So I'm going to ask it anyway….

Do you need to fall in love with it? It’s a tool for racing. Buy it, thrash it, then sell it on when you fancy something different.

There’s a line though isn’t there, I want to like my bikes, yes they’re utilitarian, but they’re still expensive.

A house is just a roof over your head, but I still want to like where I live!

njee, it’s adding significance beyond utility to bikes that’s got him in this mess 😉

Is 650b really the future though, or faster than 29ers? *ducks*

The kittens!!!! Giant obviously think so. Most xc racers seem to disagree.

mrblobby – Member
njee, it’s adding significance beyond utility to bikes that’s got him in this mess

This is true. Unfortunately until now I’ve not been lucky or enough or been anx XC Racer wanting to own an “everyday” bike AND a dedicated race bike for which I dont have a care. I still don’t want that, but I recognise my “social” biking” has reduced at this point in my life and I’m more race/ride than ride/race, so my stock will be reorientated as such in the near future, a trend which may reverse in a couple of years.

Therefore the Whyte fits the bill, as does the Anthem I guess but with the latter I’m not happy that the wheel size differential and geo is as much advantageous as the Whyte would be vs my ASR5 for racing/24hrs.

Whats faster, 29 inch wheels or 1/2lb weight off my 26er making it 1lb lighter than the 29er, assuming all else is relatively the same…?

Neither is ‘faster’. Unless you’re really at split-second-counting peak fitness 1lb makes f-all difference aside from lightening your wallet or being a mental advantage for some. 29″ wheels I’d say are notably more efficient than 26″ for xc so that may result in lower times a-to-b. Beyond that is over-thinking it or being distracted from the real question (by shiny low-weight kit perhaps) : )

Late to the party on this but I recently ditched both my 26ers for 29ers. I had demos and borrowed a variety of bikes, both 29 and 650b before I made the decision, I tried both wheel sizes of Trance, a couple of Santa Cruz and Orange fives in every flavour.

Now just to qualify this I will state that I am not a racer of any sort, far too much of a pie enthusiast for that.

I was initially concerned about the talk of 29 bikes being harder to turn and much less agile than the smaller wheel sizes, I have found that this is true in varying degrees, but I have also found that it does not matter in the slightest.

The reason it does not matter is that what you lose in agility you gain in increased grip and stabilty, your riding style has to adapt, but once it does you learn that you can carry more speed in corners, and hold lines that would have had you weaving the bike around on a 26 inch wheel.

Obviously this is subjective, but I have found that I can ride longer without geting tired and that I am recording PBs on strava without really trying for them, probably down to being able to float over rooty and rocky sections rather than weaving around trying for the smoothest line.