20" for hard mountains, because easy get vertical hills on LIGHTEST wheel in the world, easy accelerating, 20" is tractor style accelerate: just push and feel power of accelerate.
29" wheel is most heavy wheel. 29er hardtail bike weight more than my 26 full suspension LMAO.
Weight on wheels collecting muscle power for unstoppable inertia driving, long accelerate, bad braking, best for long asphalt racing. XC 29er? ROFL, no thanks, in other life.
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Why is it that the guys that believe size doesn't matter always have smaller ones?
BTW, on a serious note, I hear plenty of guys that have 26" bikes out on the trails say their next bike will be a 29er but I have never heard a guy on a 29er say he wants a 26er.
I wonder why that is?
Guy that owns the LBS (so pretty much has his choice lol) in my town rode 29 for 2 yrs, but past 2 seasons has gone back to 26.
I think lots of people buy 29 because it's "the in thing" right now, they're just running with the herd.
Why is it that the guys that believe size doesn't matter always have smaller ones?
BTW, on a serious note, I hear plenty of guys that have 26" bikes out on the trails say their next bike will be a 29er but I have never heard a guy on a 29er say he wants a 26er.
I wonder why that is?
Because the people that you talk to apparently either don't ride trails that benefit from a 26" wheel or don't have a riding style that better uses the characteristics of a 26" wheel. People willing to try it in the first place probably knew what they were getting, and didn't use the 26" wheels to their advantage. That's just you, though.
My first thought upon seeing the thread title was about frame sizes.
Turned out to be another 26 v 29 thread. Ho hum....
26er HT rider here, and I absolutely have fun riding it. Have brought it to some gnarly trails where a FS would be the weapon of choice. However, I am looking to get a custom built steel 29er in late 2013 or early 2014. BUT my next bike is (I hope! I hope!) would be an AM 26er rig. The future 29er HT would be my XC ride, while the FS 6-inch travel 26er would be my AM weapon of choice.
Either way, I'll be having fun on the trails.
I know a guy who recently sold his less-than-year-old 26er and joined the 29er bandwagon. Hell, even added mudguards and upgraded the hell out of his brandnew 29er.
He rides his brandnew 29er MTB mostly on road. Afraid to get it muddied up on the trails. Boo hoo.
Last edited by tryinghardrider; 10-28-2012 at 05:49 AM.
Fine let me revise that. When I'm riding smooth rolling trails vs steep downhill, techy rock gardens, cleaning trees, etc... XC less than all mountain.
Around here we have a wide variety of trails, some of which have all the conditions you describe within a few miles. I just call it mountain biking.
Around here we have a wide variety of trails, some of which have all the conditions you describe within a few miles. I just call it mountain biking.
Maybe you just like being argumentative, the OP asked a question I responded with my personal view on the subject. Wasn't looking to debate your version of mountain biking.
I have both. I think for the stuff I ride, the pros of the 26" wheels usually outweight the pros of the 29", but it can go either way. I guess for some areas the 29" wheels are the clear winner, but definitely not the case in the rooty, tight, steep and technical trails of the north shore. Also, not as much fun at the bike park, obviously.
You could argue that the 26" wheels are simply more fun because the bike is more flickable and movable. But then you could argue that 29" wheels prevent frustration of getting hung up on roots trying to climb a technical section. Meh.
20" for hard mountains, because easy get vertical hills on LIGHTEST wheel in the world, easy accelerating, 20" is tractor style accelerate: just push and feel power of accelerate.
29" wheel is most heavy wheel. 29er hardtail bike weight more than my 26 full suspension LMAO.
Weight on wheels collecting muscle power for unstoppable inertia driving, long accelerate, bad braking, best for long asphalt racing. XC 29er? ROFL, no thanks, in other life.
I gotta get a BMX! I'd love to be able to ride up a vertical hill. They call them cliffs where I come from.
I have a device that can access the total knowledge of man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and argue with strangers.
