I rode a 26" bike for the first time in 4 years last week. A buddy and I switched bikes and I put in around 10 miles on some flat twisty singletrack. Let me first say that I have never been a "29er is the best" type of person. I see them both as great bikes but this has changed for me after riding the 26er. The fit on the bike was really good and I felt comfortable with it. We rode about a mile of road getting to the trailhead. On the road sections I noticed the bike was much slower and felt like I was working really hard to keep it up to speed. I expected this so it really wasnt a shocker. What did shock me was when we hit the singletrack. It felt way slower through the corners almost like I needed to horse it around then my speed would drop off. In no way did it recover as quick as my 29er. I felt like I was fighting all the time to keep the speed up. I also didnt notice any of the claimed "more nimble" feel. It was more like "hit a bump, loose some speed, work your butt off trying to get it back" feel. I dont know, its really hard to put into words but I can say I did not enjoy riding this bike. I'm not trying to start some war here so please dont get offended if you love your 26er. Just sharing my personal impression after many years riding 29ers only. I will say that some of the 29ers out there have geo that doesnt lend itself to "nimble and quick" but it seems more builders are starting to figure it out and make corrections. I was planning on getting a 26er in the next couple of months just to ride something different but that project has been scraped for now. It just wasnt as fun.
Rode a 26er the other day
- Thread starter rob pennell
- Start date
Welcome to Ridemonkey and the 29er forum Rob!!! Great to have you here.
I like your point about 29ers on teh road comment. The other night I did a really nice twisty trail ride on my 29er with my GF - she decided that conditions were a little slick so she took the van home. Well when I got done witih the ride, I just hauled ass back home on the pavement. The big wheels really made a difference getting back home that night.
Hope you'll stick around here and chime in with your insights quite a bit.
Cheers,
Mark
I like your point about 29ers on teh road comment. The other night I did a really nice twisty trail ride on my 29er with my GF - she decided that conditions were a little slick so she took the van home. Well when I got done witih the ride, I just hauled ass back home on the pavement. The big wheels really made a difference getting back home that night.
Hope you'll stick around here and chime in with your insights quite a bit.
Cheers,
Mark
I had a similar experience while back.
See, I used to have a polished alum titus RX, that I built up for myself, it was an XL:
I sold it to a buddy, and built a polished alum titus racer X, only this time it was a 29er. Cockpits were near identical, weight was nearly within a pound.
Anyway, my buddy is local to me, and i've been hammering him about 29er's since early 2003. Finally we went for a ride together on our local trail. Matching polished titus RX's, both built to the hip, both by me, for me, with same cockpit lengths. I have pic's of the bikes together on my home computer...will come back and post them later. My friend previously had always poo-poo'd 29ers (ridden my monkey before). We swapped out for a while. He was stunned at the ride...didn't want to give it back. I could hardly ride his bike..the bike that I built for myself that used to be perfect to me...felt out of control, like i couldn't corner, was going to crash, etc...my friend for the first time was fast enough to where I couldn't really keep up (we were about even on our own bikes) and he pulled away and I couldn't catch him enough to demand my bike back.
Also, compare this picture to the above wheelie shot. This bike is a RX 29er, also with exactly a 24.7" effective top tube. Which bike looks better suited to me?
Like they say: going from have-not to have is a lot easier than going from have to have-not. The same is true for the 26-29 transition versus the 29-26 transition.
See, I used to have a polished alum titus RX, that I built up for myself, it was an XL:
I sold it to a buddy, and built a polished alum titus racer X, only this time it was a 29er. Cockpits were near identical, weight was nearly within a pound.
Anyway, my buddy is local to me, and i've been hammering him about 29er's since early 2003. Finally we went for a ride together on our local trail. Matching polished titus RX's, both built to the hip, both by me, for me, with same cockpit lengths. I have pic's of the bikes together on my home computer...will come back and post them later. My friend previously had always poo-poo'd 29ers (ridden my monkey before). We swapped out for a while. He was stunned at the ride...didn't want to give it back. I could hardly ride his bike..the bike that I built for myself that used to be perfect to me...felt out of control, like i couldn't corner, was going to crash, etc...my friend for the first time was fast enough to where I couldn't really keep up (we were about even on our own bikes) and he pulled away and I couldn't catch him enough to demand my bike back.
Also, compare this picture to the above wheelie shot. This bike is a RX 29er, also with exactly a 24.7" effective top tube. Which bike looks better suited to me?
