29er Buying Advice

stirlin25

sorry guys if its been covered already, my apologise,
ridden a 26" for a number of years, looking at moving over to 29"
got a budget of about £1000 give or take
only preference is hard tail, obv highish spec i can get for the money
been looking at specialized curves, any good?
what do you guy recommend?
Thanks

rockmonkeysc

Specialized are never good value.

cooldad

Bit of a sweeping statement. And not correct.

oodboo

Specialized Carve is ok but I bought the Focus Black Forest 2.0 29er over the carve as it's better spec'd and felt lighter and has a better fork. 32mm stanchions was one of my requirements.

Slightly over budget but probably the best spec'd 29er for about £1k:
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1275/ ... ml?mfid=52

stirlin25

appriecate advise, goning to look about and order tomorrow,
thanks

oodboo

Don't jump in too fast, try to test ride before you buy as a 29er might not suit you.

hobbo31

Have you looked at the Gary Fisher Cobia great bike for the money, but has said before test ride first

lostboysaint

oodboo wrote:

Don't jump in too fast, try to test ride before you buy as a 29er might not suit you.

That. The media keeps telling me that I'm perfect for a 29er (6'4") and I've tried several and I'm afraid that I still can't see past 26" wheels FOR THE RIDING THAT I DO. Interestingly they are still in a very small minority (one) on our Tuesday night ride outs and I still don't see them taking over the world despite the specialist press trying to make me feel inadequate for having 3" less.

Horses for courses, and riders.

stirlin25

thanks again for advice, ive been doing research and think i'm going to test ride one if any do it local to me,
appreciate your help guys
thanks

WhiteKnightTwo

Canyon is pretty tidy too > http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2750

VWsurfbum

WhiteKnightTwo wrote:

Canyon is pretty tidy too > http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2750

Thats bang tidy!

IShaggy

lostboysaint wrote:

oodboo wrote:

Don't jump in too fast, try to test ride before you buy as a 29er might not suit you.

That. The media keeps telling me that I'm perfect for a 29er (6'4") and I've tried several and I'm afraid that I still can't see past 26" wheels FOR THE RIDING THAT I DO. Interestingly they are still in a very small minority (one) on our Tuesday night ride outs and I still don't see them taking over the world despite the specialist press trying to make me feel inadequate for having 3" less.

Horses for courses, and riders.

As you said - horses for courses. If you look at the elite XC racing scene - there are now more 29ers than 26ers. And the winner of the men's Olympic XC race was riding a FS 29er, whilst 2nd place was riding a HT 650b, and 3rd and 4th HT 29ers. So they're definitely gaining a strong-hold in the racing scene. Also, check out the 2013 offerings from Specialized. A lot of models which were 26ers are now 29ers - including Camber, Epic, and Stumpjumper - so I think it's safe to say they're here to stay (for a few years at least). Don't mean that 26ers are going to disappear from the market though - particularly for the disengage brain, point bike downhill, and wrap around a tree brigade

lostboysaint

IShaggy wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

oodboo wrote:

Don't mean that 26ers are going to disappear from the market though - particularly for the disengage brain, point bike downhill, and wrap around a tree brigade

You mean that they'll be around for those of us with bike handling skills.

IShaggy

lostboysaint wrote:

IShaggy wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

oodboo wrote:

Don't mean that 26ers are going to disappear from the market though - particularly for the disengage brain, point bike downhill, and wrap around a tree brigade

You mean that they'll be around for those of us with bike handling skills.

Now this is what I call bike handling skills -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxXqQqAc ... re=related

Or maybe a bit of rear wheel foot braking -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV4MJok1_2o

oodboo

lostboysaint wrote:

You mean that they'll be around for those of us with bike handling skills.

Where do you get the idea that 29ers require less bike handling skills?

rockmonkeysc

oodboo wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

You mean that they'll be around for those of us with bike handling skills.

Where do you get the idea that 29ers require less bike handling skills?

Seems like a reasonable response to your suggestion that downhill riders are brainless crash monkeys.
I ride downhill and xc. I would say that the average downhill rider has a higher skill level than an average xc rider. At an expert racing standard the skill levels are about equal.

IShaggy

RockmonkeySC wrote:

oodboo wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

You mean that they'll be around for those of us with bike handling skills.

Where do you get the idea that 29ers require less bike handling skills?

Seems like a reasonable response to your suggestion that downhill riders are brainless crash monkeys.
I ride downhill and xc. I would say that the average downhill rider has a higher skill level than an average xc rider. At an expert racing standard the skill levels are about equal.

It was me that said that - and I stand by that quote. There's a big difference between disengage brain and brainless but read into it what you will.

Also, as you ride XC then you'll know that it takes a lot of skill to ride an aggressively set up HT fast on a technical XC course - both downhill and uphill, particular where the uphills are steep and strewn with roots and rocks. There are handling skills specific to each discipline.

rockmonkeysc

Yes, riding an xc bike aggressively does take a good amount of skill but to say downhill riders disengage their brains is way off the reality. Downhill riders need to concentrate on lines, body position and speed all while riding at the limits of their ability and at high speed with very little room for error and often a lack of commitment means a big crash.
I have seen DH riders who disengage brain before riding, they are easy to spot as they are usually followed everywhere by an ambulance and often don't last long before injury forces them to quit the sport.

IShaggy

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Yes, riding an xc bike aggressively does take a good amount of skill but to say downhill riders disengage their brains is way off the reality. Downhill riders need to concentrate on lines, body position and speed all while riding at the limits of their ability and at high speed with very little room for error and often a lack of commitment means a big crash.
I have seen DH riders who disengage brain before riding, they are easy to spot as they are usually followed everywhere by an ambulance and often don't last long before injury forces them to quit the sport.

I fully agree with you there. What I mean by "disengage brain" is that if you want to go fast then you need to disengage the 'what-if' part of the brain that tells you that you need to slow down as what you are doing is dangerous - which then cause you to tighten up and hence cause the lack of commitment that you mention. It's the reason I'll never be quick downhill. Not because I don't have the physical potential for riding fast DH, but because at the grand old age of 41, having had many crashes and injuries doing various extreme-ish sports over the years I'm now all too aware of my fragility and mortality. Not that I don't get a buzz from riding fast downhill. It's just that I will bail out way before I would have done 20 years ago. I just can't disengage my brain anymore.

cycle monster

Don't get caught up in the nonsensical 26er v 29er debate try some for yourself. My experience is that a 29er (Giant Anthem) is astonishingly quicker and easier to ride than a 26er (Giant Anthem) on the same surface in the same conditions. I used to struggle to keep up with my mates but now leave them trailing behind with minimal effort. My only gripes are that they roll over gnarly stuff too easily and they make climbs easy and fast. Goodness knows how far I will have to go now to lose the weight I want to.

rockmonkeysc

cycle monster wrote:

Don't get caught up in the nonsensical 26er v 29er debate try some for yourself. My experience is that a 29er (Giant Anthem) is astonishingly quicker and easier to ride than a 26er (Giant Anthem) on the same surface in the same conditions. I used to struggle to keep up with my mates but now leave them trailing behind with minimal effort. My only gripes are that they roll over gnarly stuff too easily and they make climbs easy and fast. Goodness knows how far I will have to go now to lose the weight I want to.

When I tried 29ers I found them to be faster but less fun. I would rather get there slower with a bigger grin.
Personally I don't like the way they steer and found that I couldn't pump small features that I could with smaller wheels. They feel horrible in the air as well.
The lack of tyre & fork choice and the relatively higher price of 29ers puts me off as well