. . . at 5′ 8″ with 30″ inside leg ?

Currently got a Ragley Blue Pig and thinking of upgrading but are they just for beanpoles?

No, but watch out for the exploding wheels.

5’6″ on a medium tallboy c and a small surly krampus

definitely not too short.

but this is important: a 29er is not an ‘upgrade’ over a 26er, it’s just ‘different’.

a 29er is not an ‘upgrade’ over a 26er’..

It most certainly is*

*imo

but are they just for beanpoles?

I’m a beanpole but don’t want a 29er so you can have the one that was allocated to me (might be an idea to wear high heels when you go to collect it if you’re only little).

5′ 8″ with 30″ inside leg ?

At a whole inch taller than you, I am currently riding a M Salsa El Mar.

No

+1 for a simple NO

I’m 5’8″ with 29″ inside and ride medium Niner air 9c and medium Turner Czar. Both fit beautifully for me with 80mm stem.
For what its worth I also ride a medium Trek 69er _ thats my token 26er foolishness 🙂

I’m 5″6 and riding a M Banshee Paradox. You will be fine!

I’m 5″6 and riding a M Banshee Paradox. You will be fine!

Was looking at the Paradox as a possible option and in a medium!

Its a great bike, cannot recommend it enough. If you are anywhere near North Wales you are welcome to come and have a go.

I hope not, I just won a 17inch Kona Unit on ebay today and im pretty much the same height

@rhid thanks for the offer but in North Yorks so a bit far. What build have you gone with if you don’t mind me asking

You’ll be fine, road bikes have bigger wheels than the 26 inch ones most MTBers are used to and a huge number of road racers are tiny, a lot of the women who are barely more than 5-foot cope just fine.

Always makes me laugh when this topic crops up, they dont give Cavendish a small wheeled bike because he is tiny, it has more to do with the geometry of the frame (always has been and always will be) and then thoughtful use of seatposts, saddles, stem etc etc to get the fit spot on.

Err, well Mark Cavendish tends to stick to the roads, so not really the same thing.

To the OP, you’ll be fine.

More or less same height, longer legs at 32″, and ride a Ramin 1 in a medium. Fits just reet, and no toe overlap or nuffin.

I also had a Vitus Vee 29er in a 16″. That was fine, but there was toe touching when turning tightly.

No

Im 5 8″ on a good day and I have ridden a few 29ers and I am still alive, slight issues with toe overlap at times (if riding a small rather than medium) but then again I do have size 12 feet.

I’m only 5ft 7″ with little legs and I love my Zealous Division 29er. It took a while to find a 29er that didn’t feel like I was perched on top of rather than comfortably at one with but it was worth the testing and research. I’d suggest you look carefully at the geometry as it makes a big difference to the way it rides. Mine is long, slack (68deg head angle, slack for 29er) and with short chain stays to keep the handling snappy. Other 29ers I rode felt narrow boat like in comparison.

I’m 5’9″ and ride a medium stump jumper 29er FSR carbon, best fitting bike I’ve had, just fitted short 50mm stem to improve control..

Im 5ft6 30″ inside leg, and ride a small canyon 29er, Grand Canyon 6.9 and its the best bike ive ever had!

Although the front end is higher then my speshi camber lol!

Nope!
Emily Batty is 5’3″

5ft 11, with a 29 inch inside leg (yes, freaky, I know) and loving my 19inch Trek Marlin.
Height and inside leg are not the only factors, though – do you have gibbon arms? 😉

A test ride is the best way to answer your question

Always makes me laugh when this topic crops up, they dont give Cavendish a small wheeled bike because he is tiny

Since when is 5’9″ tiny?!

I don’t get the road bike comparison. Road bikes have little tires and ths overall wheel size is the same size as a 26″ mountain bike wheel with it’s larger tire.

Personally, I think bikes where the top of the seat tube is lower than the top of the wheel just look very wrong.

I know people close to 5′ riding 29r’s I know people well over 6′ riding 26″ height has very little to do with anything.

Nobody has mentioned 650b. It’s the big wheel for little people!

Seriously – a lot of ‘I own a 29er’ advice, but it might be worth you at least trying a 650b rather than listening to people who own a 29er.

Disclaimer – I’m mahoosive and ride a 29er.

5’3″ totally love my specialized fate.

The set up on Batty’s bike looks totally bastardised. Seat post reversed, saddle shoved all the way forward and a negative rise stem. Looks like she cmight be more comfortable on a 650b. Still, if you’re sponsored, you ride what you’re told to.

Nope!
Emily Batty is 5’3″

Mmmmm, Emily

Nobody has mentioned 650b. It’s the big wheel for little people!

Ugh. The barely perceptibly different sized wheel from 26″ can hardly be described as a “big wheel” under any circumstance.

Anyway, we’re getting rather close to kitten killing territory.

Don’t do it Emily

It depends on the position you want on the bike. If you look at the couple of images of 29ers above you will see that the racer wants the head down arse up mode. To do the stem is slammed with a negative rise and it gets just about the same level as the saddle. When the sag of the forks is added it will be a proper racer’s position. However if you crash and swing the bars around there will be a lot of contact with the frame.

As long as you know what you want position wise, buy what you like. Try and get a test ride and as long as you. Are comfortable who cares what the internet says 😉

at 5ft 4in I asked this question a while back after seeing what looked like a very good deal – one answer from STW was “you’d look like you are riding your dad’s bike” – I thought this a bit odd as my dad was shorter than me, since then I’ve worked out that a 29er would probably be pretty good for a lot of the stuff I ride and am pretty sure will end up with one at some point

It was all built up from bits off my Blue pig and off the classifieds. Its got SLX groupset, Crossride wheels and a X-funsion Slant for. All seems to be working well.

Yes you are far too short

No, you’re not. I asked he same question a few months ago. I’m a similar size. I took the plunge and got a small lurcher, it fits just right and rides very well. Sitting on a few bikes in bike shops a medium would have been OK for a more stretched out ride.

to my eye a 16/small 29er looks wrong. yes, there are advantages to bigger wheels, but there are also advantages in not having a bike with a long distance between centres. IMO, FWIW, if something looks right, it generally works well as a package. big people on big frames with big wheels look right. small people on small frames with big wheels do not.

but then, WTF do I know? i’m 5-10 and have just bought a medium 26er Chameleon. 🙂

I don’t get the road bike comparison. Road bikes have little tires and ths overall wheel size is the same size as a 26″ mountain bike wheel with it’s larger tire

Nope, checked on mine before i posted last night to make sure i wasnt getting it wrong.

My road bike with 25c tyres is still about an inch bigger than my 26 inch wheeled mountain bike that has a 2.35 High Roller on it.