Having set up my neighbours new 29 er Spesh carbon full suspension thing, last night and converted to tubeless. I am still not sure why a 29 er. He’s 5ft 6 in heels and it seems massive. The wheels seem ungainly huge, the frame just over powers him. The top tube curves up to a headset and stem in the sky. Not sure I really understand this 29 er stuff.
I guess I maybe on my own on this, but a 26 er is seemingly more agile with less rotational weight to move as well. Smaller wheels will be stronger etc. I guess this has been done to death, but he left last night and I just shook my head.
Wife walked in the door, looked at it and went ‘ er, nope……’ Anyone gone 29 er and back to 26 ?

i had a ride on a trek superfly carbon thingy 29er then went back to my 26er.

He’s too short for a 29er, tbh.

bigger frames work quite well. Loving my Titus Fir(l)eline.

Bigger wheels = go faster for less turns, would seem to be the biggest advantage. I agree though, can’t be that much of an advantage though.

I’m 5ft7 and I tried a 29’er and found it felt wrong.

I’m back on a 26 and it is right for me. The important bit being ‘me’ it’s for the owner to choose.

Ride what you like and like what you ride.

your broken, it’s better* just get on with it…..

*maybe in certain circumstances at times for some people at times on certain trails – still fairly unproven as it’s a fairly new tech

He was ‘measured’ by the Spesh shop before he bought it. I have a mate who’s on here with his scandal 29 er and although he’s a bit over 6ft , it still looks big , but does fit him better. Following him, he is slower through the twisties ( shouts for Rob to pop on here) I put that down to his age :wink:. But its all shouting 29 er, wherever you look and it baffles me , to be honest.

it baffles me , to be honest

I don’t think you have to ‘get it’ for it to be the right thing for other people?

Maybe you should try a 650B 😉

He was ‘measured’ by the Spesh shop before he bought it

Is that the same Spesh who have decided that 29 is the future and not wanting to sell anything else? If I went into a Merc dealer I’d expect to come out with a merc regardless of what I wanted

Wwaswas, no, i’m fine with the old fashion 26 er’s for me. They seem to ‘feel’ the right size frame, with enough clearance for ejection and freedom for hanging in the twisties and short enough to hang off the back when the going gets a bit downward.

Is that the same Spesh who have decided that 29 is the future and not wanting to sell anything else?

Thats the one !! You’ve met them then ! The neighbour said ‘exactly’ that. Mind you, their sister shop sold him a Giant that was too big for him………

Thats the one !! You’ve met them then ! The neighbour said ‘exactly’ that. Mind you, their sister shop sold him a Giant that was too big for him

well that is his problem. I choose what I want.

Does he just walk in and buy whatever they show him?

Is your neighbor unhappy with his bike??

Get him to pull a wheelie and film it.

Make sure he’s wearing shiny new elbow, shin pads and full face mask.

Please do this.

Not sure if he’s unhappy. First ride today. I did say about running along side it to get it rolling before jumping on it !! He is going to pop over later today to tell me how he gets on with it.
For him, in my eyes , its just wrong. Its his money, but he has taken up MTB with his missus last year and suddenly he knows everything about the sport. Which is weird as its taken me over 25 years to learn about it myself.

25 years is a long time – which modules did you opt for ?

🙂

A 29er bike is not too big for people. It LOOKS LIKE its too big, which is completely different. All the 26er vs. 29er debates can be distilled down to what they look like. That’s not surprising that most people are used to 26ers. The reality is they are not too big. You’re not sat any higher off the ground than you are on a 26er. 29ers are not less agile and have no undesirable characteristics relative to a 26er. The wheels are not harder to spin up or pedal, and the wheels are perfectly strong and robust enough. Yes the bikes may look different, especially on shorter people, but you’re sat in the bike rather than on it and they feel far more stable to ride.

Just last night I was on a very technical ride that needed alot of tight manouvering between big rocks and boulders, and hopping over them – and guess what – I was not hampered any more or less than my 26er riding buddies. I could pick through the same lines as them, turn just as tightly as them, put on a spurt of accellaration just as quickly as them, and was just as quick on the downhills as them.

Time to get over it. I’m not a fan of the 26er vs 29er debate, I don’t give two hoots – I like my 29ers – they ride better than any 26er I’ve had, but that is probably because they are fundamentally better bikes. But there is a huge amount of incorrect twaddle floating around these debates. they’re not better or worse than 26ers, just different. Others may have different experiences, but for me 29ers work and i’m a lowly 5’9″ tall, and I don’t care if I look too small for them.

All the 26er vs. 29er debates can be distilled down to what they look like

Wrong.

29ers are not less agile and have no undesirable characteristics relative to a 26er

Wrong.

But there is a huge amount of incorrect twaddle floating around these debates

Correct.

25 years is a long time – which modules did you opt for ?

Cant help being old, but have learnt there’s been a lot of twaddle sold over the years which isnt fit for anything but fishing weights in the cycling world.

