Climbing on a 29er

haydenshieh

Is a 29er or 26er better for climbing a mountain. I live in an area where we have a mountain at 2000 feet around 650 meters and it's about 3-4 kilometers of trails. The trails are pretty wide open, so I was wondering whether a 29er or 26er would be better.

cooldad

Which 29er?
Which 26er?
Which rider?
How long is a piece of string?

The Rookie

Why would either be better?
The rolling and traction advantage of the 29er are still there going uphill, so you gain a bit there.
The 29er wheels and tyres (at the same price point) will always be heavier so you loose a little there.
A 29er has taller gearing by about 10% so if you climb on a 26er in the very lowest gear then you won't have that effective gear available, but you have all the others.

In reality, naff all difference, more important is the rest of the bike!

njee20

Or more significantly the person pedalling it :-)

For riding up fireroads I'd choose a 29er, or possibly a CX bike, all other things being equal.

Thewaylander

but what about the coming down, with good mountains you get good downs...

unquestioned

Personally, I find the 29er easier up & faster down but not as agile.

cooldad

unquestioned wrote:

Personally, I find the 29er easier up & faster down but not as agile.

Like premature ejaculation?

Dan007

Better on a road bike.

stubs

Every time you climb a hill on a 26er a cute puppy is beaten to death with a hammer (according to bike mags so it must be true)

Every time you climb a hill on a 29er a hectare of rainforest is saved for cute baby Gorillas and the world becomes a better place (according to bike mags so it must be true)

As for 27ers well thats just for weirdos who use Apple.

To be serious it doesnt make a major difference as long as the wheels go round, buy whatever feels the best when you sit on it and dont worry how big the wheels are. I know somone who spent 2 grand on a 29er and shaved 5 seconds off his best time for a sneaky bit of trail we do. £400 per second hmm I would rather spend £400 on beer and waste the rest.

Kowalski675

stubs wrote:

Every time you climb a hill on a 26er a cute puppy is beaten to death with a hammer (according to bike mags so it must be true)

Every time you climb a hill on a 29er a hectare of rainforest is saved for cute baby Gorillas and the world becomes a better place (according to bike mags so it must be true)

As for 27ers well thats just for weirdos who use Apple.

I like that.

unquestioned

cooldad wrote:

unquestioned wrote:

Personally, I find the 29er easier up & faster down but not as agile.

Like premature ejaculation?

Except there isn't as much to clean up at the end.

The Rookie

Indeed, a muddy bike takes a lot of cleaning....more than 1 or 2 kleenex!

felix.london

Thewaylander wrote:

but what about the coming down, with good mountains you get good downs...

+1

what are the descents like?

unquestioned

felix.london wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

but what about the coming down, with good mountains you get good downs...

+1

what are the descents like?

A bit faster actually.