Like they say: going from have-not to have is a lot easier than going from have to have-not. The same is true for the 26-29 transition versus the 29-26 transition.
When I get on my 26, I don't notice the different wheel size nearly as much as the 90mm of extra travel up front, and 200mm of extra travel in back. That, and its 2.5's weight a lot more than the Ignitors on my 29er. My 26 is such a sluggish accelerator compared to my 29er... 
Please understand I'm only talking about cross country race bikes which is what I ride. I dont think a 29er is the right bike for DH/freeride aplications at this time. But BCD may make me eat these words in week or two.jbogner said:When I get on my 26, I don't notice the different wheel size nearly as much as the 90mm of extra travel up front, and 200mm of extra travel in back. That, and its 2.5's weight a lot more than the Ignitors on my 29er. My 26 is such a sluggish accelerator compared to my 29er...
Rob: Nice to have your input here. I've got a couple more observations to add from my viewpoint.
I got ahold of a circa 2000 Specialized Rock Hopper made with Ritchey NiTi steel. I decided to ride it as a commuter bike in lieu of my Karate Monkey. Well, that lasted for about a week or so before I decided that not only was it a bugger to keep up momentum, but the wheels harshness was just too uncomfortable.
So, I put more offroad friendly wheels and tires on it and used it as a trail bike off and on last year. The cockpit dimensions were very similar to my KM. I just never could get on with that bike off road for several of the same reasons you mentioned, Rob, but the inherent harshness was there again. It seemed to me that as a hardtail 26"er rider, you had to be in and out of the saddle more often and not on the gas in a constant manner, like I can on my 29"ers. This caused me to be in the "hurry up and accelerate" mode instead of applying a smooth, even flow of power without worrying about most of the trail obstacles. This was on a pretty buff trail system, by the way, so a really rough trail might not exhibit the same problems as I experienced.
In the end, I gave the bike away to a lanky BMX-ican who was wanting to try a local XC race. So, I got rid of it and was able to help somebody out, at least.
Maybe I should have given him a 29"er!
I got ahold of a circa 2000 Specialized Rock Hopper made with Ritchey NiTi steel. I decided to ride it as a commuter bike in lieu of my Karate Monkey. Well, that lasted for about a week or so before I decided that not only was it a bugger to keep up momentum, but the wheels harshness was just too uncomfortable.
So, I put more offroad friendly wheels and tires on it and used it as a trail bike off and on last year. The cockpit dimensions were very similar to my KM. I just never could get on with that bike off road for several of the same reasons you mentioned, Rob, but the inherent harshness was there again. It seemed to me that as a hardtail 26"er rider, you had to be in and out of the saddle more often and not on the gas in a constant manner, like I can on my 29"ers. This caused me to be in the "hurry up and accelerate" mode instead of applying a smooth, even flow of power without worrying about most of the trail obstacles. This was on a pretty buff trail system, by the way, so a really rough trail might not exhibit the same problems as I experienced.
In the end, I gave the bike away to a lanky BMX-ican who was wanting to try a local XC race. So, I got rid of it and was able to help somebody out, at least.
Maybe I should have given him a 29"er!
When I had otherwise already made the full conversion to 700c wheels in my stable (apart from a 4-cross race bike), I held on to a 26" MTB I had stuck a cross fork and 29x2.00 front slick on. I could not get over how harsh the (fatter) 26" rear slick felt. I rode the bike till it got stolen regardless, I disliked the bike so much I didn't care when it's chain was rusted from yet another salty winter commute.
When the bike was stolen, I promoted my XC/Beach race bike (Fisher SuperCal29) to commuting duties, and the comfort AND speed have been amazing. I do own road bikes, but for a quick commute even with it's long straights I don't need the skinny tires at all. 1kg each tires make for high average speeds for me, if the traffic lights are further than a furlung apart or street in any less than "dry and just swept" condition.
And for off-roading other than 4-cross...don't get me started on that
When the bike was stolen, I promoted my XC/Beach race bike (Fisher SuperCal29) to commuting duties, and the comfort AND speed have been amazing. I do own road bikes, but for a quick commute even with it's long straights I don't need the skinny tires at all. 1kg each tires make for high average speeds for me, if the traffic lights are further than a furlung apart or street in any less than "dry and just swept" condition.
And for off-roading other than 4-cross...don't get me started on that