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Shackleton - Member
Why do some people around here assume that it has to be one or the other and the people opposed to their point of view are wrong? It's not wrong, it's just different. It's riding bikes and having fun yet gets turned into a political/religious style argument every time.
Dam right it's all ****ing bollocks.
Why do some people around here assume that it has to be one or the other and the people opposed to their point of view are wrong? It's not wrong, it's just different. It's riding bikes and having fun yet gets turned into a political/religious style argument every time.
Because when you've spent £1000s on equipment, few enjoy being told there is something better. As well as the fact that many people are asshats.
Yep, lil Sammy Hill, on his Specialized, with RockShox suspension, Avid brakes, e-13 chain device, boring boring dull dull, same stuff as everyone else.*
This years big privateer bike has been the Giant Glory. Last couple of years it's been the Trek Session. Next year, it looks like the Specialized Demo will be everywhere. That's some very conservative buying.
*I know that's not really at all true, but it makes my point that DH riders tend to all conregate around a very small number of manufacteurers/components/designs.
SpokesCycles - Member
DH riders are the best- they're the best at technical stuff, which is the stamp of a good [b]offroad[/b] rider. Not fitness.
Sorry to be picky but the clue is in the title - they are good [b]downhill[/b] riders. They aren't going to be good [b]offroad[/b] riders if they can't make it uphill, and in the type of riding that most of do there are climbs.
Therefore, DH riders are only the best at going DH, by defintion, I'd guess.
(I get pretty bored waiting for people, normally kids, who claim to be DH riders push their bikes up 100m of 1 in 12 fire road because they are so good at technical stuff that they can't ride uphill...)
Anyway, everyone agrees that the best 'technical' riders are pro-level flatland BMX riders. And their bikes are tiny.
Anyway, everyone agrees that the best 'technical' riders are pro-level flatland BMX riders.
I always thought that until I saw the 12yo girls riding in the Chinese State Circus. SKILLZ.
The bubble just keeps getting bigger despite all the naysayers.
Doesn't seem that long ago that all 29ers were rigid and half of them were single speed. Still feels like that here in the UK. As frame makers push the manufactures we're seeing tougher rims, longer travel forks and burlier tyres. This year, in the US at least, there will be a fair few 140mm FS 29ers available.
There was a time when people said they would never be any good for XC racing but thats changing. Maybe the DH world will too. We wont know until the frames & components are available.
The 29er movement is a reversion to proper size wheels after the temporary aberration of the USA street cruiser size wheels which were fitted on the early primitive mountainbikes.
Edit: Better add a smiley 🙂
[i]"will the 29er bubble burst?"[/i]
Yes, round about the time the whole mountain biking bubble bursts.
Mountain biking's just a fad. It'll soon be forgotten, just like hula hoops and skate boards.
rOcKeTdOg - Member
Thinking of moving on all my 26" stuff and sticking with bigger wheels, will I regret it in "X" months time?
No, I won't be going back to Micky Mouse small wheels.
All mine have tiny wheeled bikes have gone apart from my local shop won't be knicked On*One ss.
If you need something for big hills what about this?
http://www.mtnbikeriders.com/2009/11/09/intense-cycles-29er-downhill-bike-the-2951/
Responding to the earlier bit of the thread ... both Steve Peat and Cédric Gracia ride tallboys when they do XC ... not sure that makes any difference to the discussion about DH going 29 inch.
Just ride what you want to ride ... I've got both and it is pretty obvious that the 29er is quicker on some trails and the 26er on others.
will the 29er bubble burst?
Did one form? 😉
i do rather fancy a Niner WFO9 and a mate reckons at 6'4" I'm the right size for a 29"er
29ers everywhere soon its called progress
YOU CAN'T STOP IT
its the future 😆
i fancy either of the following
custom nicolai fs 29r
foes b29r
intense dh 29r
and i have enough in my kitty for either too............... 8)
ooh, i'd like to see a Nikki 29er Ton, get one of them!
rd, you not seen wharfes off mtbr....the orange one??
tis very nice.
nope, stealth battleship cammo would be good 🙂
Has the 29er bubble burst? Well, it's gone from clunky heavy weird for the sake of it-ness, to some pretty sleek and desirable bikes which got lots of people excited, to...
