It’s an easy mistake to make, it’s not like the subject has cropped up on here twice a week for the last 3 years or anything!

My bro bought pretty much the same bandit as you, it’s an amazing bike, just enjoy it.

From the Surly Blog on their site, enjoy…..

Some answers to just about any bike forum post I’ve ever read

Thursday, June 16, 2011

posted by Skip Bernet

If you think your bike looks good, it does.

If you like the way your bike rides, it’s an awesome bike.

You don’t need to spend a million dollars to have a great bike, but if you do spend a million dollars and know what you want you’ll probably also have a great bike.

Yes, you can tour on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can race on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can commute on your bike – whatever it is.

26” wheels or 29” or 650b or 700c or 24” or 20” or whatever – yes, that wheel size is rad and you’ll probably get where you’re going.

Disc brakes, cantis, v-brakes, and road calipers all do a great job of stopping a bike when they’re working and adjusted.

No paint job makes everyone happy.

Yes, you can put a rack on that. Get some p-clamps if there are no mounts.

Steel is a great material for making bike frames – so is aluminum, carbon fiber, and titanium.

You can have your saddle at whatever angle makes you happy.

Your handlebars can be lower than your saddle, even with your saddle, or higher than your saddle. Whichever way you like it is right.

Being shuttled up a downhill run does not make you a weak person, nor does choosing not to fly off of a 10 foot drop.

Bike frames made overseas can be super cool. Bike frames made in the USA can be super cool.

Hey, tattooed and pierced long shorts wearin flat brim hat red bull drinkin white Oakley sportin rad person on your full suspension big hit bike – nice work out there.

Hey, little round glasses pocket protector collared shirt skid lid rear view mirror sandal wearing schwalbe marathon running pletscher two-leg kickstand tourist – good job.

Hey, shaved leg skinny as hell super duper tan line hear rate monitor checking power tap train in the basement all winter super loud lycra kit million dollar wheels racer – keep it up.

The more you ride your bike, the less your ass will hurt.

The following short answers are good answers, but not the only ones for the question asked – 29”, Brooks, lugged, disc brake, steel, Campagnolo, helmet, custom, Rohloff, NJS, carbon, 31.8, clipless, porteur.

No bike does everything perfectly. In fact, no bike does anything until someone gets on it to ride.

Sometimes, recumbent bikes are ok.

Your bikeshop is not trying to screw you. They’re trying to stay open.

Buying things off of the internet is great, except when it sucks.

Some people know more about bikes than you do. Other people know less.

Maybe the person you waved at while you were out riding didn’t see you wave at them.

It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you’re on a bike. It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

Did you build that yourself? Awesome. Did you buy that? Cool.

Wheelies are the best trick ever invented. That’s just a fact.

Which is better, riding long miles, or hanging out under a bridge doing tricks? Yes.

Yes, you can break your collar bone riding a bike like that.

Stopping at stop signs is probably a good idea.

Driving with your bikes on top of your car to get to a dirt trail isn’t ideal, but for most people it’s necessary.

If your bike has couplers, or if you have a spendy bike case, or if you pay a shop to pack your bike, or if you have a folding bike, shipping a bike is still a pain in the ass for everyone involved.

That dent in your frame is probably ok, but maybe it’s not. You should get it looked at.

Touch up paint always looks like shit. Often it looks worse than the scratch.

A pristine bike free of dirt, scratches, and wear marks makes me sort of sad.

A bike that’s been chained to the same tree for three years caked with rust and missing parts makes me sad too.

Bikes purchased at Wal-mart, Target, Costco, or K-mart are generally not the best bang for your buck.

Toe overlap is not the end of the world, unless you crash and die – then it is.

Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.

Yes, you can buy a bike without riding it first. It would be nice to ride it first, but it’s not a deal breaker not to.

Ownership of a truing stand does not a wheel builder make.

32 spokes, 48 spokes, 24 spokes, three spokes? Sure.

Single speed bikes are rad. Bikes with derailleurs and cassettes are sexy. Belt drive internal gear bikes work great too.

Columbus, TruTemper, Reynolds, Ishiwata, or no brand? I’d ride it.

Tubeless tires are pretty cool. So are tubes.

The moral of RAGBRAI is that families and drunken boobs can have fun on the same route, just maybe at different times of day.

Riding by yourself kicks ass. You might also try riding with a group.

Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else.

Stopping can be as much fun as riding.

Lots of people worked their asses off to build whatever you’re riding on. You should thank them.

I think we all just like bikes….
Cheers Ruffrider

Ruffrider, I more than just enjoyed that… It was THE answer to ALL of our questions, thank man!

Ruffrider did anyone ever tell you you’re a genius! Well said man.

early days for me. From luchtime today 2.2 RQ BC seems to have sealed ok’ish.

cleaned inside with meths -some slick stuff on it. Had already ran with tube for day or so.

