I like the fact that my bike choice pisses so many people on the internet off.

i’ll pick up a 29er in about 18 months when all the people who claim they are savior of mountainbiking have put them on ebay to buy 650b bikes because bikeradar have been paid to deem 27.5 the new holy grail .

My point andyruss is not which is fastest but the way we will eventually accept the market. A great deal of bike brands come from America, it goes without saying that they dictate what happens and we follow slowly behind. 29ers are established there, not long till it’ll be the common thing to buy.

http://www.followingthechainline.blogspot.com

Re the motorbike thing, smaller wheels are used by sportsbikes because they turn faster (I think Honda fireblades even went to 16″ fronts in a bid to get them turning in faster). Off road bikes have a 21″ front to help them roll over the rough stuff easier. So called ‘adventure tourers’ or all rounders if you prefer have 19″ wheels to give a good compromise of both.

I recently returned to mtb’ing and have discovered I enjoy long distance enduro type riding. But when I went to buy a new bike, I was adamant I wasn’t going to fall for the 29″ thing. If i’m honest, the main reason was because I didn’t like the look of the big wheels. However, after seeing them in the flesh with a Large frame rather than Medium, I was sold. It still all boils down the the engine and the brain though so now I’ve got to get fit enough to do this justice 😉

Initial off road forays show that it’s really hard to make an unbiased opinion after reading pages of tripe on the internet about it.
However, I can confirm that yes, it is slower to turn in but the stability through bog-wet ruts and muddy tracks is amazing! On road climbing is no different really but off road it’s such a leap ahead than my old bike, I have no idea which characteristics are to do with the chassis and which are to do with the wheels. All I know is that it is lush to ride and I couldn’t care less what size the wheels are 🙂

jezandu you use America as your bench mark fair enough but l don’t ride in the good role USA l ride in the Scottish highlands. 29ers were built for the mass market of America were the majority of trails are long and flat. Most Americans will never ride a tight twisty single track and have no wish to. You also use the USA xc scene to back up your claims and then say its not about being fastest,sorry on the xc scene that is the only thing that matters and my point is despite a five year head start on us they have produced no riders setting the world alight in fact all wheel size have prod used world cup winners. I don’t see why l would embrace what l feel l don’t need just because it comes uncle Sam.

Want proof that its marketing led?

Take a look at emily batty’s bike

Lets stop resisting change and go wih it. Afterall, we were about five years behind the Americans when it came to full suspension and look whats happened now!

hmmm America hey!
in one sense do we have and ride the same style of riding as them?

The stw masive talking rubbish…. Again. 😀

What utter shite to say we must follow the trend and accept that that’s the way it’s going!!
Will I ride a 29er…no! Have I rode one… Yes, I agree with the op that they’re not what I would class mountain bikes but that is my opinion, i would not want to ride a 29er on the trails I ride! Maybe they could be advantageous on a trail centre, but then again a cycle x bike would be in my eyes! The worrying thing for me is that this trend is going to wipe out 26ers cos the average mountain biker prefers them! And that is the damage marketing is doing in my eyes.

The worrying thing for me is that this trend is going to wipe out 26ers cos the average mountain biker prefers them!

The second hand market is going to be absolutely awash with 26ers the next couple of years, I wouldn’t worry about it, you’ll have your pick.

Lets all go back to Ford Model T’s!
I like choice and as a preference I like 29ers never had any marketing thrown at me, just tried it several years ago and prefered it. Oh and on some extremely techical descents today guess what I didn’t die! I did happen to see some guys on 26ers making a lash of it though, coinsidence though.
No one is wrestling the money out of your wallet saying you must have a 29er, just get used to the fact that in 5yrs your 26er will be considered niche and you’ll be cool again unlike all us lemmings on 29ers

andyruss I think you miss understand me a bit. I never said anything to suggest that being fast during an xc race is not important. I just don’t care which bike is fastest 29er 650b or 26er that is always down to the rider more than wheel size and is personal to where you ride. But remember the biggest bike companies just as trek, giant, specialised, kona and Cannondale are dropping 26ers from their range as in America there has become less demand and the 29er more accepted. This will be forced on us, we are just slow to pick up with the market. Full sus was exactly the same. Europeans were behind and resisted the change but the movement came from America. The fact they are rubbish at racing has nothing to do with it. They seem to get better results than us.

Oh and id be very surprised that in country so vast compared to ours that they don’t have twisty trails in abundance.

I hate to break it to folks but the idea that everyone in the UK that buys a mountain bike is off riding sweet singletrack every day is a complete red herring. Most are bought by folk that will do not much more than ride on the streets, canal tow paths and old railway lines. For that application the hybrid/29er makes a lot more sense.

In 10 years, 26″ wheeled bikes will be a specialist purchase, much like 20″ is now. Choice will be a lot less and not all manufacturers will bother with them.

29ers were built for the mass market of America were the majority of trails are long and flat.

Seriously. I’ve seen some daft things on STW but that has to be up near the top. 😆

Want proof that its marketing led?

Take a look at emily batty’s bike

Or they’re so good even short people like them 😛

Sorry to dig this up…..I was just wondering, after 9months, have any of the big wheel haters succumbed?

