That was the first thing that stuck out to me in this thread. The manager of my bike shop in college said irregardless all the time and it would drive me nutts!
How many of you run a 29er?
- Thread starter golgiaparatus
- Start date
So I am only 5'1", but I have a 30" inseam, so pretty long legs (no torso). I test rode my friend's 29er a couple weeks ago for a few miles of trail (she's only a couple inches taller than me, but has a shorter inseam), and I LOVED IT!!! That bike was so sweet. It is a Misfit Dissent, rigid single-speed set up, and that thing flew down the trails. I'm totally sold on a 29er for my next bike. I didn't have any handling issues, even in some tight cornering spots. Although I didn't deal with any descending switchbacks, so I *would* be curious to know how it would handle in those situations, which I have a lot of trouble with on my regular bike, but that's mostly confidence issues and not actual lack of skill, I don't think... I had a few incidents of toe rub, which I have to admit I didn't like. But I experience that on my road bike sometimes, so I'm kinda used to it. I felt a lot more confident and stable on the 29er, and took a lot more obstacles than I do on my 26" wheeled bike.
A friend has a couple 36ers, surprising how good they work trail riding.I skipped 29 and went straight to 36.
"Handling" is defined differently by everyone, b/c we all have different riding styles, and often confusion arises, because handling can refer to separate things, "stability" or "flickability" (is that a word?!)
I have both a 26 (Bullit) & a 29(SS). I'm 6'3". The SS is my XC bike. The Bullit is my everything else bike. They each get regular beatings.
The biggest reason I wont ever get rid of my 26, is the ease of "flickability" handling vs the 29. Manuals, Hops, Jumps, Boosting up onto technical features like tall tree rides, rock ledges etc, wheelies, smoother landings in rough stuff, etc among other characteristics are all strong suits for a 26. If those things are not really a part of your everyday ride, and love the feeling of just flying through the woods, the 29 can reward. The 29 just wants to stay planted on the ground, the bigger hoops (higher centrifugal force in vertical plane) give a feedback of a stronger upright stability, and that coupled with the fact that they have lower approach angles also gives them a feeling of stronger fore/aft stability (a feeling that you would be much less apt to go over the bars, which also happens to make it harder to manual,wheelie, etc)...the bigger wheels also seem to roll smoother, (lower approach angle) so that get's a lot of people loving them. edit, the 29 requires a little more effort to accelerate, but for most its a compromise worth sacrificing...and wheels/tire selection is getting much better (& light-weight).
Bottom line, to me the 29ers fit into a couple of really tight categories, but since people define handling differently you must try one out yourself first to see if it fits your riding style.
CP
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Acceleration...
I want to ride one since I've never ridden one.
Not trying to get approval here. I wanted to find out if there's some kind of trend going on where 26ers are getting out of date. I've noticed at my local trails there are an awful lot of 29ers rolling around. Of the serious riders, I bet 70-80% are on big wheels now.Who cares what others think - ride it if you like it irregardless of what wheel size it has.If it works for you, that's all that matters.
Last year they were few and far between.
*Looks at location, exits thread*
Don't be so quick to dismiss The OK/AR area. I've ridden with people from Colorado that cant hang on our trails. And some of the pro's that came in for the the opening season race were pissed because the course was too hard.
.........and CO is nothing compared to the trails in New England (directly from the mouth of my friend who moved to CO from MA last winter).
Ride places with super technical, rocky and rooty power-up-and-down climbs/descents and you'll see why 29ers are at a disadvantage. Being able to quickly accelerate and have super responsive steering is a must for some places around here. Neither of which the 29er provides.
Ride places with super technical, rocky and rooty power-up-and-down climbs/descents and you'll see why 29ers are at a disadvantage. Being able to quickly accelerate and have super responsive steering is a must for some places around here. Neither of which the 29er provides.
they don't like it when gravity works against them.
Sounds like my local trails... crazy rocks and roots. Tons of undulating ups and downs, explosive acceleration and bike handling needed. When I rode the 29er demo I was amazed that it ate it all up much better than my 26 did.
It did take quite a while to get use to the sluggish turn-in. But once I was use to that it was all good... of course then my standard 26 trailbike felt really twitchy by comparison.
Ninja edit... HIYAH!!!
60mm stem and 700mm bars solved that problem on my 29er. it rides like a dream now.
Very interesting info. Most of the riding I do now is XC that's all natural terrain. If I'm going to do any jumping or DH of any kind, my Coilair is fine for me. I'm really going to have to research some 29er bikes. I'd like to try one out to see what they're all about. I'm pretty sure they'll be fine for the way I ride. I ride aggressive on the down hill, but not so much that i need to manual or jump things.