Yellow taped a Mavic rim. Seated fine with soap and track pump.

Added 1 and a half of the little stans bottles (plenty still sloshing)

40 psi, bounce, spin, sloosh. Used some suds to see what was going on. Loads of teeny holes!!.. Left on side, span it a bit etc.

Down to 20 psi after hour or three. Pump back to 40.. More bouncing. Seems to hold, quick spin at 40psi, still seems to be holding..

Let’s see what the morning brings 🙂

Having tried a 69er, I’d say yes to a 29er for XC duties at least, but your bike sounds nice too.

Go and get a 29er too. This is the only option.

**** clown bikes! Too much marketing bullshit to keep the bike industry going.

Pussy has your post travelled by time conduit from about 3 years ago or are you really that far behind everyone else?

Kane & Rob glad you enjoyed it, sadly can’t claim the genius thing, that belongs to Skip Bernet. Did make me laugh when I first read it & still makes me smile…
happy riding
RR

**** clown bikes! Too much marketing bullshit to keep the bike industry going.

Pussywillow… LOL 😆

Were suspension forks and disc brakes just marketing hype too?

Awesome.

Not only has the thread started about 29er/26er/27.5er, but now there’s the old setting up tubeless stuff in there.

Can I start a book on when lycra vs baggies or iOS vs android get a mention?

I’ve got nothing against 29ers, but likening them to suspension and disc brakes is a bit daft. They were both things that we didn’t have (or at least not in a useful form) until they were developed. The 29er wheel size has been around (and offered by various manufacturers) since the dawn of the mountain bike. If it is so much better, why weren’t we all riding 29ers 20 years ago?

Again, I’m not against them, they may offer some benefits (and some drawbacks) in some situations. My next bike may have larger (or smaller) wheels. But the recent growth in the 29er surely has as much to do with the fact that some big brands have put a lot of marketing dollars behind them than as anything else.

Cheers,

Andy

I’ve got nothing against 29ers, but likening them to suspension and disc brakes is a bit daft.

Not at all, there seem to be a lot of riders out there who fear evolution of bike design. Stems have got shorter, bars wider, tyres bigger and lighter, geometry slacker etc etc. Isn’t wheel size just another evolution?

I agree, switching to larger wheels isn’t the holy grail that will make us all ride like Steve Peat, and it may prove to just be a fad as have some other design changes over the last two decades, but some of the anti-29er views are a bit over the top are they not?

They were both things that we didn’t have (or at least not in a useful form) until they were developed. The 29er wheel size has been around (and offered by various manufacturers) since the dawn of the mountain bike. If it is so much better, why weren’t we all riding 29ers 20 years ago?

Suspension forks and disc brakes only became popular once they became affordable, widely available and with million dollar marketing by the big brands, along with the spares and components to go with them.

Other wheel sizes have also become popular since they became more widely available, marketed by the industry, and components such as tyres etc became available.

So, tell me the difference please?

I assume you ride a cantilever braked 3-speed rigid cruiser bike with touring tyres on do you? 😉

You’ve answered your own question. “Suspension forks and disc brakes only became popular once they became affordable”. Actually it was when decent suspension became affordable, but I guess it amounts to the same thing. 29er wheels (as 700c rims) have been around and no more expensive than their 559 cousins for donkeys years. It’s not as if there has been a sudden jump in technology that makes 29er wheels dramatically lighter or stronger either. You could build a wheel with a 700c rim 10 years ago that was pretty much as light and stiff as anything most 29er riders are using these days. There were also CX tyres around that were light and would suit most riders as well.

As I said, I’m not against progress. I love it when new things come along that make bikes better. But 700c rims are not new. They (along with 26″ wheels) were a perfectly sensible choice for off road bikes 20 years ago and they are still a perfectly sensible choice now.

Cheers,

Andy

I’d suggest that most of the advantages of the 29 format lie with the front wheel rather than the rear, which is why 69ers make so much sense to me.
If I was in the OP’s position I’d try and get hold of a 140mm 29 fork, a 29 wheel, and put that on the new Bandit.
I reckon it would be a bomb to ride.
Loved that surly blog post above too. So much wisdom there.

You could build a wheel with a 700c rim 10 years ago that was pretty much as light and stiff as anything most 29er riders are using these days. There were also CX tyres around that were light and would suit most riders as well.

No suitable suspension forks though or much choice of frames that they would fit. And do you really think CX tyres would suit most riders? You’re basically suggesting that if 29er wheels were that great then we would now all be riding Cross Bikes after a decade of evolution.

29er wheels, and now 650b, are becoming popular as frames, tyres, forks etc to suit them have been designed and tested etc, and now become available. And yes, a huge amount of marketing has come with that.

You could have bodged yourself something together 10yrs ago based on 700c rims, CX/hybrid frame, tyres and forks etc, but isn’t it obvious why most of us didn’t do this??

