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I'm hoping someone can help me. Looking to get back into mountain biking. The last time I brought a mountain bike was back in 2004 so wheel choice was limited to 26".
Now I there seems much more choice. I live in Cambridge which geographically is flat as a pancake! Most of my riding will be local bridleways. Looking to join the local mountain bike group which do weekly rides. Have ridden with them before. I will occasionally go to Thetford forest trail centre and possibly further afield at some point like Cannock chase or similar.
What would be my best bet to get 29" or 27.5"?? I've popped into my local bike shop and they suggested for the type of riding 29" would be best. Bike wise they suggested a Trek X-calibre 9 for my budget. I have looked online and the Vitus Rapide slx looks to be a slightly better spec for less money.
Cheers for the help.
How tall are you? A 29er definitely sounds the best choice based on your tyre of riding. An option might be to find a 27.5+ bike which will give you the option to run it with 29 inch wheels for most of the stuff local to you/commuting, but then put the plus wheels back on if you want to do some more technical trail centre stuff??
29er if you link up bridleways on road. Plus is good but not all run 29er
The vitus hardtail are smart and great spec for the money.
Buy the bike that suits you, size wise, geometry, weight, reach etc are all more important than wheel size.
Some on here put far too much significance on the extra approx 1.9" wheel diameter that 29 gives you. Ironically, these were the same folk that moaned like **** when the industry started moving from 26 to 650b 😱🤣
Good points.
What you describe: yes - a 29er XC race full suspension bike might be great.
Couple bike manufacturers have fantastic short travel bikes developed - example:
Canyon Lux. Very low weight, great and efficient machine. But not cheap so - think this bike starts at 2,5 k. These bikes are expensive due to the low weight thing (below 12 kg).
One extreme example is the BMC FourStroke. Crazy 10 k price tag...
That's a bit nuts of course.
But these new bikes might add some ideas for your search.
29er , low weight, short travel full suspension might be a bike for you.
Or hardtail....
Bit more trail orientated: there is a new trail hardtail around from Radon. The Cragger. Version 7.0 is around 1,2 k I think.
29er, long and slack (NO XC RACE MACHINE!). Bike-discount.de sells them.
This bike will feel very different from the Lux....
Cheers for all the replies, height wise I am 5ft 9. My budget is up to £1k. I have seen Halfords have a good deal on the Boardman Pro 29 right now and I can get a further 10% off with a voucher scheme through work.
I've had a little look at the geometry of my old bike and compared to new ones in my size the frame is bigger but overall reach works out about the same due to modern bikes having shorter stems.
The purpose of choosing a wheel size is to allow you to evangelise and be a dick about it. Choose a bike, ride the bike, the wheel size has (unless you're at the very pointy end) all the real world impact of "what colour" and just as much of a right answer.
Buy the bike that suits you, size wise, geometry, weight, reach etc are all more important than wheel size.
Some on here put far too much significance on the extra approx 1.9″ wheel diameter that 29 gives you. Ironically, these were the same folk that moaned like **** when the industry started moving from 26 to 650b 😱🤣
What is ironic about that? At the time, the proposal was one wheel size to rule them all (at least it was from some manufacturers). They lost, 29er enthusiasts won.
Your LBS is going to know what works well for your local trais and can talk to you about your riding style. They may even be supporting that local riding group you mentioned. Of course, if you then go and buy the bike online beacuse it is a bit cheaper there may not be an LBS for long, but that's capitalism for you 🙂
I've not ridden much in the flatlands, but did go to Thetford once. It seemed ideal 29er territory to me, but then I tend to prefer the larger wheels everywhere really.
Buy the bike that suits you, size wise, geometry, weight, reach etc are all more important than wheel size.
Some on here put far too much significance on the extra approx 1.9″ wheel diameter that 29 gives you. Ironically, these were the same folk that moaned like **** when the industry started moving from 26 to 650b 😱🤣
Think I might be better off heading to a local bike shop and trying a few than just buying online.
The purpose of choosing a wheel size is to allow you to evangelise and be a dick about it. Choose a bike, ride the bike, the wheel size has (unless you’re at the very pointy end) all the real world impact of “what colour” and just as much of a right answer
Think I might pay my local evens store a visit where I can sit on a bike and also ride it. Halfords won't let me so that.
Think I might pay my local evens store a visit where I can sit on a bike and also ride it. Halfords won’t let me so that.
Or try to get to a demo day where there's a wide range of things to try. Try, if you can, not to take any preconceptions about what's the right thing just go and see what you enjoy. unless you are very serious the right answer to this question is the bike you ride and enjoy riding, if that's a folding ebike commuter and you're throwing it down the 50:01 at revolution with a smile on your face or a triple crown dh monster you pootle along country lanes blissful in the sunshine doesn't matter, its the one which puts the biggest grin on your face and thats not always the right bike for the job.
(there's a "bike live" demo day at cannock on 6 April where calibre will be with their range and I guess a few others, run by road.cc, there's plenty of flatness at cannock to try something and check you enjoy it on the sort of stuff you'll find locally as well)
1k budget should be fine.
But then the whole adventure is "budget driven".
Try to get the best 1k deal. Without thinking too much about 27,5 or 29 rubber.
If you decide to go hardtail: good fork is key.
1 k budget & full suspension bike: the Bossnut (Calibre) is good (27.5 tyres). But for the "flat" area not as much fun. Too heavy and too much drag. It's a trail bike.
And, bang on time, proving my point perfectly.... a strange breed. 🤣🤣🤣
They lost, 29er enthusiasts won.
The purpose of choosing a wheel size is to allow you to evangelise and be a dick about it.
yes that's why the big brands have wheel size specific bike sizing so if you are a lanky git the bike is a 29er and if you are not it's 27.5. such as Trek's smart wheel size. this is perfect if like the OP hasn't ridden for a while and needs to get back into it. granted if you are a regular rider and want a less all round bike and a more genre specific one then you already know what you want. the smart wheel size is a great guide.
nothing evangelistic or dickish about that
I had been away from mountain biking for years. Recently got back into it and the new bike has a 29 front and 27.5 rear.
No idea what folk think of that combination but it hasn't given me any problems yet.
The 29 is good at rolling over obstacles and the 27.5 is apparently good for traction.