29"........the new 27.5??

JGTR

Seems that 29" wheels are appearing more and more on trail and DH bikes. More marketing BS to make us spend our £££££ or are there real advantages?? The geo on 29" bikes has held them back IMO, anyone actually ridden a long, slack 29er?? What are they like??

The Rookie

A mate has a BMC Trailfox, 29er (150mm travel I think) and loves it, ploughs through almost anything yet pedals close to the efficiency of an XC bike (he says), a little weighty for the climbs though but the improved roll of the 29ers certainly helps offset that.
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... -14-48674/
http://www.bmc-switzerland.com/int-en/b ... ox-02-x01/

cooldad

I bought a 120mm 29er last year, billed as a trail bike. (Second hand but basically new Trek (Gary Fisher) Rumblefish Elite) Does everything I want and has given me a lot more confidence on steeper stuff. Doesn't actually feel that much different on the twisty stuff than my previous 100mm 26er, cruises over roots and things with ease, climbs well.
I'm a convert. Although I don't need 150mm on anything - I just sold my 150mm bike, the new one does the job of both.

It's not as long and low as some of the new ones, but plenty bike for me.

JGTR

I went from 26 to 29 and there was a big difference, rolls faster and climbs easier but I've had to tweak it around a bit and learn to manhandle it a bit more to get it to perform on the twisty stuff.

I demoed a 27.5 trail bike, long and slack and it descended much better due to the slack head angle and the front was a lot lighter meaning I could hop over stuff and manual much easier which made it faster than on the trails, something which is quite hard on my current 29er.

Wonder how 29" wheels and long/slack geo performs - there seems to be a move away from short chain stays to increase stability at speed which suits 29ers

haydenm

Love the look of the new Orange 29ers but as they aren't making them in small I doubt I'll be having a go any time soon. I'd like to try the Trek Slash but it's £6k, and that isn't factoring in all the additional living costs for when the GF kicks me out. I think there is more preference involved in the 27.5/29 choice and hopefully we will be given a choice by manufacturers (rather than phasing them out like 26" wheels)

thistle_

Didn't 29ers come out before 27.5?

Every 29er I've tried hasn't felt as good as the 27.5 bikes I've tried, but it could be the bike/geometry rather than just wheel size.

JGTR

IIRC 29ers came out first, closely followed by 27.5. 29ers pretty much the main stay of XC but maybe now becoming more trail/DH specific.....but are they any good compared to 27.5?

Or are we all bring suckered into spending our ££££

haydenm

It's the 'new' 27.5 in terms of the way pro bikes are going at the moment though. Santa Cruz just announced that they will be running a 29" V10 in this season's World Cups. Both the winning bikes at the SDA at Innerleithen were 29" trail bikes also

poah

couldn't care less what they ride in DH as I don't have or will ever have a DH bike

sniper68

29ers have been around years.
My mate was riding them back In 2006/7 (I believe they'd been around a bit even then)They weren't very popular as there weren't many fork/wheel options.
More recently they did get popular then 650b(27.5) came along.
Now they're making 29er DH/Enduro bikes.....now there's a surprise :roll:

The Rookie

At least there is the logic that Boost axle widths have made 29er wheels tougher than when they were limited to 100/135 as the spoke angles are much improved.

rockmonkeysc

I remember a few years ago, Trek tried a 29er DH prototype. Mr Gwinn was not at all impressed so they dropped it. A few other manufacturers tried and then dropped them. What has changed since then is DH tracks have got more fast and flowing rather than technical and steep so 29ers will work better.
Since my local riding spot is all freeride trails, I'd rather have a 26" wheeled DH bike.

cooldad

ibbo68 wrote:

29ers have been around years.
My mate was riding them back In 2006/7 (I believe they'd been around a bit even then)They weren't very popular as there weren't many fork/wheel options.
More recently they did get popular then 650b(27.5) came along.
Now they're making 29er DH/Enduro bikes.....now there's a surprise :roll:

Gary Fisher brought out the Supercal in 2002.