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So,now I'm seriously thinking 29r.

SCARY

Not long enough
I rode a stumpjumper 29r the other day,and was really impressed with everything about it.
I'm considering an Intense 29r for an all around bike(My sponsor can get intense,cove,foes and turner)
Do any of you ride one?I think it might help me get in shape better,cuz I might not avoid climbing so much.They roll really well.I gotta do something else,since moto is bye,bye.

Are there any good comebacks for the "29rs are gay"crowd ?I'm thinking I should just dress full moto,just so people think I'm crazy,not gay.
 

VMARTINEZ

Monkey
May 23, 2005
303
18
After spending a few days at Dealer Camp this weekend I would say 650b/27.5. Pedals like a 26" wheeled bike and rides like a 29er.
Enve had some Turner Burner 650's that where fun to ride. Intense also had a fleet of demo's.
VM
 

Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
Intense has a 650?Is it coming out soon?
They're pretty Intense about it. :rimshot:

I don't have a real opinion on any new wheel sizes. I recently tried a Giant Anthem X 29er and hated it. Something about the bike wouldn't let me get a low feeling in the turns, even with a lower BB than my Trance X.

Intense is bringing a fleet of the "275's" here for demo soon. Definitely hoping to get some runs on one...
 

Banshee Rider

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
1,452
10
I don't have a real opinion on any new wheel sizes. I recently tried a Giant Anthem X 29er and hated it. Something about the bike wouldn't let me get a low feeling in the turns, even with a lower BB than my Trance X.
The AX29 rides like that because of the rediculously long chainstays - longer that just about every 29er out right now. I never felt able to put that bike into a turn and lead out in a predictable manner, even after plenty of time to adapt. It's certainly not a good bike to base your opinion of 29ers on in my experience, especially if your an ex-DH guy who knows how to turn a bike and have some fun. Right bike, we're just not the right segment. Get yourself on a Trance X 29er when they become available though, that bike rides sweeet!
 
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Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
The AX29 rides like that because of the rediculously long chainstays - longer that just about every 29er out right now. I never felt able to put that bike into a turn and lead out in a predictable manner, even after plenty of time to adapt. It's certainly not a good bike to base your opinion of 29ers on in my experience, especially if your an ex-DH guy who knows how to turn a bike and have some fun. Right bike, we're just not the right segment. Get yourself on a Trance X 29er when they become available though, that bike rides sweeet!
Good point. But I usually like long stays and thought even at 18.25 it wouldn't be that bad... My M9's currently in the 17.75 setting...

I work for a Giant dealer, and getting an XL Trance X 29er sounds about as easy as locating a needle in a pile of needles. (It took us forever to land the XL Anthem X I could try...)
 

epic

Turbo Monkey
Sep 15, 2008
1,041
21
Trecer29 is a nice bike. Best 29er I've ridden not that I've ridden a lot of them. It felt like it had the most natural handling oh what I have ridden.
 

frorider

Monkey
Jul 21, 2004
971
20
cali
.Are there any good comebacks for the "29rs are gay"crowd ?I'm thinking I should just dress full moto,just so people think I'm crazy,not gay.
Yeah that should work out well.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
Are there any good comebacks for the "29rs are gay"crowd ?I'm thinking I should just dress full moto,just so people think I'm crazy,not gay.
Short answer - no. And save yourself the effort. Everyone here already thinks you are crazy and gay.

Realistically though, any ends to which "trying to convince onlookers I'm not gay" is the means cannot possibly be a legitimate cause to begin with.
 

Pslide

Turbo Monkey
I like 29ers and could care less what people think.

But if you're going to buy one, find something with chainstays less than 17". It's not easy...especially if you want rear suspension. In fact, is anyone making a full sus 29er with sub 17" chainstays?
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,918
borcester rhymes
I picked up a 29er afters riding 26ers for years. It really does roll over stuff better, and it hooks up a lot better on climbs even with ****ty tires...but there are so many geometry compromises. You end up with really long chainstays or some kind of awful arrangement to get a short static chainstay which inevitably lengthens under sag or compression. I eventually pitched the FS 29er for a HT 29er and it rode really well, but it was still a hardtail, so it hurt my butt.

I grabbed a Cannondale Rush which I converted to 650b and it's a pretty fun bike. It does roll a little bit better (noticeably not as well as a 29er though) but it doesn't give up much in terms of handling from a 26er. I don't know if the upgrade is worth it unless you're looking for the best, but I don't think I'd touch a long travel 29er on my twisty east coast trails. Out west or where they're longer and straighter it might be a better fit. The pacenti tires are really pretty nice too, they hooked up everywhere up in vermont this weekend.

Keep in mind that if you switch wheel sizes, you will lose all your DH forum bro cred. On this forum, the best bike for XC is a 64* HA, 17.8" CS, 7" travel, 40lb "All-mountain" bike, not a lightweight, versatile, trail machine.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,918
borcester rhymes
I like 29ers and could care less what people think.