That's how it's been around here lately. More of them are showing up on the harder trails and the guys riding them are pretty serious riders.
A pack of my buds and I were rolling down San Juan a few years ago on big trail/am rigs. We shuttled to the top, where we dropped in to bomb. About 1/3 of the way down, we passed two spandex dudes on rigid single speed 29s who were going up. About 1/2 way down the mountain, they blew through our pack pulling manuals. I'm guessing they made it to the top, flipped a U. They could have turned around sooner, but any way you slice it, they busted us hard enough that we all felt shame.
29ers are just wrong...a 69er...maybe...
Has happened in TX too.
I suspect the heat and humidity was probably killing them.
His words, not mine.
I finally rode a 29er today. It ruled. I'm definitely going to pick up a full suspension 29er in the future. It was straight up amazing. Lots of traction on the climbs, rolled over everything on the DH, and it just begged to go faster and faster in the mellow climbs and traverses.
This is the bike I rode this morning. I don't want to give it back.
This is the bike I rode this morning. I don't want to give it back.
It's the rider, not the bike. There are differences between bikes with 26 and 29 inch wheels, but rider skill and conditioning is what makes the real difference - the bikes are all good.
Our trails are actually very similar to the tough stuff in Austin's hill areas.
Pretty much exactly how I felt. The slightly slower turn in is a small price to pay for the extra climbing grip and the stability of the rig as a whole.I finally rode a 29er today. It ruled. I'm definitely going to pick up a full suspension 29er in the future. It was straight up amazing. Lots of traction on the climbs, rolled over everything on the DH, and it just begged to go faster and faster in the mellow climbs and traverses.
This is the bike I rode this morning. I don't want to give it back.
I'll own one before the year is out and if I like it as much as I think, my 26er will be sold.
I'm like you, I don't huck, or do any fancy tricks, I just ride fast and my trails are nasty technical, so these bikes suit me and my riding type very well. Plus I'm tall so my bikes are already really tall.
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I've seen a lot of dumbass comments on this forum, and yours definitely ranks in the top 10. It must suck to be so narrow-minded and ignorant.
you obviously don't spend enough time around here
I've always felt that 29ers handle way too slow. Demo'd a Pivot 429 and was shocked how quick it was. It was just a tad slower in the fast tight stuff but was better in the slow twisty technical stuff. It did accelerate really slow but the test bike had really heavy tires. I would consider it when I get a new bike.
I had Three 29er's, but just sold 1.
The problem with a 29er is you soon will need to sell all your 26ers.
The problem with a 29er is you soon will need to sell all your 26ers.
I'm still trying to figure out how to propose the "I need a new bike" idea to my wifey right now. I want one of those bikes pretty bad now. I rode my Coilair yesterday and just got bummed out with how it rode after riding that 29er. Good lord I want one. I'm thinking about that KHS model. Anybody know anything about it? It's called the FLagstaff. I'd hate to get one only to find out the rear is flexy like some of their old bikes.
it seems that 29ers are only popular in the US. over here in europe i've never even seen one in flesh!
Man, i've called all of the local bike shops in Northern utah and i can only find two different full suspension 29ers. One of them is a Gary FIsher Hifi which I will not buy. Saw too many on the internet that had broken chain stays and jacked up frames.
The other is an Ellsworth that's $3500. That's a bit out of my range. I don't know much about the Ellsworth other than they're usually way pricey.
The demo bike i rode won't be up for sale until around the middle of August. I don't know if i can afford it either. I think the shop is going to sell it for around $3300.
Supposedly some of the LBS are going to be getting 2011 bikes in a few weeks. I might have to see what pops up. I like the Stumpjumper, especially for the price. SOmeone was telling me they were getting the Rocky MOuntain. That bike looks nice, but out of my range too.
Is Giant going to be making a 29er? I was on the website and couldn't find a 29er that had full suspension.
The other is an Ellsworth that's $3500. That's a bit out of my range. I don't know much about the Ellsworth other than they're usually way pricey.
The demo bike i rode won't be up for sale until around the middle of August. I don't know if i can afford it either. I think the shop is going to sell it for around $3300.
Supposedly some of the LBS are going to be getting 2011 bikes in a few weeks. I might have to see what pops up. I like the Stumpjumper, especially for the price. SOmeone was telling me they were getting the Rocky MOuntain. That bike looks nice, but out of my range too.
Is Giant going to be making a 29er? I was on the website and couldn't find a 29er that had full suspension.
They already have hardtail 29ers and will soon have an Anthem FS 29er as well.
GIANT's FB page said:
It's customary in this country to use mechanical innovation to compensate for lack of skill. By mechanical innovation I mean extra big wheels on your mountain bike.