[img] 
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Hardly a ringing endorsement though it is? A ****wit who has problems remembering his own name.....
as opposed to the current british prime minister who locks his bike to a 3ft high bollard and is surprised when it gets lifted up to be stolen....
Don't you get toe overhang, or alternatively a silly long wheelbase?
Is there room just to be not that bothered either way, as a bit of a shorty I don't really fancy a 29'er, but think as an idea that are pretty good and think it's great folk seem to really enjoy them. I reckon if there is a decent enough market for them they will stay, and this more than owt will be the key..
I wonder how long we've got until the oversize handlebar bubble bursts.
Or the hydraulic disc brake bubble.
Or the clipless pedal bubble.
Or the suspension bubble.
i think of a mountainbike as a bike, the bike bubble hasn't burst, but various niches have..such as the popularity of the chopper style in the mainstream
This probably sums up the debate between any 2 'niches' whether 26 vs 29 or MTB vs Road
[img] 
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There is one thing I just don't get in this argument...
If 29" is really the 'optimum' size for a bicycle wheel, shouldn't we be measuring inclusive of tyre diameter instead of only taking rim diameter into account?
My 26" wheels have a total diameter that is very similar to that of the 29" wheels on my commuter because of the large difference in the profiles of the tyres. By that reasoning, road bikes should have even larger wheels or 29ers should all have low profile tyres. In other words, 26" is in fact the 'optimum' size.
P.S. All you 29er clowns know I'm right, so don't even try it. 😀
By that reasoning
None seen. Carry on.
What's a "supine"?
It's a rigid SS 29er with H-bars, a bottle opener and a beard. 😳
EDIT: I'm not really anti-29er. I just don't think it should be touted as an optimum size as there are other variables to take in to account.
pic?*
*beard optional
Damn, the beard is the only bit I actually have...
Buzz - just out of interest I've just measured my three mtbs
XL Swift 29er with 100mm Suntour fork 112cm wheelbase 17.5" chainstays
20" 853 inbred with 130mm Pace fork 112cm, 16.75"
20" 95 Kona Kilauea with 100mm Pace fork 110.5cm, 16.75"
No toeclip overlap on any of them even with my size 12s.
29ers are here to stay .. it's 26" bikes that will soon be extinct.
Look at the US - the market over there is huge and the industry has basically switched to 29ers - 26" is considered 'old news' there - we in the UK are going to "get what we are given" really as it's the big American companies that drive trends and designs in off-the-peg bikes.
IMO - within 5 years 26" designs will be consigned to 'slope-style' and DH bikes... 29ers will be the dominant XC archetype but I expect to see more 650B Full-sus designs developed to offer longer travel AND a larger wheel.
within 5 years 26" designs will be consigned to 'slope-style' and DH bikes
No chance. 10 years and I'd still disagree but say that it's feasible. Not 5.
You only need to pick up an American MTB mag (MBA?) and see the prolifieration of 29ers already. I honestly don't see much of a future for 26" - although companies like Orange will probably sstill be selling single-pivot 26" bikes in 30 years timwe 😉
A sign of the growth of 29ers is InterBike. There are a lot more 29ers there this year, plus a lot of the European brands are now starting to offer 29ers.
By that reasoning, road bikes should have even larger wheels
before the UCI decided it was pushing the rules a little too much.....
[img] 
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If 29" is really the 'optimum' size for a bicycle wheel, shouldn't we be measuring inclusive of tyre diameter instead of only taking rim diameter into account?
Both 26" and 29" 'wheels' are actually smaller wheels whose approximate outside tyre diameter with an average tyre (whatever that is) is 26" and 29" respectively. It's a very odd convention!
I'm in Austria just now and was in Switzerland last week. I've lost count of the number of riders wanting to look/fiddle with my 29er (Tallboy). Yet I have not seen a tyre or a tube that would fit in any shop. I've also not seen a 29er bike in any of the shops I have visited.
Must admit I've ridden a couple.
A Gary Fisher SS one with front forks and a Kona FS one, kinda funny feeling but good none-the-less.
Might get one in the future, maybe.........
fiddling with a tallboy sounds fun 😉
[i]it's 26" bikes that will soon be extinct[/i]
😆
No-one is going to persuade me I need bigger wheels. Not now not ever.