Picking 'er up today .....

The Big Cheese

Shall be picking up my Gary Fisher Rig 29er this afternoon...... evans threw me a good deal on some new pedals (basic shim spd's come as standard)

Are giving me some DMR V12s for £20 (they are buying the Shims back off me)

Was supposed to pick it up saturday but have been poorly (again!!) so today was the first time I could get it.

Shall post some pics up when I get her later......

Never ridden a 29er so this should be interesting...

big_southern_jesse

Lucky boy!

I've been lusting after one of those for the last few months, I guess I'll have to try to build up from a frame with some spares over the winter to get something similar though!

Hope you have a great afternoon, and report back how she handles!

KonaMike

Let us know what the 29er experience is like !!

The Big Cheese

Righto... here's the low-down.

First of all she is LIGHT!!! 23lbs out of the box.... even surprised the guy at Evans....

Lovely bike... doesn't look amazingly huge at all and to be honest with you all.... It's not that much different to a 26"....

Slightly and I mean slightly slower to accelerate and once you are at 'top speed' it doesn't feel totally different to riding 26"......

Very nimble machine actually, the singlespeed thing killed my legs after about 4 miles (and a few hills) but I have not ridden for months due to illness so that was probably the best part of it....

Kit-wise pretty good... the Reba SLs performed superbly (although most of the riding was locked out).... Avid BB7 brakes took a little getting used to but bedded in after 10 mins... but the Avid FR levers are S H I T E... they are getting swapped out straight away for something better (although there's not a lot of choice)

No point in changing the basic Bonti cockpit as shes light enough already.. although the saddle is not that great and I have an SDL Bel Air to swap it with....

Gearing is good for almost anything (18/32)

Wheels felt pretty tight actually although I shall get back to you after I have beasted them for a while.

All in all it's a FUN ride and good for everyday riding... SS is hard but a good way to get fit, the centre of gravit felt low and planted and provoked a sense of confidence which I haven't had on a rig for a while... you feel that you can go over anything with the 29er....

Shall get some piccies up later... I would recommend getting a 29er (although I wouldn't spend £2k on one)

If you have £450 burning a hole in your pocket, get down to Evans and try out the Rig... great reduction (was £799.99) and requires minimum upgrades)

All in all 7 out of 10...

allthegearnoidea

oooh, a 29er! sounds cool!

picked up an american bike mag back in feb for a read whilst up at mothers, and they were all raving about 29ers so would be good to get a proper opinion on them!!

norco forever

can't wait to see some pics what made you decide on a 29er?

The Big Cheese

I had a ride 2 work voucher burning a hole in my pocket..... believe it or not I originally (in a fit of madness) ordered a WTP Trust BMX.... Evans couldn't get them in (and I couldn't justify getting a BMX at my age anyway) so I looked through their 'last chance' section and saw the rig and thought 'why not'....

It's a great ride for general thrashing about on... kinda feels like a huge jump bike actually!!!!! But a hell of a lot lighter

I already have the Marin, Mythic and Yeti so not short on choice for bikes...so this was experimental and a luxury rather than buying my only bike..... given the choice if I had to have only one rig to do it all on I would go 26" hardtail all the way

norco forever

fair enough and lucky you lol, glad to see your feeling bit better now as well how's your yeti been btw?

The Big Cheese

Still not finished... have no brakes yet... am getting some Hope Mono Minis but will probably finish it off next month... apart from that it's looking pretty cool and comes in at 25lb!!!

norco forever

:shock: thats erm rather light lol i'll be interested to find out what my 666X will build upto me as the frame feels exceptionally light and other than my forks i have reasonable weight kit.

clarkson

same, when ive built up my malt4 im hoping it should be fairly light.