What did you think ?
I borrowed one the other day, 120mm travel Trek, quite liked everything about it on the flat and in the descent, but I thought it’s climbing ability wasn’t the best.
The bike weighed in at 30lbs.
Was the compromised climbing due to the weight do you, or is that a general complaint with 29ers ?
Grateful for any input.

I’ve got a Titus with 100mm travel and 120mm forks and its fine, weighs in at 27lb with pedals,
What trek was it?

I’ve ridden a couple – I would consider 100mm short travel on a 29er though? If the stock wheels were heavy that would slow it up? Suspension not set up correctly?

What was wrong with it’s climbing?

If you’d borrowed it was it the right size for you and were the contact points set up for you? If the stack height was a bit too high you may find the front end lifting to much on the climbs.

Similarly, if the suspension was set up for a lighter / heavier rider this could also affect how it climbs in terms of grip and / or efficiency..

I have two 29ers at the moment

Rocky Mountain Element 100mm front and 95 rear travel 27/8 lbs and
Turner Sultan 120/90mm front 125mm rear 31lbs with dropper and cheap gear

I started with a scandal hardtail 29er and liked lots about it but wanted a full suss, read things about Rocky and thought okay and was impressed by it so much that I sold my 26er Yeti asr 7 as it was out performed in all respects apart from Big rock fields everything else the Rocky was as quick or quicker.

I liked the Rocky but on a whim got a second hand turner, very different and just a tad slower on the ups.

Love both and generally 29ers I feel more comfortable on them due to stability and confidence they give, way quicker in the twisty stuff and singletrack especially on the turner slightly shorter wheel base, both are just enjoyable to ride

Climbing wise for me 29ers are not the OMG they climb so brilliantly in techy situations long road and fireroads yes quicker (time wise on one road climb I am 5minutes faster on a 29er than any 26er I have owned) but in tight roots and rocks I struggle.

Part of this I am sure is me but ridden the same path and cleared it for 10years on a 26er and now struggle on 29er.

Suspension design makes a huge difference the Rocky squirts forward on every stroke but the turner is more neutral and actually climbs better in tech situations than the Rocky but loses out on most climbs.

Bike weight never has bothered me as most bikes I have weighed in around 29 to 35 lbs, the getting rolling 29er wheels never bothered me, in short I am a convert to 29ers.

edit agree with wheels get the best you can afford and suspension set up vital oh and tyre pressure

Pyga OneTen 29 by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Does this count. 120mm at the front, 110mm on the back. Although I’ve yet to get round to shortening those revs from 140mm. My previous too FS bikes were an Orange ST4 and Cotic Rocket, both weighing around the 30lb mark (Rocket a bit more). The Pyga climbs a lot better than either of them. Descending wise, it’s a lot stiffer than the ST4 (which was also 120/110 on 26 inch wheels obviously) and feels a lot more capable in the rocky stuff. Cotic was amazing downhill but I wasn’t brave enough.

As an all round bike where there’s lots of climbing, some of it steep, descents that are either pretty rocky or superb dirt singletrack (there’s a reason we live around here 😉 ) and a bit of tramping about to get to places, it’s a brilliant compromise. With the long fork/wide bars /big wheels it’s a bit more of a handful in the super tight stuff but I’m rubbish at that anyway so it might be me.

Also it jumps really well on the little stuff I do. I wouldn’t want any more travel and will probably drop the front 10mm to try it at 130. I saw one of these being ridden at the PPDS last year and that’s what mine will be doing next year.

So as an all rounder, suits me perfectly. I’m sure 650B must be better tho 😉

And another ^^ for tyre pressures – running less than 25PSI both ends and the grip if amazing. Makes an expensive rubber-removal noise on the road but that’s a price worth paying. Not ridden a sultan but my old 5 spot was the best climbing bike ever.

goes like stink. can have 120 on front without voiding warranty

For me short stem 45mm and wide bars 780 answers are another revelation

bigrich – lovely looking bike, what’s that behind the bottlecage on the downtube?

What trek was it?

2014 Fuel EX8

I would consider 100mm short travel on a 29er though

yes, true, fair enough. I meant short travel in general rather than just 29ers

What was wrong with it’s climbing?

hard to describe really, just felt heavy and sluggish. Used to those same climbs on a light hardtail so maybe I was expecting too much. Yes, perhaps not set up quite right for me although it felt ‘right’ size-wise. After the ride I noticed ghat the ring on the forks was only to around 100mm and the ring on the shock had been pushed off the shaft so quite possible that the sag wasn’t set up quire right for my weight.
I didn’t notice the front wheel lifting.
I also have a 160mm travel bike which is slightly heavier yet I didn’t find the 29er easier, in fact possibly harder on the climbs.
Maybe it’s about the suspension setup and, yes, wheel weight.

Vondally – interesting, thanks. How tall are you out of interest ? Agree about the twisty stuff, I caught the back end a couple of times on a trail I would normall clear on my 26 hardtail.

what’s that behind the bottlecage on the downtube?

Isn’t that the wee spare tube and tools box..? Looks horrid, imho!