Be honest now!

I bet pussywillow has…….!

I like your straight talking style PW!

🙂

If it helps, my Mrs said she’d never ride one, “they look funny” “too slow through the twisties” etc. she borrowed a friends Epic the other day as hers was broken., came back from the ride and ordered one! case closed.

Only half believed them then the next new thing came along, but I still wasn’t sure of that either, so I now have a 26″ wheel frame, with 29″ front and 27.5 rear. So everything is covered 😉

so I now have a 26″ wheel frame, with 29″ front and 27.5 rear. So everything is covered…

…apart from suspension. But clearly you have no interest in that! 😉

26= smaller French, 27.5= fuller but perky, 29er= two zeppelins in a dead heat race, all are fun! I’ve gone the zeppelin route. 😉

photo (2) by Loco Tuning, on Flickr

Rides quite nicely, rear shock will be shortened a bit to lower bb if a bit too ‘top heavy’ but running a fair bit of static sag at the moment.

photo (2) – Copy by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/55204994@N03/

😉

Ha!
Luddites…..embrace the clown wheel!

I have had one for about 10 months now and won’t be going back!

If 29ers are middle class count me in.

29ers still look rubbish. Seat Tube / Top tube juntion should not be significantly lower than the top of the rear tyre, its just wrong.

I rode Snakebites 650b, couldnt really tell any difference apart from long stem and narrow bars and on measuring tyre against tyre there was practically no difference.

My car has 15″ wheels (had to check)

What size wheels does your car have?

15″ need to be an inch or two bigger to fill the arches really, it’s going in for ‘work’ in the next couple of weeks 8)

The argument for changing to 29″ is that it makes it all smoother and faster, and a similar debate raged 10 years ago as full suss elbowed hardtails aside with exactly the same argument. And that’s where my problem with the 29 format lies. I shelved my full susser after I realised how bored I was becoming with the trail centre and drove roads around here. Going back to a 26 hardtail brought the trails to life again.

That’s partially an admission that hardtails and 26″ wheels make things…more challenging(?) but it’s also about acknowledging the fact that what makes MTBing so engaging is the sheer level of physical control involved. You could convert to a BMX or unicycle on the trails of course, but they would place greater limitations the terrain you could ride.

So, full suss and 29″ is all about increasing speed and smoothness, but that’s not entirely what makes MTBing so interesting.

Holy thread resurrection!

I’m still on 26 inch wheels partly because I’m happy with them and partly because I couldn’t afford new forks, wheels and tyres if I was to swap. Although my new frame can take 650b by changing the drop outs.

The 29er thing doesn’t bother me that much because it did kind of happen organically and grew whereas the 660b thing seems really forced and even seems to be affecting the 29er movement (Giant). To be honest I’d rather enjoy my current bike than get my knickers in a twist over it (I have expressed concerns about 26er stuff getting phased out quickly but I’m now just going to bury my head in the sand and ride what I’ve got).

I dint see the point in ranting about marketing because the industry has always done it…forks, v brakes, full sus, disc brakes etc. Doubt it’ll ever change either.

ignore.

mjsmke – Member

What size wheels does your car have?

17s. But I could fit anything from 15 to 18 without any fuss, so…

mangatank – Member

So, … 29″ is all about increasing speed and smoothness, but that’s not entirely what makes MTBing so interesting.

no, i bought a 29er because 26″ bikes look chuffing ridiculous, i wanted a new bike, and i wanted it to look good.

shallow? – yes, but for the first time since i was 12, i’ve got a bike that fits me.

bumps are still bumps, a nasty square edge rock will still pinch-puncture/dingarim, you still need to pick your lines.

I ride both – what does this make me?!

If I’m going to a trail centre with lots of jumps, berms, switchback corners etc, then it’s 26″ all the way. If I’m doing a long distance ride or event like a 12 hour, then its 29er.

The size of my grin after riding my Soul or Reaction GTC is broadly similar. They ride differently and do different things well. Both make me happy.

The FS still scares the beejayzus out of me on the right day.

I ride both – what does this make me?!

650b, silly.

Haven’t you been paying attention?

I have a few 26″ bikes and a 29er as experiment in this new-fangled devil’s work. In reality, of course they’re both going to have their plusses and minuses. The 29er has had most use over the summer, but I put that down in part to the dry conditions which play to its rolling abilities. One of its worst traits though is to make other bikes feel flipping weird. It’s really odd.

shallow? – yes

shallow – yes.

I love the set up on my 26er and have been riding off road for 20 years. I’ve also had ‘mind altering’ training sessions.

I’m still crap.

I cant help but feel that a 29er will make me faster/enjoy the trails more.

If I dont improve in the next 20 years then mebbe i’ll give one a go..

I rode a 29er for the first time the other week, a very nice Scott Spark (thanks BW cycles!). I was expecting it to be significantly different to my Anthem X, but do you know what? Most of the time, it was hard to tell. It was a bit better over open bridleways and loose climbs, but felt duller to ride. It tracked better on a rocky downhill but it had an oversize headset and through-axle, which my Anthem doesn’t.

I wonder how many people would know what size wheels their bike had if we could somehow devise a test where you could see the trail but not the bike you’re riding?