MTB commuter speed 29er vs 26er

mudslinger

My 15 mile commute involves going over the South Downs. I currently use either my CX or MTB depending on how much of the route I choose to do on road. Whichever route I choose typically involves a min of 10 miles of country lanes. Now that darkness is setting in I want to be off road as much as possible especially avoiding Ditchling Beacon in the morning.

My question is would a 29er be quicker on road than a 26er? I do find my CX a bit too uncomfortable off-road so tend to use the 26er MTB.

Thanks.

Long_Time_Lurker

Short answer - yes.
(That is assuming that your 29er is a similar geometry, spec and weight to your 26" equivalent.)

mudslinger

Yes would have to assume similar spec'd bikes, tyres etc for a comparison to be valid.

I've done the commute twice this week - Monday using the MTB & today using the CX. The CX feels quicker however surprisingly the MTB is actually very marginally quicker (62:45 vs 62:50).

The MTB I use is a Giant XTC with Schwalbe land cruiser tyres & the CX is a Specialized Tricross with Schwalbe CX Comp tyres.

So a similar spec'd 29er would be quicker - would it be seconds or minutes?

Long_Time_Lurker

My 13 mile commute is around 5 minutes quicker.
Not really enough to make a vast amount of difference, but the ride in general is a lot smoother - I'm going over a lot more potholes (rather than avoiding them).

(And I will be definitely be taking it on my trip from Dunbar to Newcastle in the next couple of weeks. A few months ago it was a pain across the ex-mod land and farmland on my 26 - the bigger wheels will make it a lot easier. A 29er eats up trails and XC stuff.)