29ers...the way forward?!?

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Torn between next purchase ...full sus or 29er,not an amazing budget £700...plenty of secondhand full sus choices through eBay or the voodoo bokor (brand new)....never ridden either types,I ride mostly XC and full sus seemed a good choice but reading/seeing more and more reviews on 29ers...any what are your thoughts? Cheers j

al2098

Alot of people are going to say "Why not a nice light hardtail for XC?"
29er is a bike most suited to very tall riders as they seem unwealdy and gangly with a normal sized person on it. I think they are just a marketing ploy to sell more bikes and components. (just my opinion which I'll get slagged off for i'm sure)
If your getting a second hand full sus be very careful and I hope you know all about suspension maintenence when you look to buy one, as some are real dogs..

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Have no knowledge on full sus (learning as i go attitude )..my bantu handles xc really well but i use it to commute so i hold back on rocky steep stuff (well almost).so need a 2nd purchase,with abit more travel up front too :-D aside from the voodoo range i like the look/spec of ragley bikes.

JayKay3000

Not sure really. Go to a shop and ride each and see what you think. It suits some people and not others. Up to you to be honest as everyone has their own opinions.

I like my 29er XC bike and am upgrading to a 29er Full suss although I am 6ft7 so I do look a bit silly on a 26 inch bike. If I was normal height I'd probably be going for 26 or 27.5 (650B) wheel size.

A lot of the claims are marketing BS as I find my XC Hard tail tends to lift on really steep climbs and countering this the rear sometimes spins up on loose stuff. I've heard this with some full suss bikes too.

As for going down I find it's a bit slower in the tight stuff, but catches people when the trails open out and it tends to be pretty stable. I often notice the rear end stepping out and it continues to point down the trail. My HT is quite predictable with a linear feel to the front so front slides can be felt before hitting the ground. The HT keeps up with full suss 26 riders on most generic XC trails although as a HT it tends to bounce a lot over rocky sections and I find myself running the PSI always lower than the what the side-wall states so... Been pretty lucky with pinch flats though as I run tubes.

Wheels seem to be OK depending on what you get although reviews often state that spending out on a more expensive lighter wheel set will improve a bike.

Up to you really. If you like it, buy it then if you don't. Then go for 26.

oodboo

Height has nothing to do with it. If you're tall then your going to need a larger frame regardless of wheel size. I'm 5'10", my 26er is a medium and my 29er is also a medium. Try bikes you're interested in as some will work well for you and others won't. Geometry has more effect on this than wheel size.

The Rookie

If the women I ride with can ride a 29er at about 5'2" you'd have to be crazy small to not be able to ride one!

I rode a few bikes on the short demo loop at the NEC cycle show, comparing a Trek Superfly Elite (so seriously tasty 29er at £4,500) to my mongrel 26er (see link in sig - £600) my 26er accelerates over the first few feet quicker, after that the Elite was much faster, smoother rolling and carried speed better, it was only when chasing down other bikes did you realise the speed you were picking up, but even that quality of bike felt slow and unresponsive in tight corners compared to my Heinz bike (bits off 57 others).

I also rode a Pivot Mach 4, now I'm trying to sell a Kidney, it's ability to ride over stuff while feeling like a small responsive hardtail was awesome, it really made me feel like a vaguely competant rider, again on rough surface you could just sit and spin and hammer after HT's that were bouncing around with riders out the saddle.

kammybear

I would say beware and ride a few before buying as they ride very VERY differently to a 26er.

Especially in tight windy sections. Usually for the worst!

pilch

al2098 wrote:

29er is a bike most suited to very tall riders as they seem unwealdy and gangly with a normal sized person on it.

*sigh*

Sleipnir's Master

pilch wrote:

al2098 wrote:

29er is a bike most suited to very tall riders as they seem unwealdy and gangly with a normal sized person on it.

*sigh*

I know

shemap

Im 5'9 and ride a full sus 26 Gary Fisher roscoe and also a steel framed 29er hard tail, haro mary. It woudl be really tough if I had to choose between which is best.
The 29er is that little bit quicker up hill, rolls over everything with noticeable difference to the 26 inch wheels. (Im running 120mm forks).
I also love the full sus, and without a doubt it does have the edge on down hill speed.

I think my next bike will be a long travel, all mountain full sus 29er. Id love a trek rumble fish if I could afford one!

Good luck

mikemph

I have switched to 29ers and am 5.10, my cotic solaris is a 18" medium and other than wheels being bigger is about the same size/fit as recently sold medium ragley blue pig, 30mm difference in fork travel.
my experience 2 x 29ers, they ride very, VERY much like a bike, even in high winds

mike

Gizmo_

You know what they say, big wheels...

...big tyres.

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Along with being great up hill,is a 29er as great going down (steep,rocky) hills? Booking a test on a specialized 29 for next week,not to purchase..just a taster..Cheers for all replies so far...much appreciated ... J

oodboo

I rode dalbeattie on my 29er yesterday, there's a steep rocky hill that I managed pretty well bit then lost grip on the slab and knacked myself when the front wheel slipped out. Tyres and technique have more to do with getting you down rocky decents than wheel size.

luv2ride

Finally decided to get me a 29er, so thought I'd go for the KHS Yuma as MBUK gave it a great review this month. Even better, the KHS ad in this months WMB mag has the bike reduced to £899. So go on website, just miss their last medium frame bike. No more til march 2013 says the site.

Email KHS to cheekily ask if I could still get the deal on payment of a deposit and wait til March for delivery (I'd be cool with that as I could save a little more and bike sounds worth the wait). KHS come back with "no deals, no more stock and the bikes try they'll get in March 2013 will be a different model and will be more expensive"..

what's the point in reviewing a bike that isn't available?!

JayKay3000

I let a few friends play around on my 9er today while they waited for me to recover from going ass over tit and having a mild concussion (bike was fine).

Anyway, the one who has a Trance X3 26 said it felt pretty similar to his trance. So funny...

Everyone seems to confirm that tight and twisties the 9ers suck and I find my 9er constantly tries to lift on super steep stuff. Everyone being people I see on trails with 9ers and reviews from the interwebs.

I was riding with a mix of 26 full suss and hardtails and found there was not much difference between bikes, rider skill and line choice being the better factor. The guy with the 26fs still managed to buckle his wheel and we all at some point managed to crash with varying degrees of severity.

I struggle to find the ride enjoyable running and the manufacturers recommended psi so I normally put them up to 20 and then let 8 seconds out of each tire.

I choose a 9er because I look really silly on a 26 bike. I'm 6ft 7, believe me a 26er looks like a kids bike under me.

I'd sell you my spec carve 80mm ht 29er, but the bike I want does not come in till next year and I don't think I could live without riding for that long although right now just making a drink is painful enough.

97th choice

29ers rock in the right conditions, no one buys a DH bike then complains they can't peddle uphill do they?

I did a 50k with a guy on a 29er this summer, on twisty stuff or really technical descents he was behind, but on semi rough stuff, farm track he was uncatchable.

Daz555

97th choice wrote:

I did a 50k with a guy on a 29er this summer, on twisty stuff or really technical descents he was behind, but on semi rough stuff, farm track he was uncatchable.

Was that down to the wheels or perhaps to the riders relative skills?