[Closed] Trek Session 29er proto revealed

Well of course they would say 27 is available, if the riders said they were certain 26 would get them the win SC would dig one out from a bin out the back. But 29 has proven faster on all the testing they have done, even when it feels slower, even on their home tracks! I just cant see them going back for timed competition.

Would agree with that. The speed they hit even the tighter tracks negates the "slow speed handling" issues that general punters like to talk about

I think it's been on the cards for a while, Neko Mulally was interviewed before the start of the 2016 season, he was saying that he'd gone up a size on his frame (or rather had a longer custom one I suspect) because there weren’t as many corners on WC DH tracks anymore, long straights, big jumps, rock gardens and massive berms so he didn't need such an agile frame - if you're not making tight turns and you're rarely losing much speed there doesn't seem much of an advantage to 27 over 29.

The 'Industry' seems more than capable of supporting two wheel sizes at the moment, I don't suspect anything is deader than it was yesterday. Do people actually still buy DH bike anymore?

#26willmakeacomeback

😉

But Greg insisted I give the 29er another shot. So I did, and I felt like it was still slower.

Yes, yes, that's what I want, to feel slower...

Take my money! 😆

Yes, yes, that's what I want, to feel slower...

Take my money!

If you want to place high why ride a slower bike thats fun?
If you want to have more 'fun' why ride a £8000 bike designed just for speed?

£8000?

I think you're under selling it!

But in reality, your point is 100% correct, there is very little connect in what these guys are looking for, compared to us mere hobbyists, and so we shouldn't be too taken by what they do.

I mean, do you know anyone who only uses 3 brake rotor bolt? me neither.

I just hope they are not to fast . Suppose everyone on 29 ers is 5 seconds faster than everyone on 27.5 what does that do to the sport . If downhill becomes a bit like formula 1 where ultimately the guy with best car wins that would be a shame . Although I guess in a couple of years everyone would be on them .

But 29 has proven faster on all the testing they have done, even when it feels slower,

No beer I agree . I'm never sure it's a great idea when brands sell a bike as having big input from a world class racer . If they sold it as having input from someone who sits halfway down Strava leaderboards and rides most technical sections with a foot on the floor then I'd be interested

Maybe Minaar will finally get a bike that fits him 😆

We all know you're just back on here for another swatch at Gee Northy!

Hang on, have we just found the reason ratty didnt want to race the WC this year? #29aintfun 😆

Can't work out from the article whether Santa Cruz have produced an entirely new frame or just adapted a 27.5 one with new linkages/back end/headset cups.

Can't work out from the article whether Santa Cruz have produced an entirely new frame or j[b]ust adapted a 27.5 one with new linkages/back end/headset cups[/b].

That

I'd say the latter Rorshach.

Hang on, have we just found the reason ratty didnt want to race the WC this year? #29aintfun

[url=

e's just riding around having fun on a 29er Hightower instead :D[/url]

Yes it references a normal V10 main triangle.

So Greg still won't have a bike that fits.

😉

I mean, do you know anyone who only uses 3 brake rotor bolt? me neither.

I did for a while

Stripped the thread in a hub so figured three was as good as five. Never had a problem with it.

chakaping - Member

So Greg still won't have a bike that fits.

Good point 😆 Maybe they could give him an xxxxxl front tringle?

Nobeerinthefridge - Member

We all know you're just back on here for another swatch at Gee Northy!

I'm spent tbh.

Do people actually still buy DH bike anymore?

Yup; still a lot getting sold. There's something quite fun about bashing stuff into submission on a silly bike!

It'll be interesting to see if the smaller riders (Hart, Brosnan etc) follow suit and ride the larger wheels of if they stay on 27.5. There have been loads of rumours about big wheeled DH bikes, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise.

Those dual ply DH tyres must weigh a fair bit.

Re. Hart - There has already been speculation, kind of supported by a photo, of a Mondraker 29in DH bike.

It'll be interesting to see if the smaller riders (Hart, Brosnan etc) follow suit and ride the larger wheels of if they stay on 27.5.

Hart has been testing. The other SC guys are running shorter (190 vs 210) travel, not sure how tall they are?

Also, Hart is apparently about 5ft 10in - so not exactly a pipsqueak.

Liteville did something with different sized wheels depending on frame size a while ago. It does make sense - if you're a big unit (Greg) then why wouldn't you want to run bigger wheels? A smaller rider like Hart or Brosnan might not feel as comfortable on a 29er so maybe they'll stick to 650b. As to what is fastest...I'm pretty sure Gwin will still clean up on his Tues regardless of what others are running.

29in front might make a lot of sense for DH flange.

I rode a 650b rear/29in front trail bike extensively and found it retained most of the advantages of big wheels downhill, only really lagging compared to a full 29er on bumpy flat trails.

chakaping - Member

Also, Hart is apparently about 5ft 10in - so not exactly a pipsqueak.

