Anyone got one? Anyone ridden one? What do you think?

Or should I wait for Pace RC127?

Discuss…

Anyone got one? Anyone ridden one? What do you think?

You have searched on here and read all the threads?

Lots of threads.
Lots of likes.
Great bikes.

I posted a few observations when I got mine:

STW:kinesis-ff29

I must admit that I do tend to the idea that all bikes are good and you are just as well picking something that you like the look of and just riding it lots. Trying to work out which one is better is largely pointless as they are all good in certain situations and not so good in others. It all depends what you ride and what you are comparing it with I guess.

Obviously the FF29 is a hardtail so if you were comparing it with a full suss bike (as I was) it has all the usual advantages and disadvantages that you’d expect i.e. more efficient, less comfortable etc.

It’s a 29er, so if you were comparing it with a 26″ bike then the wheels are 10% bigger. Although, for the life of me, I’m not sure I could really tell you what difference that makes. I reckon that if you’ve read lots of stuff about 29ers you’ll be able to convince yourself that you can feel the things you think you are supposed to feel. If you are the sort of person who can detect a pea at the bottom of a pile of mattresses then maybe you can tell whether that rock felt a couple of percent smaller than it did last time you rode over it, but I’m blowed if I can. It does take more effort to lift the front wheel, but once you are used to it that becomes irrelevant.

That said, all bikes are designed for certain tasks and are more suited to some rides than others. The FF29 seems to be designed to be fast and is ideally suited to blasting over stuff that is within your comfort zone technically. It climbs steep but not too technical stuff like nothing else I’ve ever ridden. I’ve ridden up some steep slopes that I honestly thought I’d never get up on a bike. It’s also great for rides that involve a bit of road or simple forest track along with some more technical stuff as it is wonderfully efficient on the simple stuff and just about capable enough to get you over the more technical stuff.

It’s not a bike that really encourages me to push my limits on the way down though. I’ve spent a bit of time messing around with bars, stem and tyres and it now feels OK. In fact I can’t think of anything that I can ride on my 26″ full suss that I can’t get down on the FF29, but I don’t feel as confident to push things, which is probably as much to do with the rear end bashing me about as anything else.

I hope that was some help.

Fast and stiff.

And light.

That’s what I meant to say, but I had all these spare words to use up 🙂

😀 @ that ^

Not exactly seeing where you thinking is going when comparing a light ali 29er (more XC than anything) with a steel 650B ‘trail’ bike/frame

zippy don’t encourage him

Meandering off topic slightly and with the greatest respect to roverpig, I’ve enjoyed his musings over the past few months. At times his over analysis has both amused and entertained.

I have to agree though with his comment about the ride though. I’ve just got my first 29er ht (for the past year I’ve been solely on a 120mm fs 26er) and I can’t say it’s been a dramatic noticeable change if I was asked to comment on rolling ability, etc but it does just feel ‘right’ and that’s from the off.

I can already say it’s going to be my ‘go to’ bike.

Some of that may just mean I found the right bike for my riding but if the FF29 can meet that requirement then I reckon you’ll love it.

Meandering off topic slightly and with the greatest respect to roverpig, I’ve enjoyed his musings over the past few months. At times his over analysis has both amused and entertained.

Absolutely. 😆

My ride on an FF29 was fairly brief, and the forks and tyres were set to higher pressures than I would have liked. It was fast light, stiff and if I’m honest a bit of a bone shaker. It wasn’t for me, I’d sacrifice some speed in exchange for a little suppleness.

But the owner of the one I rode rides it hard and loves it. As Mr Normal says “if it’s the bike you want, you’ll love it”.

I’m actually quite tempted to a Sync because it looks like the bits I like of the FF29 retained and the bits I’d change for me, changed. Oh and nearly 3 times the cost of course.

Why, thank you gentlemen. To be honest, my over analysis amuses me sometimes too 🙂

that would be ‘over-analysis’ not ‘over analysis’.

@ mattjg – I’m not saying a word 😉

Doh, you’d think I could handle a basic compound noun by now.

Hangs head in shame.

I’m so over analysis.

I think I’m to blame on that one…..well, my phone actually 😉

@normal he’s at it again http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/saddle-and-bar-height

@mattjg I’m only taking the blame for predictive text 😉

If the Pace RC127 is as good as the RC129, it would be a treat, love my RC129, tempted to a RC127 to run gears on and leave the RC129 running singlespeed. It’s a very comfortable ride, that responds well to every pedal stroke.

Popped into the lbs today, he had one built up and it looks lovely. All for the princely sum of £999……

Bargin 🙂

What was the spec?

Didn’t take a lot of notice tbh, just drooling from afar 😀

FF29, Waddya reckon the FF stands for?

Have a quick think and you’ll realise it’s true, best ht I’ve ridden. Fast, nimble, light, stiff, fast and erm did I mention fast.

Climbs like a demon, descends like one too and they look ace into the bargain.

Not really feeling the love for mine anymore. It’s fast but I don’t find it as much fun to ride as my Five so it isn’t getting out much these days. Things might change when winter hits though.

I did really like mine but now I’ve got it into my head I need a touch more standover so might have a change soon. It is light, fast and stiff whilst being surprisingly trailsy though.