Fresh Kool Aid [o]

Reba set to 120mm for now. Steerer with an extra 1.5" until I get the fit dialed. 32x21, axle about 1/4" from full forward gives me ~ 17.5" stay length. Wide ass 32" bars will likely be cut down to 29" to match the bars on my other rides.

Geometry very, very similar to my 26" Peyto hardtail - a bike that I really, really, really like the way it rides. I plan to ride this back to back with that bike, rigid and suspended on both to see if the larger wheels are a good fit for me and my riding. 69* HTA with the 120mm Reba - I suspect that'll make it steer too barge-like even for my slack bike preferences and I'll play with lowering the fork a bit to see how things feel.

We'll see how the experiment goes. If no go, this'll get posted in the classifieds later this summer.



Am pretty sure I'll be running the stem as low as possible/cutting more steer tube, and trimming the bars. Otherwise, fit feels great - so far as rolling around the lot can tell me. Just as I've always read - slower to get up to speed, but rolls along nicely once there. Will likely try it out with a 1x9 setup to see how that feels as well.

Getting the front end up to manual or wheelie? Holy Hell! Way, way harder than on the other bikes. I'm attributing that mostly to the wheel size and weight, as the rear stays are not much longer than my regular rides and as noted, the rest of the geometry is pretty damn close as well.

Trails here are slowly drying out a bit, and I hope to get at least some trial trail time in the next few days. Oh yeah: 26# according to my cheapie hanging game scale.

16" Inbred frame
2009 Reba SL
32" low rise Kore bar
Thomson post and 50mm stem
RaceFace Taperlock ti BB
Ritchey pedals
Vuelta Pro SL wheels
Nevegal front and rear
Surly 32T stainless ring, 21T cog
Avid Juicy 5 brakes, 160mm rotors.
generic ti/carbon buttfloss saddle
Salsa seat clamp

Some decent Hope skewers and a Cane Creek 110 headset (all in blue) coming. Win-win, as either I like the bike and keep it, or don't and swap all the nice new blue bits on to the Peyto. :thumbsup:

Ride report:

Keep in mind, crappy trail conditions prevailed. Half open trail, half sheet ice. Some fast and smooth carriage roads, and a couple miles of singletrack with some tight twisty stuff, some trialsy rock crawling. My local close to home trail spot - the least technical spot of the half dozen or so favorite habitually ridden local spots.

Me no likey. So far. Yes, far more ride time is needed to see about the big wheels. Really disliked it once things got tight and twisty. Quick direction changes and trialsy hopping moves were very much more difficult. I use a lot of "body language" (or at least i think i do) when riding, and it was much, much tougher to ride how I'm used to with this setup. Getting the front end up (something i do a lot when riding) was a pain in the ass. A couple small wheelie drop moves were downright scary. Will my riding adapt? Does it need to? I'm very happy with the way my three 26" bikes handle - all three with slacker angles, heavier tires, and in one case much longer wheelbase. Maybe this thing just isn't for me?

The slower accelerations was noticeable, but not a super big problem/deal breaker. And yes, once moving it certainly likes to keep on trucking. The wheels rolling over small stuff without issue, but the larger rock crawling stuff didn't feel like they were really giving me much advantage.

I'm going to drop the fork down to 100mm and throw a 1xsomething setup on the thing so I can run the rear wheel all the way forward to tighten up the stays and wheelbase a bit. Otherwise - the fit is great. Felt very comfortable in terms of sizing of the bike and riding position - just don't at all like how it handled today. We'll see.

I may be learning an expensive lesson here -perhaps I ought to have stuck with trying out the Nashbar cheapie for starters. May just end up selling a "rolling chassis" frame/fork/wheel setup in a couple months.

RD3 said:

I would try cutting down your bars, 32" is huge! That should help with the tight and twisty stuff. I really don't notice that much of a difference with my 29ers when things get twisty.
With the 120mm fork and short stem, the front end should come up easy...? Why do you have your seat so far forward? I would say move your seat back and get a shorter stem, but you already have a 50mm. Would a shorter top tube frame fit you better, though it looks like it is fine height wise for you?

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heh. how like my seat, and this already is a pretty dang short TT frame. 23" - only a bit longer than my 26" bikes.

the bar width wasn't the issue in the tight stuff - i'm already riding 29" bars on the other bikes and have no trouble with them in the tight stuff.