I'm 5'10, he's a wee bit shorter than me. Maybe 5'8 or 5'9?

mindmap3 - Member

Those dual ply DH tyres must weigh a fair bit.

[img] [/img]

that the production minion DH 2.5s weigh 1265g for a 26er, 1390g for a 650b and 1295g for the 29er?

Course, the pros may well not be using the production models, or even necessary the full dh carcasses

The article says

in order to race a carbon bike at Lourdes, we needed to start manufacturing by mid-January. Nick Anderson, our head engineer, finished the design in early January and sent it to our carbon factory to get the tooling machined. "We're fortunate enough to co-own our own carbon manufacturing facility, which gives us bandwidth to indulge in this kind of project," Nick says. "I don't think it would have been possible without this kind of partnership."

so we shouldn't be too taken by what they (the pro's) do.

Have you met the marketing arm of the bike industry recently?

I predict a rash of 27.5 dh bikes on the various classified forums over the next few months.

I predict a rash of 27.5 dh bikes on the various classified forums over the next few months.

I can't think of anyone I know that actually has a 650b DH bike, they're all still on 26....

Something's not right here. Shouldn't the marketing engineers have forced through 650B+ before moving on to 29ers?

Something's not right here. Shouldn't the marketing engineers have forced through 650B+ before moving on to 29ers?

nope, they do 29er then make the frame clearances higher for 29 or 650b+ so you have to buy a new bike.

'marketing engineers'

Do they design tin foil hats? 😆

Something's not right here. Shouldn't the marketing engineers have forced through 650B+ before moving on to 29ers?

Same frame, maybe that's why the forks are 'boost'.

Nobeerinthefridge - Member

'marketing engineers'

Do they design tin foil hats?

They would do, but they're too busy inventing and justifying new 'standards'

I can't think of anyone I know that actually has a 650b DH bike, they're all still on 26....

I have but only because my 26inch Demo was stolen.

That weight is pretty impressive but surely that can't be a full dual ply?

mindmap3 - Member

That weight is pretty impressive but surely that can't be a full dual ply?

TBH I'm not sure. It's folding rather than wire, and it doesn't say dualply on the casing, just "dh casing" but te website suggests it's a dualply. It doesn't feel quite as heavy duty as my old 26er dualplies, doesn't have that cardboard feeling... But it's hard to know how much of that is from the generally stiffer feeling you get with a wire bead vs folding. (it does definitely feel more solid than the old folding bead UST downhill maxxi) And o'course the 26er is an ancient design now so it's an unfair comparison no matter what.

I'm not bothered whether it's dualply or not tbh, that really doesn't matter as long as it does the job the same. But thing is, I don't know if it does do the job the same. I'm not that hard on tyres so I've always been happy to use SX specializeds, supergravity skwabblies and maxxis dh ust as downhill tyres, as well as 2 and 4plys... So I can't judge really, and certainly not on how it works for a pro, assuming that they're using the off the peg tyre...

Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

It's still early days for 29-inch wheels in downhill and there will always be "horses for courses." At the end of the day, we want to win races. So if any of our riders feel more comfortable in particular conditions or on certain courses with 27.5" wheels that's what they'll ride.

Also how would marketing work on that? Uh yeah guys so now you're going to need to buy 2 DH bikes?

As marketing goes that's pretty genius actually. 'You wouldn't compromise with mud tyres in the dry, why compromise with 650b on a flat-out track'

I've been thinking about this and I'm not convinced, pro's don't normally alter their setup much during the season. Maybe tyre pressure a few psi here and there, maybe shock setup a little bit but switching to a whole different bike with a different rear end and wheel size would be a massive change,

Stevet1 - Member

Also how would marketing work on that?

"They're both great, look, Greg likes them both. Get the one you want".

Or you could do the Specialized Awesome 29er vs 650b Chat. "We made the 29er Enduro and it's the best enduro we can make. But youse idiots demanded a 650b one, so here it is. It's he best 650b enduro we can make, so it's still really good, it's just less good than the 29er. Buy it if you must, dicks"

Dirt live on FB now, looks like Trek might have something up their sleeve after all?

29er front for roll-over ability and a 650 rear for easier geometry, better clearances and quicker acceleration.

best of both worlds.

I'd say Trek will be revealing their 29 race bike any time soon. The bigger wheels makes sense for taller riders and I think Gee is around 6ft so it wouldn't surprise me if he is on one this season.
There are a lot of haters but it's gonna make for an interesting race season and all the research and technology always trickles down to us mortals so it's a good thing in my opinion

Love Dan from Trek's response in that Dirt interview, just total stonewall. AND he talked about tyres, he's a man after my own heart.

sq225917 - Member

29er front for roll-over ability and a 650 rear for easier geometry, better clearances and quicker acceleration.

best of both worlds.

But looks too stupid. That's where the image part really kicks in, 69ers have always made a lot of sense but urgh.