Before the jokes ..title was deliberate.
Basically I have a surly ogre which I am led to believe Is the same as a KM with added braze ons / dropout options etc. Anyhow although I’ve never owned a KM I believe it makes an excellent rigid trail bike . I love the ogre and use it for road and off road running 29+ up front with a carbon fork as I found the original way to harsh. My only disappointment is with the difficulty I find in lofting the front end , for example over logs. off small drops etc. pulling a wheelie is difficult as the front is so reluctant to come up .
I am running a set of monkey nuts at the back so wheelbase isn’t as short as it could be + it’s a 29er som longer wheelbase generally as well as having a heavy front tyre and the stem is 90mm so not extreme. bar height is also not particularly low .
Is this a common issue with 29ers … It’s the only one i’ve owned , or is there another reason ? i never had trouble with any of my previous 26 inch bikes in this respect although they did generally have a sus fork up front to allow pumping . I did also have a rigid kona as well and no trouble popping the front up on that either but i presume that’s all down to the fact they were 26 inchers with shorter wheelbases.
All comments, tips, advice welcomed ..I’d really like to get it up more easily!
thanks
Bill

The chainstay length and seat tube angle play an important part, as will the F:R weight distribution. The further towards/over the rear axle you are the more likely the front wheel is to lift, both when you want it to and when you don’t (e.g. on steep climbs).

The larger wheels are more difficult to accelerate which is also detrimental. That being said I’m sure it’s possible to wheelie anything with the right approach and technique.

I find rigid forks hard to lift as you can’t preload the front end. Plus I suspect it has relatively long centre, stem and low bars?

When you are trail riding you are not wheelieing per se… you are weight shifting (more of a small manual).

I find my rig the same. The front just doesn’t come off the floor. That’s a long rigid 29er

When I go from riding a full sus. bike to my rigid Singular Hummingbird I find the opposite – I over lift the front wheel over stuff, until I get used to it. Probably down to shorter w/base, lighter front end and no rear suspension to squat and absorb anything.

I find you have to hoik your weight back a lot more.
When I was intro BMX I could manual for ages, hop up things, jump things etc. all off the back wheel. Go up to a 24 and it is harder: XC26er and, for me, almost impossible.
I have a Karate Monkey now, with a 29+ tyre on the front and I can at least get the front up to get over stuff, but wheelying or manualing for any decent amount of time is just beyond me. I think the more weight you have in front of the rear axle, added to the larger circumference of the wheels, makes it a lot harder to get that front up.
Maybe try a few sessions practicing wheelies and manuals, just to see where the balance point is and how much you need to muscle the front wheel up.

So it looks like the chainstays are very long – 440mm plus more with the Monkey Nuts, so about 455mm. You have to shift your weight a lot more to get the front end up. Higher bars help too.

The chainstays are this long on my Levo and I did initially notice it was harder to manual but it’s absolutely fine now I’m used to it. My bars are pretty damned high (stack height is 628mm, 40mm risers and a 10mm spacer).

As I had thought and glad it’s not just me. I do miss ,however,being able to “hoik” the front end up, say a 2ft fairly vertical bank coming off the road etc.Had no trouble on an old rigid Kona etc.Perhaps a different bike is required but then again ..it would be unlikely to be as good an all rounder for touring etc.

A certain guy doesn’t have any issue with a cargo bike…

But like you I find it less than easy on my 29er. Then again I’ve not specifically practised.