Have Plus Bikes Died a Death ?

I’m finding a 2.8 light Vigilante up front with a tough 2.6 Trail Boss a good combo at the moment.

It was scientifically proven that 27.5+ tyres are faster off road than 29ers.

On certain kinds of goldilocks descents they can be, IME.

Most of the time, not really, especially if there’s much flat or climbing involved.

That’s fine though, I ride them for fun – which they defeinitely are.

Have a Plus bike and, yes, it’s my main ride 3.0 tyres

trailwagger
I like that what is it? Any more pics?

This one?

Sonder Transmitter. Got a mk1 frame for peanuts and built it up with cheap Yaris and some bargaintastic 40mm wheels from CRC. WTB 2.8 tyres (Ranger rear, Vigilante front). Didn’t like the anodised silver so slapped a Sharpie paint job on it as a bit of fun. Rides great – haven’t taken the Rocket out on local rides since I built the HT up.

Best hardtail I ever owned was a trek stache. Way out rode what a hardtail should be capable of.

I invested in a plus setup, convinced by what I’d read that it would be the best ride ever (2.8 Minions)

There were some good traits; cushy and forgiving over rocks and roots, and confident cornering.

However, maybe it’s just me but I couldn’t find ideal tyre pressures* to suit all terrain. My riding involves a fair bit of covering non-technical terrain in order to get to the technical stuff, and the higher rolling resistance, lack of accelleration and more ‘muted’ ride far outweighed any gains for me.

Strava confirms that me on 29×2.3 is always faster than me on 27.5×2.8, and returning to 29″ also felt more fun and poppy, so the plus setup got sold pretty sharpish.

* I’m a simple soul who likes to set and forget. Agonizing over perfect pressures on a trial and error basis is not in my nature. Maybe that was my downfall.