Looking at the differences in diameter between a 27.5×3.0″ and 29″x2.5″ it’s about 1/2″ or 6mm radially (ish) so. 27.5+ is barely any different to a 29″ in my book, all you would really be gaining would be tyre volume

It’s not just about diameter though. All that extra tyre volume does weird things to the handling. They squirm and fold in hard corners and when you squash them they rebound in funny ways.

I thought plus tyres were great for just bimbling around on being fast and comfortable. I just couldn’t get used to them when throwing the bike around and riding DH style trails.

Who uses a 3.0 tyre on the back of a mullet bike? No one.

Is B+ perceived to be rubbish?

Working for a tyre company… They haven’t gone the way of the Dodo for sure, but sales are a lot less than when the hype peaked a few years ago. Read into that what you will, but for me there’s just too much uncontrolled squish once you’re up to the 2.8-3.0″ tyre size, especially as nobody was making reinforced carcasses in these sizes to add some control and durability because of the huge weight increase that came with it when there is that much rubber on board.

FWIW, on an eBike at least, I’m quite a fan of 2.6″ tyres now (29×2.6 front and 27.5×2.6 rear on my own eBike). Beefier carcasses help in this respect, as do tyre inserts, and being an eBike the weight increase is much less of an issue. But then my experience so far tells me that most 2.6’s blow up undersized, certainly more than 5mm narrower than most 2.8’s I’ve seen which is what you might expect.

We did this with the Big Hit, but i think that was actually a design fk up.

I have a v2 Bronson, I didnt think the V3 was worth the hassle to replace it with, maybe the mullet will encourage me.

This is the reason they make new frames, to get people to buy stuff.

Mboy, slight hijack, what rimstrip do you use? Assume rear only?. Ebike coming in a couple of weeks, need to get finger out!

cynic-al
Full Member

Is B+ perceived to be rubbish?

Seems to be more viable to me than mullet, esp given what happened with 69ers.

Bias alert – I like my B+

Nah but as soon as manufacturers realised they could generate much the same interest and marketing bullshit with 2.6 most totally lost interest in the bigger tyres. After all they could literally just put the bigger tyres into many existing designs, or better yet just label up a 2.5 as 2.6 and suddenly it’s new and exciting.

cookeaa
Full Member

Looking at the differences in diameter between a 27.5×3.0″ and 29″x2.5″ it’s about 1/2″ or 6mm radially (ish) so. 27.5+ is barely any different to a 29″ in my book

Remember you sit lower on a plus tyre due to tyre sag. It doesn’t sound an awful lot but basically if you can put plus tyres in a bike and lower the bb by 10mm and have it work great, it means the BB was pretty damn high. If you try it on a bike that’s already got a nice low BB, then 10mm lower is a big difference. (I enjoyed my solarismax in Plus mode but it’s just too low for me)

I love my 27.5, it goes as fast as I’d like it to go, so not massively fussed about the speed aspect that larger wheels bring. I’ve not tried a 29 or mullet, so for me I gnorance is bliss (certainly for the time being…)

“ Half of the guys that work there ride Mullet/MX, half of them ride full 29er on their Geometron G1’s…”

Is it a height thing with them?

“ Covering all bases there – Do you mean as 27.5 disappears entirely? Or just the 27.5 fork?”

The 27.5 fork. You can fit 27.5 or 29 wheels in 29 forks and all that happens is the axle to crown length is 15-20mm longer. And with slack head angles that’s rarely a problem for stack height. Give it a flip chip that moves the rear axle by 19mm vertically and fit a fork whose max air shaft length gives at least 20mm more travel than stock, and then you can sell a bike which is (for example):

Full 29: 140mm fork, 140mm rear, 64.5/77 angles, 340mm BB (flip chip = low)
Full 27.5: 160mm fork, 140mm rear, 64.5/77 angles, 340mm BB (flip chip = high)
Mullet trail: 140mm fork, 140mm rear, 64.5/77 angles, 340mm BB (flip chip = high)
Mullet uplift: 150mm fork, 140mm rear, 63/75.5 angles, 330mm BB (flip chip = low)

Isn’t that satisfying? So much from one frame and fork and a spare wheelset.

“My hardtail setup has settled down to grippy 29er front, fast rolling 275Plus rear… love it.”

I guess it depends on your usual riding – you’re in the Peak I believe so lots of rock, not much mud and more open rough fast/tech trails; whilst my local riding is all about corners on dirt. I need the toothy knobs to handle the loose ground on the steeps whether it’s dry or wet and the bigger volume tyres lost some cornering precision. I do run inserts so I don’t have to run the pressure too high on spikier terrain. DHR2 27.5 x 2.3 – does it all out back! I’d ride a full 29er if someone gave me one but my super slack and low 150 27.5 hardtail is good enough to stop me spending any money for the foreseeable future…

I haven’t lived in the Peaks for over 16 years now. The hardtail wouldn’t be coming out much if I was still there and this age!

“ I haven’t lived in the Peaks for over 16 years now.”

