Wondering if I have grass is greener syndrome. Anyone had 29er full sus trail style bike and gone back to smaller wheels? Why? What sort of riding do you do?

I currently have 27b 150mm travel bike for woods razzing, but also have 29er hard tail. 29 full suspension has major attractions, but before I spend loads of cash on an experiment that may or may not come off, thought I’d ask anyone else if they went 29 but went back and why.

Thanks

Until last week I attempted to switch between my 29ers and my slightly older 26 wheel bike. After getting my first 29er the 26er never felt right, and I never really enjoyed riding it again. I sold it last week. I was recently considering a 27.5, which was on offer at am amazing price, but discounted it as I was concerned it would feel too much like the 26. I’m sticking with 29ers for now.

Others will tell you it is more about the individual bike than the wheel size, and I am sure they are probably right.

It is more about the individual bike than the wheel size

I can answer your question ( possibly ! ) I’ve got a Kona Raijin 29er H/T and a 650B Process with 134 ? travel . My mate also has a Process but the 29er with 111 ? travel . I rode my Process on local trails then straight away we swapped bikes . Convinced me I don’t want a 29 full suss , just feels too unwieldy , I reckon my mate feels the same but won’t admit it ! 🙂 In my opinion 29 H/T yes F/S no . Actually thinking today that if only Kona had made the Ti Explosif 1st I would have gone for that ! Anyone want to buy an ultra rare Ti H/T ? 🙄

I was just going to reply 29er hts yes 29er fs no for the fact that a 29er fs especially if longer travel would just feel wrong.

FYI – I have 26er 130mm/140mm full suss for ‘core duties and 29er 100mm ss ht flat barred for training and general speed/showioffness.

Would deffo say for me, I have the right bikes in the stable now, unless someone was to give me a 1×10 carbon 27.5 sort travel full suss. 😉

Not FS, but I did go from 29er HT to 26 HT. Handling was a little quicker, rolling a little slower. Both were steel, singlespeed and had similar geometry. I like them both but don’t miss the big wheels.

A 27.5 short travel carbon Giant Anthem with 1×11 is probably my perfect bike to be honest 😉

I’ve gone from 29 to 27.5 but the change from Spesh Camber to YT Capra means that the wheel size change is the least notable difference.

A 27.5 short travel carbon Giant Anthem with 1×11 is probably my perfect bike to be honest

Exactly the bike I decided not to buy, as it wasn’t a 29er! However, keep in mind it was replacing an old alloy 26er anthem which I used to enjoy, but completely went off once I got a 29er. I just felt the 27.5 would be far too similar to the 26er I was looking to replace. Had it been a completely different model, I may have gone for it.

I have a Orange Alpine 29er and also a Orange ST4 and ride basically everything in Scotland and some Enduro events.
Recently the 29er was getting fixed and I was riding the 26″ bike.
It was still great riding the ST4 just different from the 29er.
The 29er for me is a far better bike and I don’t ever see me going back to a smaller wheel size.
Probably end up selling the ST4, already sold my 26″ Five.

I’ve gone back. But that’s more because I like building up bikes and have a liking for retro(ish) bikes.

I’ve got a 29er ht fully rigid and a 29er full suss and a 650b full suss. Out of all of them the 29er full suss is the quickest over the areas I ride , sometimes too quick. I enjoy 29 and mainly ride my fully rigid one and only take out my 650b on dry clean perfectly manicured trails as it cost me more than I should of spent

Doubt I’d go to 29 now, its days are numbered IMO, esp FS.

Won’t make much of a difference anyway.

Anyone gone back to smaller wheels from 29er?

Yup! 26″ Since the early 90’s then built up a 29″ bike a few year ago… bought a 27.5″ on a deal from the LBS that would have been rude to neglect and haven’t looked back. Have since sold both the 26″ and the 29″ frame, fork and wheels.

It is down to personal choice preference and choice.

I’m heading back to 26″, but with 4″ tyres. Seems it’s quite easy to build a 30lb-ish trail fatbike that will be more capable than my mid travel 29er.

I was just going to reply 29er hts yes 29er fs no for the fact that a 29er fs especially if longer travel would just feel wrong.

Have you tried a long travel 29er?

