Why did i fall for the 29er marketing?

Thewaylander

Still hate 29" hate how they ride.. hate hate hate..

damn hippies!! go hug some tree's

Liberty555

Just think... the tyres on a 29er last longer...

You'll recover your costs in no time...

rockmonkeysc

And according to the MBUK laws of physics Newton was wrong and 29ers have a larger tyre contact patch.

Thewaylander

haha published in the mag?

Thats brilliant, shows how gullible to marketing people can be.

rockmonkeysc

They didn't actually say Newton was wrong but their theory behind the statement went against Newton's third law of motion

francis666

Just did the D2D as a solo on my idrive 26" 2005 (does have air shocks now)
I love this bike and will never get rid of.
Always slagged the 29er as couldn't see the logic in more rubber, more centrifugal effort.
But now in the right arena ~ endurance. I can see some logic.
If your a plodder ( like me) and your legs can keep turning. Perhaps the slightly better roll over effect and comfort
Gained from hours of constant small bumps and bloody roots may make the difference.
But a good bike is a good bike, the sum of its parts and not just a set of wheels.

rockmonkeysc

cyd190468 wrote:

On a technicality.While any two tyres with the same pressure in will have the same size contact patch, I've found that I can run 5psi lower on my Spark 29er than on my Genius 26er as you are less likely to pinch flat a bigger wheel. So you do get a bigger contact patch, just not for the reasons they normally give.

Wheel diameter makes no difference to how likely pinch flats are. That would be down to the tyre volume or construction and if you have tubeless or not.

Thewaylander

RockmonkeySC wrote:

cyd190468 wrote:

On a technicality.While any two tyres with the same pressure in will have the same size contact patch, I've found that I can run 5psi lower on my Spark 29er than on my Genius 26er as you are less likely to pinch flat a bigger wheel. So you do get a bigger contact patch, just not for the reasons they normally give.

Wheel diameter makes no difference to how likely pinch flats are. That would be down to the tyre volume or construction and if you have tubeless or not.

as rock says..

I run at sub 20 on my 26" tyres with no issues.

stubs

I wasnt taken in by the 29er hype I tried several HT and FS bikes and was a bit mehh whats the fuss. I now have a carbon 29er HT and I still cant see what the hype is its just a bike the wheels are round. I bought it for the right reasons I liked the look of it I wanted a lightweight mile munching hardtail and it was a great price £1325 down from £2000. Buy a bike because you like it not because the wheels are a particular size.

kajjal

stubs wrote:

I wasnt taken in by the 29er hype I tried several HT and FS bikes and was a bit mehh whats the fuss. I now have a carbon 29er HT and I still cant see what the hype is its just a bike the wheels are round. I bought it for the right reasons I liked the look of it I wanted a lightweight mile munching hardtail and it was a great price £1325 down from £2000. Buy a bike because you like it not because the wheels are a particular size.

That's the right way to do it and how I bought my 29er XC hardtail. It looked good and rode well.

Some people have an almost religious zeal against certain wheel sizes at all costs. This just rules out a lot of potential good bikes to try.

cat_with_no_tail

My 2 penneth.

Had my first ever ride on a 29er yesterday, my new Kinesis FF29 (link in sig). It didn't feel drastically different to my 26" wheel bikes tbh. It is noticeably harder to accelerate than both 26ers (one of which has heavier wheels), but I was quicker over all 3 of the big local climbs than I have ever been on the 26ers, and I'm getting over the lhergy right now too. Couple more rides needed before I decide "it's quicker", but for XC type stuff it's looking promising so far.

It wasn't the river-barge some people make them out to be on twisty singletrack through trees either. I wasn't able to test it out properly as I've not got my reverb yet (I'm afraid I've become somewhat reliant on reverbs now, that was actually by far the most noticeable part of my ride yesterday).

For an XC race bike (as a rigid) and all round trail basher (with the "proper" fork fitted), I think I've made the right choice. Not sure if that's buying into the 29er marketing or not tbh.

stubs

Cat With No Tail wrote:

My 2 penneth.

Had my first ever ride on a 29er yesterday, my new Kinesis FF29 (link in sig). It didn't feel drastically different to my 26" wheel bikes tbh. It is noticeably harder to accelerate than both 26ers (one of which has heavier wheels), but I was quicker over all 3 of the big local climbs than I have ever been on the 26ers, and I'm getting over the lhergy right now too. Couple more rides needed before I decide "it's quicker", but for XC type stuff it's looking promising so far.

It wasn't the river-barge some people make them out to be on twisty singletrack through trees either. I wasn't able to test it out properly as I've not got my reverb yet (I'm afraid I've become somewhat reliant on reverbs now, that was actually by far the most noticeable part of my ride yesterday).

For an XC race bike (as a rigid) and all round trail basher (with the "proper" fork fitted), I think I've made the right choice. Not sure if that's buying into the 29er marketing or not tbh.

Thats exactly my thoughts as well.

97th choice

I rode the stumpjumer evo 29er and camber 29 on the same routes I ride on a 26er, and they were slower, and more importantly way less fun to ride. I find 29ers are slower on technical natural trails, and faster on more xc orientated stuff, whuich is why I ended up with a 26 er FS and a 29er HT.

The Rookie

Except that the shallower approach angle on a 29er reduces the peak pinching load perhaps?

rockmonkeysc

The Rookie wrote:

Except that the shallower approach angle on a 29er reduces the peak pinching load perhaps?

No. The load is the same no matter what the angle is. There are tiny differences in what happens to that force but really insignificant.

ddraver

stubs wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

My 2 penneth.

Had my first ever ride on a 29er yesterday, my new Kinesis FF29 (link in sig). It didn't feel drastically different to my 26" wheel bikes tbh. It is noticeably harder to accelerate than both 26ers (one of which has heavier wheels), but I was quicker over all 3 of the big local climbs than I have ever been on the 26ers, and I'm getting over the lhergy right now too. Couple more rides needed before I decide "it's quicker", but for XC type stuff it's looking promising so far.

It wasn't the river-barge some people make them out to be on twisty singletrack through trees either. I wasn't able to test it out properly as I've not got my reverb yet (I'm afraid I've become somewhat reliant on reverbs now, that was actually by far the most noticeable part of my ride yesterday).

For an XC race bike (as a rigid) and all round trail basher (with the "proper" fork fitted), I think I've made the right choice. Not sure if that's buying into the 29er marketing or not tbh.

Thats exactly my thoughts as well.

Yep, me too

Think 650b is probably faster than 26, but I'm sure that 90% of riders (99% of UK riders) could nt give a monkeys about that...