I gotta get a BMX! I'd love to be able to ride up a vertical hill. They call them cliffs where I come from.
Wasn't entertaining the nonsense but it can be done, used to do it when I was a teenager. A jump called the wall. Straight up twenty some odd feet. Wouldn't try it on a mountain bike of any wheel size but I'm sure some of the free ride guys could manage it.
After Outerbike I will never own a 29 again, I rode a dozen high end bikes and kept going back to 26's. Its the only bike that made me laugh out loud while riding.
I drove away from Outerbike with virtually the same feeling as you did. I rode as many 29ers as I could get my hands on, and nothing that I experienced justified the wholesale shift in the industry from the 26" to 29" chassis.
Clearly, market demand is fueling the shift, but I think many 29er buyers are being sold a bill of goods. The larger wheel doesn't have any special magical properties that makes it faster or consume less watts, for racing or otherwise. It's just another type of bike with its own set of traits, and each of those bikes ride differently from one another.
I owned and raced an Epic 29er this year and happily sold it at the end of the season with much relief. Hopefully its new owner feels faster or more stable or better able to roll over big rocks. I'll be on my new 24lb 26" full suspension bike, not missing the wagon wheels in the least.
I drove away from Outerbike with virtually the same feeling as you did. I rode as many 29ers as I could get my hands on, and nothing that I experienced justified the wholesale shift in the industry from the 26" to 29" chassis.
Clearly, market demand is fueling the shift, but I think many 29er buyers are being sold a bill of goods. The larger wheel doesn't have any special magical properties that makes it faster or consume less watts, for racing or otherwise. It's just another type of bike with its own set of traits, and each of those bikes ride differently from one another.
I owned and raced an Epic 29er this year and happily sold it at the end of the season with much relief. Hopefully its new owner feels faster or more stable or better able to roll over big rocks. I'll be on my new 24lb 26" full suspension bike, not missing the wagon wheels in the least.
I had the same feeling about my Epic 29r and sold it after a few months. I like my Blur enough not to feel the need for bigger wheels. Maybe the 650b will be different but I am not getting on that bandwagon as of yet.....
IMHO, bigger isn't always better and everyone has to make up their own mind of what works for them and what doesn't let the market dictate what is "good" for you...YMMV
I'd be happy with a shift back to 26". I'm having a hard time finding a used 29er to replace the one I had stolen. It would be nice to see the market flooded with sub-$200 HT 29ers.
I have a device that can access the total knowledge of man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and argue with strangers.
Someone needs to post a graph of how rolling resistance is inversely proportional to the fun factor. And my limited Calculus 3 experience tells me that the derivative of that graph would also tell us how we should all be on 23" wheels instead.... you know, cause the less proportional rolling mass.
Dudes, its a bike. Ride it, if it isn't fun you aren't doing it right.
I would follow you into the mists of Avalon if that's what you mean.
If all else fails, I blame it on my tiny wheel size
I just moved back to a full squish 26" a week ago.
The reason i went a 29er to start with is i was basically having to re-learn how to ride anyways, so i had a blast monster trucking everything on my hardtail 29er. As i got faster and faster and started riding steeper terrain, i realized i really needed to get onto a full suspension if i wanted to get any faster. after trying a few 29er full sus demos and 6" travel AM 26ers i cam full circle.
Reasons i switched back, is the trails in my area are fast, rough, tight and can be very technical.
Things i do miss about the 29er,
- i never got stuck in all the holes at the bottoms of steeps and short fast rolling humps.
- monster trucking everything
- how fast it rolls with only a little grade
If i lived somewhere ells i may very well have stuck with the 29er though.
Right bike, right rider, right trails. It all matters, tire size, geometry, bike fitting and sizing and colour (red ones go faster).
and if i ever get tired of the 26er, i know i can switch over to a 650 wheelset. lol
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Originally Posted by iperov
The future 29er HT would be my XC ride, while the FS 6-inch travel 26er would be my AM weapon of choice.
