crank.. bum

the very limited availability of suitable tyres (which came from a pre-phones Nokia in Finland IIRC).

That'd be Nokian - they still make tyres. In any case, they never really got to a full 2.0" wide and for that reason were never really seen as (or ridden as) mountain bikes. Personally, when I bought my first disc equipped mountain bike about 15 years ago it didn't take me long to build some 700c road wheels, or much longer than that to put on cross tyres. From there it was only a matter of time.

Why? It's something you should really try and see for yourself.

Taller people ride bigger bikes. Why shouldn't that be extended to the wheels? It means you can get the BB shell lower than the axles and lower the C.O.G. too.

Sorry, but I think that's just not right at all. The CoG of a 29er is higher because the wheels are taller - the rider is basically in the same place as are the cranks. everything else is a bit higher. And as to dropping the BB shell below the axles, so what? Taller riders don't suit 29ers better than other riders, except maybe really small people for whom you have to compromise the geometry, etc to shoehorn it all in (though admittedly this can work for some people depending on their preferences).

My thoughts on my 29er as someone who doesn't believe most of the stupid hype - 29ers in general are just bikes - better at some things, worse at others.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/singular-swift-29er-and-suntour-epicon-rld-29er-fork-reviews

I don't want to get into making sweeping generalisations, but Saturday's fun at HtN was the first time I had ridden my 29er Karate Monkey hard and for ages. It was spectacularly comfortable and tolerably quick. I came off after (admittedly only) 10 laps without significant discomfort going on anywhere about my person. That and the fact that it went pretty handily and I didn't fall off at any point will do me to be going on with.

Quite like the looks of the big wheels too. 🙂

I've got a 29 hardtail that I'm really liking for easier off road stuff. It's like it's the offspring of a pretty little 26" hard tail that had a one off lustful night with a cyclo cross bike cad who said he would love her in the morning. Most of the time it looks like every other mountain bike but every now and again you look at it at the wrong angle and get a glimpse of the crosser in the glint of it's eye. Rides a bit like that too.

Can't see I'd switch my 26" FS, designed for rougher stuff, to 29 inches.

I'm 6ft 2 and the bigger wheels seem in proportion, i have more 26" wheeled bikes than 29" but the smaller wheeled ones never get ridden these days therefore I deduce 29ers suit me more. I like them, who needs more reason than that to own one?

29ers, great in a straight line 🙂

I have to say though .. they are very quick once up to speed. Feel a bit weird in proper techy stuff though.

I just wish there was a size in between 29" and 26" .. to retain sharper handling .. but still get the benefits of a bigger wheel. Ho hum.

it's so when you need a new wheel 10 days before 24:12, it's a huge panic and you need to build a new wheel rather than just borrow one from your other bike.

now where is that spoke key!!

They make sense to me if your a tall bloke, makes everything look in proportion. I'm a wee fella and will stick with 26" wheels, as another wee fella I saw today on a 29er looked utterly ridiculous. But hey, he seemed happy enough. Just looked comical.

[I]29ers, great in a straight line[/I]

Depends on which one you've ridden, mine seems no worse than my 26ers

Coogan sure that wasn't a reflection of you on a 26er?

nixon_fiend - Member

I just wish there was a size in between 29" and 26" .. to retain sharper handling .. but still get the benefits of a bigger wheel. Ho hum.

There is - 650B.

29rs are shyte........fact. 8)

Rode a 29er for the first time last week, it just felt better, rolled more easily over the bumps and definitely faster. Nothing empirical though, just my gut feel.

[i]Quite like the looks of the big wheels too[/i]

The opposite reason is why I don't like them, they just look wrong. Which I'm totally happy is a ridiculous reason, but there you go.

So mean Al, so mean. After me driving you everywhere last weekend. Cut me deep.

29ers are the faster/better/bigger/cooler/nicher and just plain everthinger that w hatever was the last faster/better/bigger/cooler/nicher thing.

if you haven't got one yet just accept that this time you've missed out on the bandwagon.

32ers are where it's at.

Then 36ers.

Quite like the looks of the big wheels too

The opposite reason is why I don't like them, they just look wrong. Which I'm totally happy is a ridiculous reason, but there you go.

this is where frame size has an effect... big frames suit the big wheels whereas small frames my the 29er wheels look mad

i'm the same size now as back in the day..

think my 21" 29er swift looks better as it is more in proportion
[img] [/img]

than my old 22" with 26" wheels Dale
[img] [/img]
ps someone unkindly taped a gate hinge to the headtube of this bike once.... and I could climb through the frame lol

sloping TT and other changes help, but fundamentally the 29er looks better as a package - also unlike the dale it has not snapped or been stolen yet - but doubt that is down to the wheel size

No. I won't. If you've not got it, try riding them. If you still don't get it, fair enough. However, riding a bike tends to be the real test of a bike.

Or the STW Test Ride, being 'looking at a picture on the internet, sucking your teeth and slagging it to kingdom come' - which may not really be as effective.

Having seen BD's Surly close up at the weekend, and miketually's (loaner) Ragley, I have concluded that irrespective of my short stature, these bikes look just the thing.

Of course, with junior North imminent, there'll be no more bikes for me. Ever.