This seems a very tenuous argument you’re putting forward.

BTW… This debate has kept me highly entertained today if nothing else 😆

Back to the OP… Your Transition Bandit IS a great bike and i’m sure you’ll love it. Ignore anyone who tells you otherwise. 😀

Youve bought the right bike, ive tried a few 29ers and found them all to feel dead and cumbersome, its all marketing boll0cks to sell new frames and forks..

ive tried a few 29ers and found them all to feel dead and cumbersome

Dead 😀

Cumbersome 😛

This thread is cheering me up no end today.

BTW… This debate has kept me highly entertained today if nothing else

Me too 🙂

You are quite right. I couldn’t bodge anything together as good as the current crop of 29ers. But a lot of manufacturers could, they have been able to for a long while and some did. But the idea didn’t catch on. Other than the lack of a big marketing budget I can’t really see why not.

The suspension argument is a bit of a red herring. One of the big advantages claimed for 29ers is that they require less suspension to give the same ride. I suspect that perfectly adequate suspension forks were around for 29ers a long while before they became popular. But I’m getting into the realms of supposition now, which is never good.

As I keep saying, I’m not anti 29er. It may be that things have just developed to the point where everything came together and made the format viable. But I can also see that there is a huge benefit to the industry in making people believe that a new wheel size is better (you can’t just upgrade, need a new bike etc), which makes me suspicious. Especially when the wheel size has been an option open to manufacturers for as long as I can remember.

Still, at the end of the day they are all just bikes. To most of us they are tools for getting out into the wild and having fun. The sun wont shine any brighter or the view be any better, just because your bike has different size wheels.

Cheers,

Andy

I think watching other riders during the CYB Enduro at the weekend proved to me beyond a doubt that skill and fitness (or lack thereof) are WAY more important than the bike.
You adapt your riding style to the strengths & characteristics of your bike and I reckon (while I love my 29er) things like wheel size don’t make a colossal difference and for every performance / handling gain, there’s probably a compromise in another area.

Still, at the end of the day they are all just bikes. To most of us they are tools for getting out into the wild and having fun. The sun wont shine any brighter or the view be any better, just because your bike has different size wheels.

Well said that man 😀

“I think watching other riders during the CYB Enduro at the weekend proved to me beyond a doubt that skill and fitness (or lack thereof) are WAY more important than the bike.
You adapt your riding style to the strengths & characteristics of your bike and I reckon (while I love my 29er) things like wheel size don’t make a colossal difference and for every performance / handling gain, there’s probably a compromise in another area. ” franki

This qoute sums it up for me as we have 2 guys in our group who succumbed to the marketing hype went out and spent 2k each on 29ers and i can still whip their asses on my new Bandit both up the climgs and on all the singletrack we ride 😀

Thanks for keeping it fun Paceman.

I was just trying to make the OP feel better really. Obviously we all know he made a huge mistake 🙂

Cheers,

Andy

:-)ive also ridden bmx for nearly 20 years and strangely find that the small wheels make them suitable for the job, odd that i should find a 29er more the opposite than a 26er…i take it the guys that are finding comments like this funny have only minced about on a few bikes..

Can we make that Surly thing a sticky!? Maybe it should get emailed to everyone when they sign up for the forum 😉

Nah.. I’m still pointing and wiggling my finger and sniggering..

(not really)

I was in Stif on Sunday morning buying stuff and outside they had a Santa Cruz Blut in that old fashoined 26er stylee..

Bloody Nice Bike.

Almost.. made.. me…

(Buy more stuff for my 29er.)

Andy cheers for that just as I was starting to undoubt my choice,LOL

Basically, unless you’re competing in at least county scale championships with money at stake, then nothing about the tuning of your mountain bike matters unless you could explain it to a 12 year old, and result in them giving a flying f***.

I don’t think pointing out 3 extra inches of wheel diameter and using the word inertia is gonna cut it.

Rode my 29er today for the first time in about 18 months today,& wow what a difference it makes,I just couldn’t believe how great it was,the way I could carry so much speed through turns etc…etc.It has made me into a riding god & I’m turning pro next week…………

OK, so all of that was BS,it actually felt a bit different & made a nice change.Change is good,keeps it fresh,keep it’s interesting & keeps me riding ……

be back on the 26″ come the weekend though 8)

which is why 69ers make so much sense to me.

had one, kept killing the rear wheel as the front goes over big rocky stuff alot smoother than the poor ikkle rear that gets the knackers smashed out of it. Thought it may have been my gimpy riding, but talking to other 69er riders they have had the same issues when the going gets fast and rocky. (may be better with a little wheel and rear boing though!)

kinda thought about this a little myself a few weeks ago and did the whole 29er curious thread, but I’ve found that after a few rides my bike is just fine! 🙂 It’s all horses for courses as they say…just ride what you got.