So last night a demo’d a friends Solaris Max in 140mm/29er mode & I was blown away.

Absolutely amazing, up & down.

Questions then:
1) how different a bike would it be in full 650B+ mode
or
2) with a 29er front & a 650B+ rear

Ridden mine in all three set-ups, still prefer full 29er but in a nutshell…

1) how different a bike would it be in full 650B+ mode

Lower, slower, more planted, more comfy over roots and rocks.

2) with a 29er front & a 650B+ rear

Bit lower, slacker, not quite so much slower – very good on off-piste stuff.

Also there’s quite a difference between the bike with XC-ish 29er wheels and more enduro-y wheels. Such a versatile machine!

It’ll fit 29er tyres up to 2.5 or 2.6. I’ve had a 29×2.6 DHF in the back of mine. So I think 29er wheels are more versatile, you could run anything from 2.1 to 2.6 on the same wheel.

Ive owned & ridden many set ups, I’ve settled on a Soda max with 29×2.4 tyres.

What kind of riding will it be doing mostly? How Big / Heavy are you?

Unlike motorbikes I would have thought a 650b+ front wheel and 29er rear would be the better option? You want the biggest rollover ability and grip you can get up front, the back just follows through.

Although on a hardtail it’s less relevant, you want the same big tyre up front as a FS bike, but also get an advantage from greater rollover and cushioning out back too.

It comes down to the compromises you want to make when choosing tyres. For me, a big fat fast rolling 275Plus rear tyre is great on a hardtail… extra comfort at speed, and extra grip on climbs. For the front, if going 275Plus you really have to choose between draggy on the flat, or rubbish on the downs when the trails aren’t dry… where as picking a 29er front tyre that still rolls fast and has all the grip/control in the wet is far easier.

isisnotaspoon

Subscriber
Unlike motorbikes I would have thought a 650b+ front wheel and 29er rear would be the better option?

Lolz

Lolz

Top bantz bro

I just switched my dartmoor primal to 650B+ from 29 and I’m loving it, different frame but similar tyre/wheel options.
I went for 2.6 Maxxiss Forekasters 3C MaxSpeed compound and they are great for riding around me, very grippy without too much drag I matched a number of times on the downhills segments to my 29er full suss

Unlike motorbikes I would have thought a 650b+ front wheel and 29er rear would be the better option? You want the biggest rollover ability and grip you can get up front, the back just follows through.

Tried that for about 30 seconds on my old Charge, it steepened the head angle to near terrifying proportions. It wasn’t any fun on the flat let alone up or down.

Has anyone tried 650b plus ‘ish’ (2.5 / 2.6 ..) – finding 29er a bit of a handful on the bike parks the boys are favouring these days, but perfect on all round days. Think Plus might be too much, but a slightly smaller wheel might be more manageable, with some proper knobbly tyres.
Tell me that’s bobbins and save me buying another wheelset.

EDIT: Posts crossed, thanks above! Might give that a go.

@timc 78kg
All day, real and bikepacking.
Dales, Peaks and lakes.

I am no dude, being 55 and an old broken collar bone. But will (almost) happily do a 12 hour ride or a 2 hour evening fun ride.

Having demod on a pure 29er ill see if I can demo a plus version from Sam.

Tried that for about 30 seconds on my old Charge, it steepened the head angle to near terrifying proportions.

I love a bit of hyperbole, but unless it was something like 2.8×650 front 2.6×29 rear you’re talking half a degree or so on the head angle surely?

Bikes have run bigger front tyres since Velociraptors* first stalked Jesus on an old Kona Cindercone fitted with Tioga DH’s. I’m not convinced you’d want to ever put the gripper tyre on the back unless you really were only bimbling or wanted straight line climbing traction above anything else.

*I’m here all week

I have put a longer fork and plus wheel on the front of my 29er FS Orange, mostly to stop me loosing the bits while I used the forks and wheel elsewhere. Kind of intriged to see how it rides with 2.25″ 29 out back and 3.0″ 27.5 up front. Was thinking the longer forks would balance the lowering of the front, so maybe next week I’ll try it and explode in a ball of flames

OP here.

My thinking is a rear 650b+ would allow a rear at slightly lower pressure providing a tyre that climbs up those greasy rocks better and provides slightly more comfort perhaps over the cobbled packhorse tracks of Lancashire.

Whilst a 29er front will roll over all the rabbit holes like they’re not there.

Perhaps I’m being too specific?

I should add, I think whatever it ends up as I know it’ll be stunning

Perhaps I’m being too specific?

No, I think you are spot on with your logic. That’s my setup. Works well here, just over the border.

I think plus tyres behave differently to normal sizes, you could end up with a bike that understeers in the dry as the plus tyre grips, then oversteers in the wet as the plus tyre doesn’t dig in.

At least with a 29er or 650b bike it would behave consistently.

Obviously mullet bikes are different, they’re still using similar tyre widths, just different diameters.

You are the princess who found the pea… or perhaps you’re way overthinking it. Ride it instead. Flipping the rear out is different on different trail conditions, no matter what the tyre sizes. Tread effects it more than volume anyway, if you really want to go down that rabbit hole.

Depends on the plus tyre to an extent, and how scared you are of a heavy wheel.

‘Traditional’ (if that’s possible on something that’s been around a couple of years) can be quite baggy in the sidewalls which obviously impacts handling with tuckunder, squirming etc. This is basically because the tyre cos decided when plus was new that heavy tyres would be a hard sell so went all out light and produced the things everyone said rude words about. Some companies have caught on that people are quite prepared to mount a 1.2kg tyre to a trail bike if the tyre’s behaviour justified the bulk so ‘plus’ tyres with more meat are turning up.

Just about in time for everyone* (SoCal bike companies) to decide 2.5/2.6 is actually ‘just right’.

I tried plus rear thinking it would be great for traction and it was pretty good. I tried plus front (2.8 front and 29×2.25 rear) and it wasn’t particularly unbalanced heightwise so geo was pretty normal, didn’t notice any issues. Didn’t mind that combo but didn’t set my world on fire, probably because the Trailblazer wasn’t the best tyre choice for a Solaris with a Yari and nasty rooty stuff. Went back to Vigilante at both ends until I sold the bike.