So wobbliscott, being short do you look a bit daft on your big wheeled bike then 🙂

But there is a huge amount of incorrect twaddle floating around these debates people’s opinions on what suits them and should suit everyone else because everyone else is wrong.

Here we go again 🙄 .

I see what you’ve done there Enfht – very clever. But this is the rub isn’t it – its all about opinion. We all have different opinions on this and the debate will rage on. I can only comment on my own experiences, I have no axe to grind and am open minded on the issue. But in all the 26er vs. 29er debates that have raged there has been no real factual evidence to say that 29ers are less manourverable, weaker, slower, or particualrly disadvantaged in anyway relative to 26ers. If we’re going to perpetuate this debate, then lets distil it down to what really bothers people about 29ers – resistance to change, dislike of the aesthetics, cynicism of the industry, rather than trying to justify it with flawed physics i.e. nothing at all to do with how the bikes actually ride, taking into account that there are good and bad 29ers just as there are good and bad 26ers.

I’ve kept out of all these debates so far, and recently bought a new 26er without any consideration of 650B or 29ers. That’s not to say I deliberately dismissed 650B or 29ers or have anything against them, its probably just that I’m quite happy with what I know. Thing is, recently I’ve been watching some ‘rad shredding to the max’ type videos on Pinkbike and YouTube and I have to say, the bigger wheels just looked ungainly. To me it looked like they were dominating the ride, as opposed to the rider. Purely perspective I know but there you go.

I’m 5’6″ and I’m riding my rigid bike in 69er mode at the moment. I’m pretty convinced that for me I’d have a 29 rigid bike out of preference. The bigger wheel makes a noticable difference to comfort when you have no squidgy fork.
However I don’t think I’m likely to ever buy a 29 suspension bike because it’s always going to be difficult to keep the front end low enough.

I am 5’6″ and have always ridden 26″ wheels. Currently, I ride a fully rigid 17.5″ framed bike.

I tried out a 17.5″ framed Genesis Fortitude last week and loved it. Seriously considering buying it too.

My decision will be based on if I can afford it and if I liked it or not. I don’t think I will consider wheel size as a factor.

The wheelie test is all the evidence I need.

I guess this has been done to death

Yes..

On the sizing point, (aside from any issues about where he bought it perhaps not being totally ‘on the fence’..) not everyone wants to ‘throw their bike around’. Those that say they do, some of them barely manage a 1ft bunnyhop or a minor hip jump where a good 29er will only hinder you if you have arms like straws or little technique. For shorter riders that don’t want or need to / can’t chuck it about or ride less tech trails etc, a 29″ wheel doesn’t care how tall they are.. all that matters is momentum. Mass and speed gives you much of the bigger wheels’ advantages for smooth XC rolling whatever height you are.
So for a smaller XC rider with decent power and basic handling skills this idea that ’29ers are no good for short riders’ is guff – the only thing that may be a problem is sub-optimum frame design for smaller riders dictated by the wheel size, that’s improving all the time though. I reckon you need to be below 5’6″ before its an issue that’s hard to design around.

If you are a shorter chucker-pinner, well you may find the wheel weight, geometry/balance or getting your weight from end to end of a longer bike is more of a problem, granted. The bigger wheel has drawbacks as well as positive trade-offs. They aren’t moved quite so easily – off-line, or into ‘shapes’, whatever way you look at it there’s pros/cons.

OP, which type of rider is your neighbour?

which type of rider is your neighbour?

A gullible rider?

One that knows everything about everything………

I hope he proves me wrong and gets on with it, because £2500 on a bike that maybe wrong is a big mistake to make.

What’s his name/number I may have some old clothes that are a perfect fit for him(6’2 here)

Your hoping he come’s round and say’s it is cack ain’t you?

Hate the rider, don’t hate the bike.

Not sure why this gets so much debate.
Never ridden one – well I once rode Tons but as he is about twice my size thsi consisted of just being able to reach the pedals when they were level- dont care what folk say and have no actual opinion. I assume I would test one if i was getting a new bike.

Really folk do get in a froth over bikes and bike choices.
Pick one for you and let other folk do the same

Surely if this bike he’s bought looks way too big,then maybe he’s got the wrong size frame rather than wheels?

where’s captainflash with his groundhog day gif ? 😥

Bigger wheels = go faster for less turns

Hehe.. all that does is increase the effective gear ratio.. which you’ll adjust back to what you want via the shifter or choosing sprockets anyway…

29ers definitely roll better.
26ers may handle better in twisty stuff – I suspect they would but I have yet to ride a 29er on windy singletrack to compare.

oh for the love of god can’t we put this debate to bed it’s just BIKES so get on with it- ride it,get it dirty,clean it,fix it,repeat for as long as you can manage but stop fu*king going on about wheel sizes

Really folk do get in a froth over bikes and bike choices.
Pick one for you and let other folk do the same

fkmesideways I actually agree with junky on something *looks out of window, nope no pigs flying*

must be true then, just ride what YOU like and a stop fretting over what others do.