I’ve got one and think it’s ace. I had to ride my 26″ HT over the winter and really missed the bigger wheels. I also demo’d the 650b version of my bike and it just felt like mine but with the volume turned down a bit, if that makes sense.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t go 650b but I’d need a lot of convincing and a lot of time testing.

My main worry is that manufacturers seem to be concentrating less on the bigger fs 29ers so when I get a new bike in a few years I might not have much choice but to go 650b.

I recently built up a 26″, short travel, hard tail. I built it to the same specs as my other bikes, even going so far as to make sure bar (riser) and saddle height were similar. The bike has a similar TT length to the other bikes I have (Mojo 650B and Singular Pegasus 29er), but the first time I rode it it, the bike just felt…wrong. I tried it a few times thereafter and whilst it did feel better the more I rode it, the feeling of wrongness didn’t abate.

I sold it. 29ers (and to a lesser extent 650B) are the way forward.

It’s really about personal preference.
Geometry and where/how you ride will influence hugely.

However, for me, I kept my fs 26er but am now selling it. My last 2 HTs have been 29er and I just totally ‘get it’ – it has been such a go to choice for me that I’m happy to have it as my only mtb.

I am sticking with wagon wheels 🙂

Doubt I’d go to 29 now, its days are numbered IMO, esp FS

Urggh, hate to go on about wheel size, but I thought about this when looking at the Anthem 27.5. 29er are pretty prolific in the USA from what I understand – will that keep them going?

I’ve tried 27.5 (HT and FS) but really prefer 29’er for my XC riding, which is on a 29’er HT

I can see 27.5 making good sense for a longer travel FS bike

I definately agree with the following

It is more about the individual bike than the wheel size

IME, it really does depend on the individual bike. I’ve just finished building up a nice 26er FS frame (Blur TRc) and just can’t get over how close it feels to my 29ers.

For info., I’ve had a 29er HT for a few years and liked it so much, I sold all my 26ers to get a do it all 29er FS (Tallboy LTc). The TB is a brilliant bike for where I live, but after about 18 months, I got the itch for a more nimble shorter travel bike for trail centres. I demo’d a couple of 650b’s back to back against a 26 and my TB, and just didn’t feel enough difference between the 26 with big volume 2.4 tyres and 650’s on normal 2.3 tyres. I ended up getting a Devinci Atlas 29er, which feels almost the polar opposite to the TB. The Atlas is the most 26er like 29er I’ve ever ridden – even with a 140mm fork on, it changes direction in a flash. Incredibly nimble for a 29er – it’s an odd bike, it feels almost like a compact XC race bike, but with trail bike suspension – it’s a real rocket.

After the Atlas, I was expecting the Blur to feel even more nimble and aggressive and involving…but it really isn’t as ‘full on’ feeling. I’ve certainly noticed more feedback through the wheels over stuttery roots and rocks on the Blur, but the steering is calmer and more like the TB than the Atlas. I was surprised how fast the Blur could get up technical rocky climbs, but I was having to keep a constant drive going with my legs, so I reckon overall, I was probably working harder than on a 29er. One thing I really did notice on the climbs was how easily the wheels got baulked or hooked on sharp edges, whereas the TB in particular will just bulldoze over anything.

To test the descending performance, I have a local descent that is almost Alps like (super steep with slippery bits and a nasty hairpin. Unsurprisingly, the Blur negotiated the hairpin a little easier, and it felt confident on the steep stuff, but I could definately feel the tyres working much harder for grip than on the 29ers. Overall though, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the Blur compared on the descents. (With HR2’s on the TB, steep descents are almost too easy:))

I guess what I’m saying is that if you want something to contrast your 29ers try and get some demo rides of a few 650’s (or 26 if anyone makes em any more!). Definately think it’s worth trying a few though, as I reckon bikes like the later 26 Orange Fives and similar might feel different to what you expect. I still regret selling my Anthem X 26er, as I think they were brilliant bikes.

Oh, if you’re interested, I also have an unused aluminium Blur TRa frame available for sale :))

I’ve just put some 650B+ wheels in a 29er hardtail frame if that counts?
I’d not swap my 29er full suss for anything else unless I was riding uplift assisted every week though.

I went back from an Enduro29 to 650b.

It went really fast, but I never really enjoyed riding it I don’t think, got a bit one dimensional just smashing through things.