6ft but shrinking with age

I would say definitely setup. Tested several before deciding on the Spesh Camber. They all climbed well. I have found you feel the difference more on bumpy climbs rather than smooth.
Got the weight down to just over 24lbs, which helps even more. 🙂

100m rear Santa cruz here, feels like a lot more

I ride a whyte m109-s 100mm travel is defiantly enough. I took it to wales recently and had the most fun I had on any bike I have taken in previous years certainly never felt like it needed more travel. The light wheels probably help with the climbs though… It does pedal up hills really well considering it weighs 27 pound.

All you DH nutters!

/pats 80mm Spearfish

Soaks up stuff as well as my 26″ Camber did with 120mm and generally flies about the place better. Made down the Rangers path in one piece so I’m happy. 🙂

Alex – I thought the Orange was the ‘keeping’? Well before you got the Rocket anyway 🙂

100mm 29″ just won the last round of the men’s XC World Cup by attacking on the climb…

Just got back from Afan, first time on my PYGA same as Alex’s but mine has been reduced to 130mm on the front

Climbs really well on smooth and rocky/rooty trails and is real fun on the downs

Tbh though I haven’t owned any bike before that didn’t climb ok, only problem being my own fitness

BR.. the next one is the keeper. I’m sure we had that conversation a few times 😉

I’m considering sticking some 140mm pikes on mine. Because more is better, right?

100mm 29″ just won the last round of the men’s XC World Cup by attacking on the climb…

Nino was riding a 650b Spark full sus, I think it may have been legs today.

I’d day the weight(in the wheels) or a poorly set up shock would contribute more to what you’re describing.

My Anthem climbs rather well, it is considerably lighter than the Trek mind

Spark 920 with lockout here- no problems uphill. I had a Scale (ht) on demo the other week when mine was being serviced and it did feel alright until I got mine back. Traction mode made relentless uphill rocks as easy as hard pack at the Brecon Beast last weekend. I’m 2/514 on strava on a flat piece of tarmac with a 30.5mph sprint so acceleration is no problem 😉

Nino was riding a 650b Spark full sus, I think it may have been legs today.

Just commenting on how crap those 100mm 29’ers climb.

Not ridden a FS 29er but I’m looking forward to an arranged test ride of a Turner Czar in the next month.
Whether I’ll be able to bring myself to part with £2400 for a frame is another matter. 😕

Recently got a Whyte T-129W. It feels noticeably lighter than the Orange 5 I had before, especially now I’ve ditched the dropper post 😉 Climbs well, descends even better. My only slightly negative comment is that it needs more effort to make it turn, as you would expect, I guess. I’m getting used to it, though. Nice bike.

…and the ring on the shock had been pushed off the shaft so quite possible that the sag wasn’t set up quire right for my weight.

Thats what contributed to the feel. The shock was wallow “down” as you climbed and you would have been “pulling” it out of its sag and “over” any lumps rather than it reacting in a springly-like fashion and lifting the rear wheel over – hence you feeling like you are dragging the bike up.

Yesterday I tested my ASR5 in the surrey hills with “too much” air in (about 18% sag) and some hefty rebound set to counter the bounce as a response to my own thread on here about setup. The bike was lively and spritely (in a good way) as hell, but still oh so comfy.

I’ll be leaving it like that FWIW, it feels a lot faster and doesn’t need a bike/wheel size upgrade 🙂

Only downside to my 29er Spearfish really is weight. But i don’t think that’s hugely influenced by the frame as such, but by the rest of the components hanging off it. When i run it with HOPE/Crests you can really notice the difference when picking up etc compared to the generic Giant S-XC wheels i sometimes run.
Comfort is all day long and it climbs like a mountain goat.

Got a Titus Rockstar frame about a year ago, built it up at 28lbs’ish with 100mm front and back and in all honesty I love it 🙂 Very happy with mine.

Lapierre XR here. 100mm front and rear and just under 23lb (on my scales anyway), climbs well, descends very well!

Lapierre XR here

Is that the one with just the single upper pivot and which relies on flex in the carbon chainstays for the lower ‘pivot ?
How do you find it ? Are you not concerned about fatigue cracking in those chainstays ?

Thats what contributed to the feel. The shock was wallow “down” as you climbed and you would have been “pulling” it out of its sag and “over” any lumps rather than it reacting in a springly-like fashion and lifting the rear wheel over – hence you feeling like you are dragging the bike up.

Yesterday I tested my ASR5 in the surrey hills with “too much” air in (about 18% sag) and some hefty rebound set to counter the bounce as a response to my own thread on here about setup. The bike was lively and spritely (in a good way) as hell, but still oh so comfy.

Interesting – thanks

The marketing speak does say that it uses flex in the seatstays as an extra pivot. It’s nothing new, Yeti have done it for years and last years Salsa’s did also (and in aluminium which would be more prone to fatigue I’d expect).

How much they actually flex is debatable, when I had the shock removed to change the bushes the back end moved through its travel without any resistance so I’m not convinced they do actually flex, they just wanted to make it sound less like a single pivot with linkage bike as the XC target market wouldn’t like that.

The XR does seem more prone to failure on the inside of the main triangle where the rear shock intersects the seat tube. I’ve heard of one of two going there and mine has some lines in the lacquer, but nothing more so far.