But if you're going to buy one, find something with chainstays less than 17". It's not easy...especially if you want rear suspension. In fact, is anyone making a full sus 29er with sub 17" chainstays?
nope. You can get a Kona Satori with 17.3" CS, but you'll gain length under sag due to the pivot height. The only sub 17 29ers are hardtails from Canfield and Kona, and maybe Banshee right now.

I think 29ers are great wheels, I just don't know that you can make them handle well enough for it to be worth it. Acceleration effects are generally exaggerated and weight and strength can be fixed. You can't beat physics though, so it's near impossible to get a compact rear end and wagon wheels.
 

Dogboy

Turbo Monkey
Apr 12, 2004
3,208
581
Durham, NC
But if you're going to buy one, find something with chainstays less than 17". It's not easy...especially if you want rear suspension. In fact, is anyone making a full sus 29er with sub 17" chainstays?
The Devinci Atlas has chainstays that short. I think anything around 17.5" works well though.
 

marshalolson

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2006
1,770
519
rumor has it that 26" wheeled bikes ride pretty good too. and go figure there are literally a million nice ones out there, that, shockingly, all ride super super well...

go try a carbine, stumpjumper / enduro, trance x, 5 spot, etc. those bike crush so hard, its not even funny.

or have fun with your silly wheel sizes, crappy rims, and garbage tires :D

the stumpjumper 29 rides well, despite its wheel size. the anthem 29 rides poorly because of its wheel size.
 
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VMARTINEZ

Monkey
May 23, 2005
303
18
I have a Canfield Nimble 9 29er and a Sauce 26er and was looking at something new for next year. I figured I wanted to try the a few 650b bikes. Once I rode some of the new bikes I figured I could just stick with my current bikes. I am going to wait for something like the Turner Burner 650b or something in that ball park.
Tried a pair of Enve wheels on my Sauce and man I could just ride that bike until I can find something that rides like it. Light on the climbs and descends really well.
VM
 

nmpearson

Monkey
Dec 30, 2006
213
8
i've been on a transition bandit 29 this whole season and i love it...but i think i'm just going to go back to 26 next year. Id be down with trying a 650b. My issue with 29 is going downhill especially on technical sections. It just doesn't want to turn as well(for obvious reasons). That's the only thing i don't like about it. it climbs really well, jumps pretty decent, descents well as long as the corners aren't super sharp, and just as a whole is fun.
 

jon-boy

Monkey
May 26, 2004
799
0
Vancouver BC
i've been on a transition bandit 29 this whole season and i love it...but i think i'm just going to go back to 26 next year. Id be down with trying a 650b. My issue with 29 is going downhill especially on technical sections. It just doesn't want to turn as well(for obvious reasons). That's the only thing i don't like about it. it climbs really well, jumps pretty decent, descents well as long as the corners aren't super sharp, and just as a whole is fun.
I don't post often but I have to respond to this as I have been on this bike since the spring... this bike is awesome and I have a lot of fun riding it. It also corners just fine, if you have the balls to carve a bike harder than you would on a 26" wheel bike. The larger wheels do require you to be more exaggerated with your cornering. When you learn to trust your tires and really lean the bike and commit to a corner this bike just flies. It also loves to drift... back wheel only or nice two wheel drifts.. it is predictable and so much fun to rip trails on. I admit it does take some time to get to that place where you can just let the bike fly... but when you do it's an awesome bike.

I've done some skills sessions with various people over the years, but one thing sticks with me from when I did a DH skills days with Eric Carter and Rich Houseman, they were really pushing me to corner with a more aggressive posture on the bike, leaning the bike over hard in the corner to get it to carve. This is exactly what you have to do with a 29er. You also need to make sure you have a nice low front end to weight the front wheel as the contact patch typically is further ahead of the bars than on a 26er. This also leads to riding over the front a little more than on a 26er... all of this takes time to learn and to trust the bike. Once you do these wheels roll really well and the bikes handle really well too.

I ride mostly steep, rooty, rocky technical singletrack trails here in Vancouver. I've ridden this bike in Whistler, Squamish, Fruita, the North Shore, Oregon.... and at no point have I backed down from riding a line. Steep rock rolls, rocky chutes, jumpy-pumpy bermed out trails... it's all good. Oh and it climbs like a demon too.

Anyway gushing over... for shorter folks I think a 27.5" wheel will work really well. 6' and above 29".
 

nmpearson

Monkey
Dec 30, 2006
213
8
I don't post often but I have to respond to this as I have been on this bike since the spring... this bike is awesome and I have a lot of fun riding it. It also corners just fine, if you have the balls to carve a bike harder than you would on a 26" wheel bike. The larger wheels do require you to be more exaggerated with your cornering. When you learn to trust your tires and really lean the bike and commit to a corner this bike just flies. It also loves to drift... back wheel only or nice two wheel drifts.. it is predictable and so much fun to rip trails on. I admit it does take some time to get to that place where you can just let the bike fly... but when you do it's an awesome bike.
I def won't argue with you. I love the bike so much and i've almost completely stopped riding other bikes but yeah, i probably haven't been ballsy enough for the bike. My front end is very low. I built it like I build all my bikes, wide low bars, shorter stem(70mm bc i felt 50mm was just a touch too short), and just an aggressive setup. I will probably move back to a bandit 26 next year just because i'm not good enough for the bike. maybe in the next month or two i'll try to carve harder and my decision will change. we'll see...
 

Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
I don't post often but I have to respond to this as I have been on this bike since the spring... this bike is awesome and I have a lot of fun riding it. It also corners just fine, if you have the balls to carve a bike harder than you would on a 26" wheel bike. The larger wheels do require you to be more exaggerated with your cornering. When you learn to trust your tires and really lean the bike and commit to a corner this bike just flies. It also loves to drift... back wheel only or nice two wheel drifts.. it is predictable and so much fun to rip trails on. I admit it does take some time to get to that place where you can just let the bike fly... but when you do it's an awesome bike.

I've done some skills sessions with various people over the years, but one thing sticks with me from when I did a DH skills days with Eric Carter and Rich Houseman, they were really pushing me to corner with a more aggressive posture on the bike, leaning the bike over hard in the corner to get it to carve. This is exactly what you have to do with a 29er. You also need to make sure you have a nice low front end to weight the front wheel as the contact patch typically is further ahead of the bars than on a 26er. This also leads to riding over the front a little more than on a 26er... all of this takes time to learn and to trust the bike. Once you do these wheels roll really well and the bikes handle really well too.

I ride mostly steep, rooty, rocky technical singletrack trails here in Vancouver. I've ridden this bike in Whistler, Squamish, Fruita, the North Shore, Oregon.... and at no point have I backed down from riding a line. Steep rock rolls, rocky chutes, jumpy-pumpy bermed out trails... it's all good. Oh and it climbs like a demon too.

Anyway gushing over... for shorter folks I think a 27.5" wheel will work really well. 6' and above 29".
No offense, but your bike doesn't sound fun to me. I like a bike to carve naturally so I can be aggressive on going faster. Not fighting it just to make it turn...
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
Keep in mind that if you switch wheel sizes, you will lose all your DH forum bro cred. On this forum, the best bike for XC is a 64* HA, 17.8" CS, 7" travel, 40lb "All-mountain" bike, not a lightweight, versatile, trail machine.
Not quiet the numbers you speak of but it is pretty versatile....

 

SinatorJ

Monkey
Jul 9, 2002
582
51
AZ
I rode a stumpjumper 29r the other day,and was really impressed with everything about it.
I'm considering an Intense 29r for an all around bike(My sponsor can get intense,cove,foes and turner)
Do any of you ride one?I think it might help me get in shape better,cuz I might not avoid climbing so much.They roll really well.I gotta do something else,since moto is bye,bye.

Are there any good comebacks for the "29rs are gay"crowd ?I'm thinking I should just dress full moto,just so people think I'm crazy,not gay.
Christ you are becoming more lame by the moment.
 

MDJ

Monkey
Dec 15, 2005
669
0
San Jose, CA
I don't post often but I have to respond to this as I have been on this bike since the spring... this bike is awesome and I have a lot of fun riding it. It also corners just fine, if you have the balls to carve a bike harder than you would on a 26" wheel bike. The larger wheels do require you to be more exaggerated with your cornering. When you learn to trust your tires and really lean the bike and commit to a corner this bike just flies. It also loves to drift... back wheel only or nice two wheel drifts.. it is predictable and so much fun to rip trails on. I admit it does take some time to get to that place where you can just let the bike fly... but when you do it's an awesome bike.

I've done some skills sessions with various people over the years, but one thing sticks with me from when I did a DH skills days with Eric Carter and Rich Houseman, they were really pushing me to corner with a more aggressive posture on the bike, leaning the bike over hard in the corner to get it to carve. This is exactly what you have to do with a 29er. You also need to make sure you have a nice low front end to weight the front wheel as the contact patch typically is further ahead of the bars than on a 26er. This also leads to riding over the front a little more than on a 26er... all of this takes time to learn and to trust the bike. Once you do these wheels roll really well and the bikes handle really well too.

I ride mostly steep, rooty, rocky technical singletrack trails here in Vancouver. I've ridden this bike in Whistler, Squamish, Fruita, the North Shore, Oregon.... and at no point have I backed down from riding a line. Steep rock rolls, rocky chutes, jumpy-pumpy bermed out trails... it's all good. Oh and it climbs like a demon too.

Anyway gushing over... for shorter folks I think a 27.5" wheel will work really well. 6' and above 29".
You can tell by some of these post who actually has spent some time on a good trail oriented 29er and who hasn't. You nailed it with this. I can turn my stumpy evo 29 easier than a 26. It just takes a small adjustment to riding style. I actually find it much more fun cornering on a 29. No fighting required Cliffy.

The only downside I have found with a 29 is that it's not as loose in the air. But it is stable.

Tires are also not an issue anymore. I think Specialized is even selling a Butcher now.

This is coming from an anti-29 guy until about 9 months ago.