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So orange P729er or wait around to see if a new Solaris is going to surface?
Email in profile Cy 😉
^^^ similar thoughts to mine.
I'd prefer a solaris but not if it is designed around plus tyres like the present one. At least that is my assumption from riding both wheel types on it. 29er version felt dead and wooden, almost as if the frame was too rigid, whereas the 27plus felt compliant and comfortable.
For the record a Stanton sherpa, explicitly designed principally for 29 wheels, felt great with 29 but vague and detached with 27plus.
@Shack I rode both Solaris wheelsets back to back and I know what you mean but I put it down to bouncy fun of the plus rather than a shortfall in the 29er (plus first, then 29). TBH I had never considered a 29er before but that demo ride has swayed me significantly. Given I have my 2012 26 BFe I was thinking of my something different being an Escapade, then after the Solaris demo that came into contention and now we have the new Soul 🙂 TBH if the industry had stuck with / gone back to 26 I’d have already bought a Soul frame in 26 to transfer my BFe components to.
SolarisMAX wasn't optimised around either wheel, it's capable of doing both. The glaring difference in ride feel is simply the tyres, as I find Plus tyres suit a hardtail well. FWIW although I run Plus tyres on my SolarisMAX to give it a completely different feel to my RocketMAX, I actually prefer the 29er wheels on balance. It's a preference thing though, and people have said the opposite to my opinion too. Also worth considering tyre pressures. If you tried at a demo, Sam does his best, but if you're on the light side, or if he had to blow up a soft tyre in a hurry having the tyres on the 29er wheels a few PSI harder than ideal will make the bike feel very jittery.
Even on my mk1 Solaris I found being a light rider that getting the right PSI made a huge difference.
I see the Solaris Max frames are on offer too. £449.
I find the Solaris (mk2) marginally better on 29in too.
I do think the lower BB with 2.8in B-plus tyres adds a bit of confidence along with extra grip. Pedal strike-tastic though.
I’ve got a Solaris is chubby mode and don’t ever recall banging a pedal.
My stumpjumper on the other hand....