Santa Cruz's new 29er hardtail

Dick Scruttock

As above, pictures from Santa Cruz blog:




WANT.

getonyourbike

now, that looks nice.

jay12

very neat

scale20

It is nice but i think If I was going to spend that much I would go for the Niner Air 9 carbon with their rigis forks 8) 8)

getonyourbike

scale20 wrote:

It is nice but i think If I was going to spend that much I would go for the Niner Air 9 carbon with their rigis forks 8) 8)

you mean the one you've got

scale20

ha ha, nah I wish, just dreaming there, one day!

getonyourbike

I dear, I got a little confused to say the least. First time round I thought you meant you had one. Re-read it and I get it now. Stupid me :roll:

GHill

Nice, but doesn't raise the lust factor like the Niner.

Anonymous

scale20 wrote:

It is nice but i think If I was going to spend that much I would go for the Niner Air 9 carbon with their rigis forks 8) 8)

Rigid? Seriously? :roll:

getonyourbike

yeehaamcgee wrote:

scale20 wrote:

It is nice but i think If I was going to spend that much I would go for the Niner Air 9 carbon with their rigis forks 8) 8)

Rigid? Seriously? :roll:

rigid forks make sense with a 29er as its apparently similair to a 100mm full suss 26er. They also drop a chunk of weight off compared to suspension forks.

Northwind

Not to mention being loads of fun

Anonymous

getonyourbike wrote:

I'm a hippy luddite

sheepsteeth

getonyourbike wrote:

rigid forks make sense with a 29er as its apparently similair to a 100mm full suss 26er. They also drop a chunk of weight off compared to suspension forks.

you have got to be joking, how on earth could that feel like a 100mm fork on a 26er?

Anonymous

he's not joking, he's delusional.

jallll

well, i have prefered a 29er chameleon.......

i don't have riden until now a 29er, but friends say that a full rigid steel 29er feels like a 80 mm double suspension on 26er...

bike-a-swan

I've been quite enjoying running rigid forks lately. Got them mainly to save on cleaning time over the winter (yes, and running singlespeed, I'm a cliche!), but I think they might stay in use far longer into the nice weather than planned. I was surprised how effective the 'run a big tyre soft' thing actually is, so I imagine it can only be more so on a 29er.

Northwind

I've been running a rigid mtb lately with a 2.5 front tyre and it's nothing at all like having suspension. But it's still ace. Everyone who's ever complained that their local trail is too easy or trail centres are too sanitised should think about getting a rigid fork, it's a device for making riding unneccesarily difficult.

It's a natural match for a bigwheel since niches like to flock together. Go singlespeed while you're at it.

bike-a-swan

I'd agree, it doesn't feel like a suspension fork, just less bumpy than I'd expected! I've been amazed how much more you start to automatically flex your arms to absorb things. Still getting pretty badly rattled in some places though!

GHill

Northwind wrote:

I've been running a rigid mtb lately with a 2.5 front tyre and it's nothing at all like having suspension.

That's missing the 29er part of the equation though. Larger wheel will roll over small depressions rather than entering them and the different angle that you hit smaller obstructions at will take away some of the "bump". It doesn't feel the same as suspension, but rigid 29er makes more sense than rigid 26er IMHO.

It's obviously not a great idea if you're pummelling over rocks, but not a totally insane idea for relatively smooth long distance XC type rides.

robertpb

As someone who rode rigids for some 24 years both in 26 and 24 inch wheels, I always found of the two the 24 my favourite. Something to do with the way it would turn on a pin.

For using a 29er with rigid forks just to run smoother trails, I would rather go for a CX with discs and a set of top levers to hum along the trails even faster.

Mind you Geoff Apps has always been convinced by the 29er he built his first back in 1981 but then switched to 650B's for production, recently he's built a new 29er, which rolls pretty fast downhill which I can attest to as he was on my tail.

wobbem

Just converted my On One 29er to rigid and finished the Gorrick Brass Monkey ( N.o 4295). Exotic carbon forks, pretty impressed, my arms weren't as tired as I 'd thought they would get and it handled the bombs, roots etc with ease. A bit twitchey on some corners, I think the forks are a bit to long for the job, they are equivalent to a 100mm travel set up, but I will stick with them definitely.

sheepsteeth

Northwind wrote:

it's a device for making riding unneccesarily difficult.

It's a natural match for a bigwheel since niches like to flock together. Go singlespeed while you're at it.

agree with all of this.

Anonymous

robertpb wrote:

I would rather go for a CX

I'm sorry, that makes everything you say do or think, invalid.
It's like when people start a sentence by saying "I'm not racist or owt, but..."

robertpb

yeehaamcgee wrote:

robertpb wrote:

I would rather go for a CX

I'm sorry, that makes everything you say do or think, invalid.
It's like when people start a sentence by saying "I'm not racist or owt, but..."

But I would still ride it with 5.10's on.

Shaggy_Dog

I love how the blog boasts about the bike weighing 20lbs 9oz with heavy risers, tyres and tubes. It's got bloody full XX and EDGE rims on what looks like DT 240s hubs! And those heavy tyres are maxxis exceptions, hardly lardy tyres. The best bit is the way that the photo is sneakily taken so the ends of the crank arms are hidden from sight, obviously not weighed with pedals. Can't see the logos on the bars but look like EC70's to me.

No doubt the geometry will be the usual Santa Cruz b*llocks.

Shaggy_Dog

yeehaamcgee wrote:

getonyourbike wrote:

I'm a hippy luddite

A case of pot calling the kettle black there Mr Flat Pedals