I've been riding my 29er all year and really love it, but....
I just took my 26er out for the first time since winter and OMG it was so much fun!! It was the most fun I've had on the trail in a good while. It's so much easier to thrash the hell out of it!!
It was nimble, the smaller hoops were soooooo stiff and responsive, center of gravity is lower, for some reason it rides better than my 29er, I like how it rolls over stuff better, and I felt that I had much more command and control over the wheels. It energized me to ride as hard as possible, and it was so much fun doing so too!!
The downside is that the BBH is much lower and I was hitting stuff. It also takes a bit more active energy to keep it rolling whereas my 29er has so much more momentum.
My 29er is a lot nicer, air fork, 26lbs, Arch EX wheelset, hydro brakes, carbon post, SLX rotors.... My Hardrock 26er is 5lbs heavier, has an xct fork (but is very plush), mech. brakes (which work great BTW), those smaller wheels are heavier than my 29" Arch Ex, frame is heavier and too small for me, headset is dimpled at straight ahead...yet it still kicked ass...
I can only imagine what a lightweight carbon 26er would be like!!
I also demoed 2 650B bikes at a Giant demo day...that wheel size is very legit. It does roll better than 26.
I wanna sell that 26er and my other one so I can get a better and lighter 26er or 650B of correct frame size so I can have a better small wheel machine.
In the end, what I have learned is all wheel sizes are awesome in their own way...to scoff or hate at any one of them is the way of the fool.
I took my Trance X2 26 inch with a dropper post out the other day and had a similar experience. I ride a rigid 29er single speed and a 1x10 29er hardtail most of the time. It always amazes me how much air I can get on the Trance compared to the 29ers.......There will always be a "space in my garage" for all three!:thumbsup:
I'm actually curious if they will come out with another wheelsize between 650B and 29" in 5 years. To be honest if i had free reign on wheel size I would dial something in that area. I kinda want a 28" wheel.
Are you not content with the number of choices? I'm always for technology advancements, but at some point you gotta be content with what is there. There might not be something "better", only different.
I have a 29er and 26er. I too just rode the 26er on the weekend and had a blast. My bikes are almost identical on fit so what I was feeling most was the quicker steering of the little wheels. Running XTR was a treat too, since the 29er has an IGH which is heavy and a tad sluggish feeling when accelerating out of corners. While I love the ride and traction of the big wheels, the 26er rocks in tight twisty stuff especially if the terrain is relatively smooth.
I had a parallel experience about a year ago. For the last five years I've been riding my FS bike nearly 100% the time. Then last year I took my trusty old steel HT out for ride and wow...I had forgot how much fun a HT can be. Since then I've been on the HT for most of my rides.
I never considered switching wheels sizes. I just finished building a new Ibis HDR with 26 wheels. 26.8 pounds. It's a great ride. My decision to built this bike as a 26 was not popular because it can also be built as a 650b, but I stuck to what I know and happy I did.
A month ago I read an article in BikeBoard Magazine (from Poland) about comparison of 26, 650b and 29-er on the same trail by a group of testers. Tests show that the best time had 26-er, but after a rain, when the trail became wet and mud the best time had 29-er. The 650b bike was between those two. 7/2013 - BikeBoard
I bought a 29er a few months ago (Kona Honzo), still doubting each day if it was a mistake or not. Problem is, I can't compare to 26 anymore because everyone I know rides a 29er! If only I could just buy a new frame and transfer the components but no, the wheels don't fit obviously, the fork doesn't either..that's like 75% of the cost of a new bike. While I do have fun on my Honzo, there is this nagging doubt if I could have even more fun on a 26...
I built up a 29er after riding 26ers for 20 plus years. I rode the 29er for about a year and thought, wow, I will never go back to the small wheels again. I was wrong. The 26er is such a playful and fun bike to ride. I like both and now ride them equally. Trails often determine what bike I take, but for pure fun it sure is tough to beat the 26er.
New to mountain bike riding, purchased a 29ner Giant. Question can I change out the tires to a 26 or 27.5? Or is not feasible to transition. Please inform since I sense the 29ner is to big for my frame, although rides smooth. Considering selling or trading for a smaller version?
Well I just took my old 1999 Specialized FSR Comp out on the trail...maybe for the first time all year. I usually don't ride it on the trails because it is old and has V-brakes (which apparently doesn't matter lol) and damn I ended up setting 5 PRs on it which obliterated the 29er PRs on those segments. That bike has brilliant geo and fits me well, I felt like it was just really easy to flow it and thread it through the trail with it being nimble, it was fun and encouraging to go fast. That bike even though from 1999 is awesome! Also the suspension really helps as I can more focus on threading the bike through instead of managing bumps all the time.
I took the 29er out later to try and get another PR, it's just bigger which makes it more difficult to flow it through. Still a nice ride though. That FSR is just awesome!
Well I just took my old 1999 Specialized FSR Comp out on the trail...maybe for the first time all year. I usually don't ride it on the trails because it is old and has V-brakes (which apparently doesn't matter lol) and damn I ended up setting 5 PRs on it which obliterated the 29er PRs on those segments. That bike has brilliant geo and fits me well, I felt like it was just really easy to flow it and thread it through the trail with it being nimble, it was fun and encouraging to go fast. That bike even though from 1999 is awesome! Also the suspension really helps as I can more focus on threading the bike through instead of managing bumps all the time.
I took the 29er out later to try and get another PR, it's just bigger which makes it more difficult to flow it through. Still a nice ride though. That FSR is just awesome!
Kona Satori=super fun monster truck........08 Turner Flux= super fun race car. Scott cr1 sl road bike=super fast race car......Salsa LaCruz cross bike=super fun monster cross.Love them all but very different.
Variety is the spice of life. So, I have a fat tire 26", a skinny tire 700c, and a fat 29'er, and they each bring their unique pros and cons, but having the choices to change things up, keeps things interesting.
funnily i too had a similar experience...going from my geared hardtail 29er to my rigid short stay SS 29er. It's changed my style of riding a lot. My old fs 26er didn't do it for me. I'm convinced that the playfulness of a 26er is only part due to wheels, but mainly to geometry. The new 29er has awesome precision in the front end, rear weight bias, short wheel base and stays all make this a bike that I get a lot out of with picking lines and weighting the rear on turns and lifting the front. It's certainly a more playful and fun ride on single track and has made me much faster (possibly also that it is SS and lighter too).
Yes all else the same I think the smaller wheels would help that feeling of agility, but my feeling is keeping the stays and wheelbase on the 29er short really helps a lot. My SS has a cs of 420...my hardtail 440ish. These days I wouldn't consider anything over 430 short. Wheelbase 1092 on the SS. Geo is very similar otherwise, only the HA on the SS is 70.5 and the hardtail 71.5. The dedicated rigid front end keeps steering tight (135mm hub too) so helps to make line choices precise and changeable. I have tried to keep the weight of the wheels and tyres down as well within reason. Otherwise its a 10kg SS roughly. if it was a lot lighter I would guess that would make it even more agile.
To each his own. I recently jumped on a FS 26 and couldn't wait to give it back. I don't judge people by the wheel size they ride, the frame they like, parts on their bikes etc, ride whatever makes you happy.
The nimbleness is obviously apparent over a 29er but the way the smaller wheel deflects off roots, etc is not something I now enjoy compared to the wagon wheels.
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