To be fair, their prevalence is a recent thing, for 2012 they are a hell of a lot more common, a huge number of people I know are changing for next season. Specialized don’t even do a 26″ hardtail over £1000, nor any Epics, that’s a hell of a step!

I’m intrigued to try one sometime, but happy on 26 for now!

The black sheep it 36er does ride very well… Quite fancy one. Wheels from the unicycle world, frame from. Eeeer

NATES due with me at the end of this month.

I think it’s this sort of thing that will require a change in the mindset of many of us towards the 29er concept. Even having one of my bikes as a 29er my natural attitude towards them has still been that they are a good choice for folks stuck between buying a hybrid and a mtb but erring on the off road side of the fence, albeit in a wheels on the ground bridleway riding kind of way.

My experience of mine is that the other differences my 29er has to my other bikes (differences in distances between contact points, geometry, frame material, drivetrain, tyres, bar width etc etc) are as much if not more influential in the way the bike feels than the size of the wheels. The only people who I think can truly say they have judged the difference for themselves are those that have ridden identical models from the same manufacturer on the same terrain on the same day where the only difference is that one is the 26″ and the other is the 29er version. For the rest (and that includes me) the other variables are too noticeable to make informed comment.

Or how about: “29ers: Bike companies invent another niche to make you think you need another bike. Once you’ve bought that bike you can’t say ‘actually it’s not so different’ so you start to spout pro 29er guff to make it look like your not just a slut for a shiny new toy”

Discuss.

29ers are a meme.

You know me so well

Just ride a bmx and you will soon realize how slow and cumbersome 26 feels. You wouldnt want to go any bigger! ;O)

not sure about this, Specialized have 26 and 29ers in the more popular bikes, Stumpies and the like,

Epics and HT Stumpies are not so popular, as a manufacturing mass producing company do you tool up for 26ers and 29ers on your less popular ranges, if you do prices will go up and your becoming a batch producer, more inventory more hassle, plus 29ers will provide an opportunity to upgrade existing customers,

Specialized probably made this strategic decision several years ago, luckily they won the XC World Cup and Champs using a giant, but at the same time one of their top riders, who looks like he was forced to ride a 29er, performed below par last year,

Are they really that much more fun? Cos frankly, that’s what we’re all here for.

Did anything of note happen in the last 4 pages or was it STD 29er hating stuff ,

Cheers tizzy glad I didnt waste my time reading 4 pages , nothing new to read here

29ers are so last year, its all about 650b now

650b is gonna get a big push soon, with complete bikes at normal prices appearing in 2013. It’s as if the success of 29 has forced some manufactures to take 650b seriously.

Also 29 won’t be the max. There are things going on that you are not allowed to know about.

I’m open to the idea of riding around effortlessly on big wheels but those kind of rolling, long distance rides form an increasingly small part of my riding….i rarely ride a trail centre, which is where i’m led to believe the effects of big wheels show themselves most clearly.

Last time i got my bike out was at the FoD Mini-Downhill….300 riders there mostly on 26 inch wheels as far as i could tell….weather permitting i’m doing an uplift day at Cwmcarn this weekend and nobody in the group i’m with has a 29er….in fact i’d be willing to bet nobody on the uplift will have a 29er….after that i’ll ride Rogate intermittently until the Gravity Enduro series starts and then dig my bike out for that too….honestly cant see too many 29ers appearing on the Enduro scene anytime soon….not when current 140-160mm bikes are so good….

….and that is the main problem the industry has, if long travel 26ers were a bit rubbish then we’d all be clamouring for something different/better….but take any number of bikes in the All-Mountain category; Orange 5, Lapierre Zesty/Spicy, Spesh Pitch/Enduro/Stumpjumper, Giant Reign….etc etc, all are better than most rider’s abilities and all readily available for reasonable money….the All-Mountain category seems to be the favoured bike for Enduro racing which is the fastest growing sector of competitive mountain biking….throw into the mix internet only companies like Canyon and YT-Industries also making excellent All-Mountain 26ers for around £1500 and the complete lack of interest towards 29ers from most MTB-ers makes sense.

Why pay more money for something that might not be as good?

When 29ers start to appear at the sharp end of DH, Enduro etc then they’ll be interest from riders who favour the more off piste kind of riding but for most they are something to pootle around a trail centre on….or enter an XC race with….fine if thats your thing but i wish the converts would stop being so evangelical about the benefits when these same riders dont exactly turn up in droves at the more rugged events to show off the advantages of 29ers….

There seems to be a lot of talk and bluster about how well a 29 inch wheel deals with bad terrain…good, i wish 29er riders would put their money where their mouths are then and prove it….i await the legions of 29 inch bikes on the start line of the Gravity Enduro races this season….i wont hold my breath.