How tall should you be to ride a 29er

[ben2e]

Hopefully not too strange of a question. I've heard the bikes are great for taller riders. I'm 5'10 , is a 29er going to be a poor fit ? The ride over the local root riddled trails has me wanting to try one.

I've only seen occasional reviews for the FS 29er frames. I know it's a loaded question but is there a favorite among the bunch ? The RIP9 seemed to get pretty good notes among the few reviews I could find. Unfortunately, there aren't too many at local dealers so I'll likely just end up picking one out before I'm able to try them. Any promising new models ?

Thanks,

Ben

[GlowBoy]

This is a FAQ, and the answer is that a 29"er can fit you just fine.

I'm 5'7" and I own three 29"ers. A Surly Karate Monkey (stolen this morning, but I do still own it), a custom Vulture and a LenzSport Leviathan. There are a number of good FS 29"ers out there -- click the "29er FS Shootout" link on the right side of this page for examples.

I chose the Leviathan because I'm short and prefer a shorter than average top tube for my height, and the Lev was the only one that fit me really well. At 5'10" you will have no such problems and you have several excellent choices. I couldn't really recommend one for you without knowing your riding style and preferences, but I'm very happy with my Leviathan. See my review here: http://wriconsult.com/bike/lev.html.

[offroadfanatic]

You should be atleast 2 ft. tall.
I'm not saying that if you are shorter then 2 ft that you COULDN'T ride a 29er, but..... the downtube would have to be a little short.

There is no height limitation on 29ers. Riders of all heights benefit from 29" wheels.

If you ask which bike is best for squishy 29ers, you will get about 25 people telling you they love what they ride. And most of them will be different bikes.

Narrow your search down a little. How much travel you want. How much you want to spend. You can spend from $2k to $6k and all kinds of options.

Turner has some pretty nice looking bikes. GF has some nice bikes. Lenz makes a nice bike, there are too many options to list.

Use the search function on the forums and you should be able to come up with more information than you can shake a stick at.

cranK

[madnessmoose]

Nope nope nope! You need to be at least 7 ft tall to ride a 29er. It would help if you could shoot fireballs out of your eyes too! Otherwise we'd might all burp, fart, and sneeze all at once and explode all over our top tubes and then mountain bikers would be extinct.

---Does anyone have that thread with the small 29er frames/bikes for riders 5'3" and under?

[OneBadWagon]

I'd say tall enough to reach the pedals. Ride whatever floats your boat.

[sean salach]

i would suggest having at least a 29" inseam. other than that, it goes by frame size, not wheel size.

[n plus one]

You must be at least this tall to ride--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Rainman]

Hopefully not too strange of a question. I've heard the bikes are great for taller riders. I'm 5'10 , is a 29er going to be a poor fit ? The ride over the local root riddled trails has me wanting to try one.

I've only seen occasional reviews for the FS 29er frames. I know it's a loaded question but is there a favorite among the bunch ? The RIP9 seemed to get pretty good notes among the few reviews I could find. Unfortunately, there aren't too many at local dealers so I'll likely just end up picking one out before I'm able to try them. Any promising new models ?

Thanks,

Ben

The RIP 9 is a great bike. As far as size of riders goes...i'm 5-4" and love my 29'ers....


R.

[41ants]

My wife is 5'6ish and she rides a 29er gary fisher x caliber

[Soupboy]

Knee high to a grasshopper.

[SSearchVT]

I'm 5'6" with a 30" inseam and have no problem on an out of the box GF Hi-Fi Plus. I tried a RIP9, but couldn't make it fit my wallet - the bike fit me fine. If you look at some of the custom frames they've fit people down to about 5'0".

[LIV2RYD]

5' 5" with a 28" inseam and I own 3 29ers. Anyone who tells you that 29ers are for tall people are full of scheet......

[jeff]

That Surly has been a good soldier for you . Good luck in your search,
Jeff

This is a FAQ, and the answer is that a 29"er can fit you just fine.

I'm 5'7" and I own three 29"ers. A Surly Karate Monkey (stolen this morning, but I do still own it), a custom Vulture and a LenzSport Leviathan. There are a number of good FS 29"ers out there -- click the "29er FS Shootout" link on the right side of this page for examples.

I chose the Leviathan because I'm short and prefer a shorter than average top tube for my height, and the Lev was the only one that fit me really well. At 5'10" you will have no such problems and you have several excellent choices. I couldn't really recommend one for you without knowing your riding style and preferences, but I'm very happy with my Leviathan. See my review here: http://wriconsult.com/bike/lev.html.

[marx1128]

take a look at a vassago jabberwocky. i picked one up a few months ago and absolutely love it. height is not an issue. i ride with a guy who is 5'4" and his wife is about 5'1" and they both ride 29er's.

[jeremyuk]

Since Glowboy is 4' 9" and he's fine......

[TooTallUK]

I'm 6'7" and it should be the LAW that you are over 6' to ride a 29er!

Like seeing shorter men with taller women - it is just not proper.

Some of the above statement might be utter pish. I might have forgotten to put a 'winky smiley' on here.

Or not.

[willtsmith_nwi]

If you're under 5' tall you should probably have a VERY good reason to be on a 29er.

[Davidcopperfield]

FAQ: Show your Tiny 29ers- smaller than or equal 16" frames 16 inched 29er frames.
The shortest you can get is the situation when the tip of your toe rubs the tyre- toe overlap. TT can be gotten as short as there is still no toe overlap. Compare 29ers to your cross bikes and road bikes (road bikes tend to have toe overlap but Treking bikes don't)