I had a 29″ HT too, but I don’t really like riding HT’s, so that didn’t last that long either.

Thanks for the replies. Food for thought (Bowglie – I’m looking to go 29 FS, not downsize).

Where I ride it would be interesting to try a Stumpy, Remedy or Codeine sort of bike. Although I might find myself in a bit of trouble with the speed.

Wot SSStu said

I’ve dropped a smidge in diameter going from 29er to 650b+ on my rigid SS, but gained gallons in air vol. Ace.

My xc/fs here in France will remain 29er though.

Ridden plenty of bikes in the last few years, of varying wheel sizes. There’s good and bad bikes of every wheel size of course, but for me, most of the time, I just prefer 29ers, both HT and FS. The only time 29ers don’t make sense to me is on long travel FS bikes, when the wheel size can start to limit design somewhat. But then again for 99.9% of my riding, 120mm of travel is plenty…

Interesting thread (and civilised too). Amongst my new bike prevarication is the possibility of a 29r xc hard tail (would be an advantage on many of my regular rides to be light weight xc) to run alongside my 456.

My worry is the 456 might just end up obsolete/too different although it would be more playful I suspect it might not do anything better.

Therefore maybe I should keep the 456 for xc and general riding and buy something 650b and mid travel FS for “best”/ lumpier riding.

Oh ffs I am coming back to square one again…

Bother. 😆

Hobnob – is yr 650b bike as fast as the 29er was then?

Just curious as I’ve idly considered something like a reign or rallon myself.

Rickos – I heard from stu the importer that the last few thumper frames are going cheap, in case that helps.

Short, slack 29ers all the way for trail riding (in the 100-120mm range: Phantom, Process 111, Following, Segment. etc) as they stay nimble and fun. I’m sticking with my Phantom as I have yet to ride a more fun bike on anything from my local woodsy single track to the Alps and Colorado. I personally find that no one believes that these bikes are any good “because they are short travel 29ers”. I have yet to find anyone who has ridden one who holds the same opinion.

I would entertain 26/650b if I ever needed longer travel, purely for the ability to do big, big drops, but smaller wheels don’t make sense to me any more for natural UK trail riding (I live in big rocky Scotland if you want a frame of reference). I have yet to ride a trail where I thought that I would benefit from 650b over 29 and all the smaller wheeled bikes I’ve ridden since either feel nervous or wallow around too much for the same ride quality. Long travel 29ers are awesome in what they can devour but make normal trails feel very dull (and they are unavoidably loooong).

Caveat to all this is that smaller folk often seem to lack the size and strength to make a 29er handle properly or at least take longer to adapt. Anecdotal evidence admittedly.

Hobnob – is yr 650b bike as fast as the 29er was then?

Just curious as I’ve idly considered something like a reign or rallon myself.

It’s hard to say, I’ve had some of my best results on my Reign, so I expect for me, yes it is, but it doesn’t feel like a one trick pony, which is how the Enduro did to me.

I still like the idea of a short travel 29″, something like the Smuggler in carbon so it could be light, to be honest if I didn’t race, something shorter travel would probably be where I put my money. Scout carbon, 5010, Smuggler, Process 111 if they ever made a light carbon version, etc.

I’d like to think as long as the bike was fun, the wheel size would be irrelevant. For the moment though, space dictates one MTB and one road bike, so it’s a light 160mm 650b bike for me 🙂

Short, slack 29ers all the way for trail riding (in the 100-120mm range: Phantom, Process 111, Following, Segment. etc) as they stay nimble and fun. I’m sticking with my Phantom as I have yet to ride a more fun bike on anything from my local woodsy single track to the Alps and Colorado. I personally find that no one believes that these bikes are any good “because they are short travel 29ers”. I have yet to find anyone who has ridden one who holds the same opinion.

Wholeheartedly agree with what you say, but will add Caveat Emptor that “fun” is subjective and some people just don’t get them… But for those of us that do, they just make so much sense!

Cheers for the reply Hobnob, I thought you had a Reign hence why I asked.

My experience is that my friends’ 650b 160mm bikes are mostly a fair bit lighter than my 130mm 29er – and they mainly have the advantage on very rugged fast trails where they can just let go of the brakes and not worry about line choice.

