At 5ft 7in I’ve not fared well on 29ers, but having experimented with a 29in wheel up front on a Pipedream Sirius with Pace 440mm carbon forks I found it kinda worked for me, keeping the quicker acceleration of the 26in rear but getting the benefits of a larger front wheel.

The Sirius has gone but I’m looking to make this a more permanent winter set-up on my Chumba HX1 (couldn’t find Singular Hummingbird, made for this purpose, for love nor money and Carvers aren’t available in the UK at present). Only other purpose-built alternative seems to be the Trek 96er and that doesn’t float my boat.

My idea was that a frame meant for a 130/140mm fork would not have its angles messed up too much with a carbon rigid fork and a 29in wheel. I realise toe clearance will also be an issue, but does anyone have any thoughts? Is this a fundamentally flawed plan or might it just actually work?

Your opinions welcome

go for it…and tell us what you think.I’m sure fork rake has evolved on 29″ specific forks over the last few years,what changes and why I don’t know.I’m thinking of doing it but am more concerned with raising bb height and as you say, toe overlap.
If it “kinda worked”, what are your reservations?

I’ve gone for half measures with mine using 440mm forks and a 650 front wheel with a standard 26″ rear. On my Rocky Mountain Vertex70 frame, meant for max 80mm forks, it works brilliantly.

crackhead – no, I was surprised how well it worked. It didn’t take me as long as I thought to get used to the larger front. I expected the steering and handling to be altered; if anything it was improved. With regards to BB height, I hoped using a frame meant for longer forks wouldn’t raise it as the axle to crown measurement should be similar to that of the rigid plus larger wheel. If there are decent raked carbon forks around I’d consider trading in my RC31.

Grannygrinder – sounds like a plan. If more 650b wheels, tyres and tubes were available would probably do the same

Mate had one of those Trek 69er thingies, he loved it, I thought it looked odd, he rode it hard until it got nicked.
He’s very sad, can’t seem to get them anymore.

have you looked on ebay at carvers. trev is selling off some samples in your size start at around £100.

Might be worth getting in touch with Sam at Singular and asking if he’s got any spare Hummingbird forks, I got some a while ago (think they were £80 but I could be wrong) they are great on my Pace 303 with a 29″ front wheel…borrowing a Cotic Soul off a mate at the moment and reckon it would work well on there, tempted to give it a try.

They’re 445mm long and have 55mm of offset whick helps with the toe clearance.

Those Trek 69ers are ace, my mate sold his and now regets it…

I’ve done exactly this with my Robin Mather singlespeed frame and love it to bits.

Originally I tested a 26″ on one carbon fork and a 2.1 29er Schwalbe Albert tyre on the open pro front wheel from my road rat. The tyre was very round due to the narrow rim and I got a bit of toe overlap but I liked it.

So I bought a a pair of the same forks a new wheel made up from a 456 hub and DT 29er rim run ghetto tubeless and Mud-x’s front and rear make it my perfect winter bike. It’s not as easy on the wrists at high speed in lumpy terrain as it was with 100mm sus forks but the slightly slacker steering and increased rolling radius make up for that to some degree. There are so many slow speed dips and steps that would have stalled the 26″ wheel which now it just rolls over I’m constantly amazed.

I don’t have toe overlap as it is setup now but I’ll probably fit some lower bars or flip the stem as the slightly higher front end has removed a little of the lightening fast turn it it had.

I should say it had a high BB and steep head angle from the outset and was built specifically for my 5’6″ height around a 100mm fork.

I also have a Dialled Bikes Prince Albert and think that could work well. Maybe a Ragley Piglet would too.

I was thinking of doing this with Chumba HX-1, 29er carbon fork, but 26″ wheel…

I’d assumed this would be somewhere near original geometry of a 140mm 26er fork. Hadn’t considered putting a 29er wheel in there!

Would this work with a 26″ wheel?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/freak-bike-ss-wanga-69er-build

I want to try this with my voodoo

I don’t see why not as long as the fork rake keeps your tyre away from your toes. You would be surprised at what the 29er wheel and tyre brings to the table though.

However if you got the 29er fork I’d be tempted to try a gert big 26″ tyre in there too – 140mm travel forks are giving you lots of leeway that a rigid fork wont if you are keeping the same wheel and tyre combo. If you felt the front end had dropped too much it would help redress the balance somewhat. You can certainly feel the difference in head angle going from say a 2.1 to a 2.5 tyre.

The Wanga looks slack.

I was thinking about this the other day and looking at the Salsa Fargo v1 fork since it has the correct rake for a 29er wheel but is only 442mm atoc so wouldn’t raise the front the same as a most 29er forks

fargo fork

I may well be talking nonsense though 🙂

Yes, a Fargo fork would work, as would a Hummingbird or Gryphon fork, both of which I have in stock.

Don’t botch it! But bodge it if you like.

That’s my wanga, it didn’t work well with the 29er adjusted Mav sc32, got some hummingbird forks to try on it next which should work better but currently playing with th
69er by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Ive been running full 29er for the whole of this year. But bought this frame from Sam a month or so ago for the winter and a bit of fun. Loving it. Not riding it that much right now cos it’s so dusty and the group I ride with is a bit quick without gears. It’ll be getting more use in a few week tho when the weather turns.

I didn’t try a 29″ wheel in 440mm fork, but I did try 29″ wheel & 470mm fork on my 2nd gen Inbred. I wasn’t wholly impressed to be honest. What did work, & worked fantastically well, was the 470mm fork with a 26″ wheel. It always felt too low at the front with 440mm fork, & the 470mm put it at the height of a 120mm fork. The slacker angle really worked for me.
I always thought a 29″ wheel needed a steeper head angle to counteract the increased steering resistance of the larger wheel.
All a bit academic for me now, as I’ve got rid of all my bikes in favour of my 29er Inbred. Yes, its marginally more work to accelerate but, for me, it just works so well on every other level. I’m certainly quicker on the ferris wheeler.

I really quite tempted to do this. All I need is a 29″ front wheel and i’m away…

I’m just not sure I like teh looks, any more pics to help me decide?

2 carvers on ebay this am. 🙂

I’d love to try a 96er. i did a home brew experiment witrh and inbred and it was awful (too slack and high bb) but i’d like to try a proper one…

I think those are small Carvers.
Thanks for the replies all, much to get my teeth into!
Sam, I’d be interested to know the price of your forks.
C’mon CRC, deliver me wagon wheel, pronto!

I did this to an on-one 456 was great fun.

firestarter did this years ago with his SS Inbred and some 440mm RC31s. Liked it I think.

I love my Trek 69er Singlespeed, brilliant bike. I have often wondered what I would do if it went missing/was destroyed/wanted gears…

This thread gives me hope for the future. Do you reckon trek keep any old frames lying around in a warehouse somewhere??

n567898351_834224_9629 by TRIPPITUCKER, on Flickr

Master of None – if you find one, let me know!
Having engendered hope for the future, my work here is done…

5 pages of 69ers gents 🙂 Some very nice looking bikes:
http://forums.mtbr.com/650b-69er-new-wheel-trends/96er-69er-picture-thread-241186.html