Aha! Where’s local to you then?

“ The hardtail wouldn’t be coming out much if I was still there and this age!”

I took mine to Mallorca on our last family holiday, which is basically like the Peak during an endless heatwave – it was completely silly in all the best ways! 😉

Mboy, slight hijack, what rimstrip do you use? Assume rear only?. Ebike coming in a couple of weeks, need to get finger out!

Do you mean ristrip, or tyre insert…? If the latter, then Running Rimpact in the rear, and a Huck Norris in the front. Probably no need for anything in the front, but I had it lying around, it weighs next to nothing and provides a small amount of protection and aids with tyre inflation… 🤷🏻‍♂️

The rimpact in the rear has probably saved 2 or 3 tyres already on my eBike, judging by the state of the rim… Done about 210 miles on it in the 6 weeks or so I’ve had it, and the rear rim already has 3 significant flatspots! 😂

“ Half of the guys that work there ride Mullet/MX, half of them ride full 29er on their Geometron G1’s…”

Is it a height thing with them?

I’m not sure to be honest… That’s a “correlation vs causality” argument for sure…

im interested in trying this as my main bike is an XL 2014 Nukeproof Scout, I’ve got relatively short legs despite being 6 ft 2 and wouldn’t mind making it slacker

can you get a link that’ll go in the chainstays or does it matter with a hardtail? and what will it do with the geometry? lower the BB and slacken the HA. How much? by a degree?

I’ve not tried a mullet since the Big Hit years, but every time I tried 27.5+ the tyres always felt vague and wallowy, especially in corners as they just seemed to fold over. And they dragged as well.

But I am someone who prefers their tyres at about 30psi front and rear (even tubeless).

Friends have tried recent mullet bikes and seem to like them.

“and what will it do with the geometry? lower the BB and slacken the HA. How much? by a degree?”

BB will drop by about 1/2” and angles will be about a degree slacker.

thanks CGG

also, no probs with 2 different spare tubes as when was the last time you got a front puncture? I realise I’ve just jinxed myself.

the answer isn’t to go tubeless, Im now mid forties – if its not happened by now it’ll never

Riding bikes is fun and experimenting with bikes is just as fun, so why not.
Like said before, brands will sell whatever’s popular at a given time.

Now, about actual performance, one should be careful taking WC DH riders as a starting point. DH bikes have huge rear travels, in which they tend to ride deep, creating all sorts of clearance issues with bums and saddles. They also don’t really need any interchangeability with the front wheel, and don’t have to climb. Taking a look at the EWS sharp end sort of confirms this.

I wouldn’t mind to try an enduro/AM mullet, particularly for the often mentioned cornering behaviour, but can’t see myself investing into such. I’m 184cm tall and even with flat pedals I don’t ever find myself rubbing my arse, 490mm of reach makes the bike’s center a safe place to be. I also prefer to have at least a spare rim lying around and some tyres I know I can rely in case of failure. I also often enjoy technical climbs. So, all in all, very different use case vs a racing scenario

Pedantic point about different size wheels and history… Comments/corrections welcome.

Firstly we had the 69er, a ground-up idea which spread to dh bikes (but not at the upper echelons of the sport I think) and got taken up by a few manufacturers (Trek, Carver, both singlespeed-oriented).

Then 27.5″ came along.

I am not sure when people started experimenting with other wheel sizes in frames designed for 27.5″, or whether the mullet (29″ front/ 27.5″ rear) first arose when someone put a 27.5″ rear in a 29″ frame, or a 29″ front in a 27.5″ frame. But I am fairly certain that, as with the 69er, it arose in the grass roots, because there are people out there who like doing this stuff and why not? Manufacturers (large ones anyhow) would like just one wheel size, as it makes their lives (and those of bike shops and distributors) simpler. That is why they (particularly Giant I recall) tried to push 27.5″ as “one size to rule them all”. Which went well.

I am fairly certain that people were mulleting bikes before plus size tyres were proposed, but it wasn’t until plus sized tyres that manufacturers made frames expressly to fit both diameters of rim. Thhough they recommended the same size at each end and plus sized tyres with the smaller diameter, which of course “different wheel sizes are cool” enthusiasts* ignored.

*I have run 29/26, 29/24 (as a joke) and 29/27.5 by the way, so I am one of them.

You’re forgetting about the huck-to-flat era of 26-24 mullets

They also don’t really need any interchangeability with the front wheel, and don’t have to climb. Taking a look at the EWS sharp end sort of confirms this.

I think quite a few EWS racers are on unofficial mullets, even if they don’t shout about it.

Yes, they are indeed, but (purely subjective assessment) it seems that a higher percentage of WC DH guys are on mullets

@zezaskar

You’re forgetting about the huck-to-flat era of 26-24 mullets

Doh yes, I rode with a guy who had a Big Hit and all. Did Spesh invent that? Probably not.

I’m going for it when my rear 29 wheel konks out. I can’t just chop n change like some of you high rollers 🙂