On quite technical but pedally trails like Warnscale or even tight and steep stuff like Inners golf course there’s been no clear advantage.

Less technical moorland stuff, 29er all day obvs.

I bought a commencal am29, thinking it would be as fast and good at climbing as my 29 hardtail. It wasn’t, I sold it and went back to 650b for more travel.
In fact I sold the hardtail as well and use the am/enduro bike for everything now, or did until I bought a dh bike.

It’s an interesting question and I agree with garage-dweller, it’s good to see such a civilized thread on what is usually such a contentious issue.

I’m currently in the 26″ full-suss (Five) and 29er HT (Solaris) camp, but am seriously considering a 29er full-suss. The problem is that I don’t want to run three mountain bikes and there are advantages and disadvantages to both, so I’m not sure which to sell.

Here are just a few random thoughts:

It’s noticeable that almost all my crashes happen on the Five (including a couple of broken arms in separate crashes recently). It could just be random, but it’s not looking that way and as I get older and crashes take longer to get over it’s hard to overlook that. I also prefer to ride on my own in remote places, so although crashes are mainly down to skill and sense, any help that the bike can give is welcome.

Hardtails are fun and fast on smooth ground, but they are tough on my body and I don’t find them as much fun on longer days out as I used to. I also find (surprisingly) that my Five is often faster overall (and a lot more comfortable) on the rougher trails.

I can’t manual for toffee and it takes more effort to lift the front with 29ers than with smaller wheeled bikes. You can get 29ers with fairly short stays these days, but the larger BB drop still makes it a bit harder to get the front wheel up. Also, to get those short stays you need a multi-link bike. I like the simplicity of my Five for riding all year round in Scotland. I love the fact that the bearings are cheap and that I can bash a new set in with a hammer and an allen key in less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Currently I’m swithering between: swapping the Five for a Segment to go fully 29er or swapping the Solaris for a Smuggler to go fully full-suss, The latter would probably result in the Five being ridden in the crap weather and the (multi-link) Smuggler being saved for nicer days (although I’m not a fan of keeping bikes for nice days, so I’m not sure how long this would last).

Not sure that’s much help, but thought I’d chip in.

There are differences between 26 and 29 inch wheeled bikes however between 650b and either of the others the difference is a lot less noticeable.

I have rode a lot of bikes over the years and most recently had a 27.5 full susser, a 29er hardtaul and now a long travel 29er full suss.

I wouldn’t go back to a smaller wheeled bike now as I find the 29er ideal for all of my riding.

+1 to what roverpig says. My only MTB is a Solaris so it has to do everything for me. Most of the riding I do is “classic” XC type riding for which the 29er HT is ideal – providing you don’t try and ride it like a FS.

Regarding the original question – for me a 29er FS would feel too big, I’m 5′ 11″ but with short legs so personally a 650b FS would be fine. Strange as it may sound I sort of hanker after 26″ SS HT as a winter hack/play bike.

Regarding the original question – for me a 29er FS would feel too big

Not sure how you’ve got your Solaris set up, but would some of the newer (short chainstay) 29ers really be any bigger?

So, in general most seem to have got a 29 and stuck with it. My riding is FoD downhill type stuff, so lots of roots and mud in the winter. It’s an itch that I need to scratch, so probably next year a Codeine/Remedy/Stumpjumper will be purchased.

Chakaping – thanks for the heads up, but finances mean I’ll have to bide my time.

I have rode a lot of bikes over the years and most recently had a 27.5 full susser, a 29er hardtaul and now a long travel 29er full suss.

Who makes a “long travel 29er full suss”?
I read about the Intense DH29er but apart from that I’m not aware anyone has produced one that’s for sale to the general public…

I may need to revise my comment about manuals being hard on a 29er.

I took my Solaris out today to explore a local mountain that I’d not been up before. Turns out there is not much of a trail and very little that can be ridden, but that’s another story.

I’d abandoned the boggy path and was riding down some untracked heather. The slope got steeper and steeper and I got further and further off the back. Then a little step down appeared in front of me, so I shifted further back still and before I knew it I was sitting in the heather with the bike in front of me. I wasn’t trying to manual, just trying not to go over the bars, but if I can get my 29er to loop out on a steep downslope just by shifting my weight far enough back then any problems I have with manualing it on the flat are entirely down to my crappy technique.