Another bit of test time.


I like: yes, the wheels roll over stuff really well. up to a point.
keeps on hauling ass on fast rolling stuff

I dislike: uh, pretty much everything else.

Dropping the fork down, gearing her up and slamming the rear wheel full forward, and sticking a narrower bar on helped things feel a bit better today, but not much.



The thing just feels so ponderous. Slow speed technical bits and high speed direction changes sucked. Wheels roll over little stuff very well, but only to a point. In big chunky stuff, I found myself really missing the flickability and ease of body english directed riding with my 26" bikes - all of which have slacker angles, more travel, and in one case a drastically longer wheelbase.

The wheels are flexy, even at my size. I don't mind the tires - I run pretty beefy and heavy meats on the other bikes. Yeah, these are not high zoot spendy wheels. I know I could get less flexy/stronger wheels. However, at what price? Increasing the weight, which would make the rest of ths stuff I dislike even worse. Great.



Again, getting the front end up is a chore. Easier with the changes, but not fun. Airborne moves don't work nearly as well.


I'm still going to ride it more and see how things go. Thing is, I'm not looking to have to alter my riding style to suit the bike. I don't need a fast/smoother trail bike - skinnier tires and higher gearing on the Peyto SS work just fine, plus the bike still has the beef to do other stuff I want.

Do the larger wheels offer a significant enough advantage to me and my riding to overcome what I feel the shortcomings are? Further testing will show for sure, but my feeling so far is no.

Don't ya'll go getting all jihady-like and prosthletizing about it, mmm'kay?

MMcG said:

I gotta say - maybe it isn't for you. It doesn't have to be that's for sure. Even looking at photos of you on that bike vs. your other rigs - you don't look "right on it" if you will.

But just curious - what's the wheelset you are using?

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Vuelta Pro SL

Not something I consider too light for me, but not tank wheels either.

NuMexJoe said:

Hey Dave; My first thought was in agreement w/ Mark. Don't consider it a replacement for the Peyto, but rather another arrow in the quiver. But if you don't immediately feel the love, it's probably not going to happen. I ran my 29er HT as a 1x4 this past Summer, but recently swapped it back to SS, and am in love all over again. I think that's the ideal set-up for a steel 29er HT, so if you weren't feeling it, then you two weren't meant for each other. I can see how riding style (and preferred terrain) would play a big part. I just took mine to Moab for the weekend (and ran into many of your old buds on Amasa Back), but having ridden w/ you previously, I can see how even there you'd be having more fun on the Peyto. All that said, nice bike! Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
- Joe

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Thanks Joe!

Another couple rides have fairly firmly convinced me. It's just not the thing for me - sticking with the Peyto as the SS/XC bike in the household.

This is the first bike that I've had a firm dislike for.

Playing around with the setup hasn't altered that either, and I'm not going to throw money at the thing. For me, 29" is a solution in search of a problem. I like my 26" bikes, and love the fit/handling/way they ride.

jncarpenter said:

That's totally a bummer when a bike doesn't work out. I have to say tho that your findings are the complete opposite of mine. The Inbred won me over. I bought it on the cheap (a med...I'm 6') to give the 29er thing a go, planning to get a few rides in & then declare my disdain for the bigger wheels...in fact, the opposite happened.

I have a background in DH/FR & ride in the SE where roots & rocks are aplenty. I have never experienced the issues you mention. In fact, I found that while the technique for raising the front/ manualling...etc. had to be tweaked a bit to allow for the different geometry created by the bigger wheels (had to push the weight further back to accommodate the different fulcrum point), once I adjusted I could pretty much do everything I had always done. I admit I do alot more pedal kicks now instead of j-hops, but the net result is essentially the same.

I also found that the bigger wheels landed drops with more control & felt more solid (even on my rigid SS).

I guess that's the beauty of options...some dig it, some don't. But I have to admit, posts like yours leave me scratching my head a bit.
C'est la Vie

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rider preference? size? how we ride differences? who knows. all i know is i really, really don't like how the bike handles or feels on trail, and have really no urge to pursue the 29" thing further.

online nerditry/geeking out about what the larger wheels are "supposed" to do is all well and good, but that doesn't make the bike feel any better to me. :biggrin:

maybe i just got a bad geometry combo on this one. they work fine for some, in fact great for some. i'll stick with my little wheels. for what and how i like to ride, they seem to work best for me.