29er to 27.5??

italianshoppingbike

i currently ride a giant trance 29er with a small frame my question is can i drop down to 27.5 wheelset?, will this bugger the whole geometry of the bike and am i right in thinking the bb and standover height will be reduced as well,i took a demo 27.5 out for the weekend and it rides the best but i cant stretch to a new bike and selling the 29er will leave me well short of the cost

The Rookie

You can fit the wheels for sure, BB height will drop and you'll have more stand over (both by about 3/4 of an inch, which is a lot) but you'll still have the longer 29er wheelbase which is part of the reason for the slow to turn feeling......

ianm7222

due to chain stay stay shape for heel clearance they could rub on the tyres of a smaller diameter wheel.

What are you trying to achieve?

italianshoppingbike

the 29er rolls well but thru tight corners and switchbacks it suffers whereas the 27.5 seems to be the best of what the other 2 sizes can offer basically i cant afford another new bike and wanted to see if the size swap would work

The Rookie

You won't eliminate the longer wheelbase, so in that respect it will still feel 'bigger' than a 26er, you will have a slightly shorter overall length and less inertia in the wheels.

Never seen stays that get closer together as suggested by ian......how would you fit a wheel?

ianm7222

Have a look at your chain stays, it's very unlikely they are straight along the full length. They are shaped for heel clearance, then broaden out where the tyre runs. The narrow section is enough to allow the wheel to pass through, but if the broadest part of the tyre was running here with a build up of mud it could damage the stays quite quickly. Withdraw the wheel slightly and check it out.

The reduction in wheel size would reduce the amount of 'trail' slightly which may help it turn a little more quickly.
Worth noting that bottom bracket height would reduce also, so pedal strikes would become more frequent.

mattrixdesign2

Things were simpler with 26inch - by introducing 29 then 27.5 sales of bikes, wheels, tubes, tyres must have increased some what!

Is it all going to settle down with 27.5 then? Happy with 26 as I got it cheap due to eveyone going 29er (my gain!).

Cqc

Or you could leave the 29er wheel in the front and stick a 26er or 27er on the back resulting in slacker head angle, reduced BB height and standover,less rotating inertia, but still retain some of the good rollover? Worth a try?

waverider

Could look at the cockpit setup of your bike. Maybe a shorter stem / wider bar combo would sharpen the handling up. Depends what your already running and whether you have the arms for it of course! Putting different wheel sizes would surely mess with geometry and invalidate any frame warranty?

italianshoppingbike

i agree waverider bout frame warranty/ geometry issues so gonn wait till tax rebate time and buy a trance 27.5,

declan1

29ers aren't exactly terrible. Just ride it and enjoy it - when you have the money then buy a proper 27.5 bike.

rockmonkeysc

The problem isn't wheel size it's the length of the bike. Fitting smaller wheels will make the bb very low and possibly cause more pedal strikes.
The frame is extra long to accommodate the bigger wheels and that wheel base and the long chain stays are the cause of the slower steering.
It definitely takes a different riding style but 29ers can be ridden as fast as 26ers on any technical trail with the right skills.