Oli G

If its got ralphs you should be able to tubeless convert them. I know quite a few twenty nineriders that have tubeless converted them and say they are brilliant. and Schwalbe are THE BEST TYRES (Clarkson pause) IN THE WORLD Your wheels are a little heavy but it all depends on what you want to spend. Some American Classics would be great. and i would say get new hubs as well not just hoops.

For MTB 9 speed - SRAM MTB ten speed on the other hand, shimano takes the cake... I was always a SRAM fan till I tried the shimano ten speed. SO SLICK

Found this in one of Suntour's manuals... doesnt say what fork it's for but there it is.

For XC: Sitting normally on the bike should compress the fork approximately 30% of its total travel. So 100mm travel fork should have around about 6.5cm of useable stanchion sticking out. Thats the rough standard guesstimation, from there its personal preference. I run my 100mm manitou R-Seven a little softer though, just because I like it like that. (dunno why I like it, just do )

Lance at the epic bike shop... watching him work on his wheels..... its art.... says hes built over 2000!!

Hard Tail will be good. if youre a racer the hard tail is probably more of the way to go (saw a lot more HTs on epic and such) it all depends on what youre willing to pay. Personally i would get a full susser and I'm lightweight (just over 60)but that's just my personal preference as i prefer going down a lot more than going up Go speak to Lance at the Epic Bike Shop 087 802 5959 He is the boss when it comes to 29ers and he stocks the best of them.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2009/07/13/why-doesnt-anyone-make-a-29er-downhill-bike/ Got the whole deal from multiple manufacturers here with their opinions on it. Found this article about the link above: http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/bikerumor-quizzes-industry-over-29er-use-in-downhill/07827 So in the link, to sum up, the downhill manufacturers dont want to make them because there arent parts for them, main problems being tyres and suspension. Niner has developed a new tyre with WTB called the Kodiak that is built for DH but isnt a true DH tyre because of the aramid bead, its a 2.5 and is tacky so its up there with the minions. A manitou dorado (because its and upside down fork) can have spacers put in the fork to lower it from 9 inches of travel to 7 to accommodate the 29er, so I dont see any problem. Soon there will be 29er DH bikes but currently the DH market is too small(According to Santa Cruz), and by splitting the small discipline up would not be worth the costs. (In essence what they are actually saying is: if we (Santa Cruz) make a DH 29er, everyone will stop riding 26er downhill bikes and we (Santa Cruz again) would not have any use for all our 26er moulds and equipment...)

Rocky Mountain have some nice new 29ers, worth a look, i know that they are good but i'm not sure how good.

According to Bicycling magazine the giant was nasty, it doesnt say it in the mag but i spoke to three of the six testers and they said it wasnt a nice ride. Giant arent very clued up on 29ers yet but with time im sure they will get it right. I have tested an xtc myself and the Giant wheels are seriously heavy, a very important part of the bike to have light.

Look at silverbacks segma. article in bicycling mags last issue testing 11 of them.segma is very well specced with shimano tenspeed, reba fork, and stans rims. its nice because at some stage you can if you want throw it onto a better frame such as a Niner (EMD frame R6250) the silverback is i think around 17-18k and is definately worth the extra lil bit.

Epic bike shop. 021 797 3804. 29er specialists and niner's their favourite.

how good your drivetrain is. gritty bearing=morefriction=slower, to the power of simple

I also came from quads. No broken bones with quads, one in my first six months of bikes so watch eowt. Tubeless conversion is also very importante. maybe put on some nice scwalbe tyres or something at the same time, not really worth converting the merida cheapy tyres.(if its even possible)

Merida. I am seriously surprised at how badly specced the KTM is. KTM need a couple more years to get their bikes right but theyre doing a mighty fine job getting there and they look damn nice. One-Twenty for me Merida also has unprecedented backup, never ever heard of a problem that hasnt been fixed quick stix and theres a lot of them around. They dont come with flats on the one side though. its just a test plate that clips into the pedal where the cleat usually does, shimano request all LBSs to remove it before sale. its just for riding around the car park. Helmet, I just got myself a new fox flux (R850) and loving it. its definately not something to take lightly and you need to try spend a bit more here, you dont want something thatl break with one lil hit. good okes are Giro, Bell, Rudy Project and Fox. Gloves, full finger or nothing thanks, also love fox gloves and pair well with wing grips. Shirt, all personal preference Pants, My perrenial enduros... love em. and camel pack has to be CamelBak. Computer, a good one, get a suunto watch. otherwise any cheap one should suffice.

Ya i know its a bit harsh and im sorry if i have offended. but looking at it next to a niner RIP it isnt that much lighter even though its carbon and the rip isnt, and it is very flexi like the gary fischer/trek 29r. i love santa cruz with all my heart but i think they could really do with the 30 years of experience with 29 as niner have. the suspension system on the niner is built for 29ers and thats the difference. Giant and Intense(which i also adore) have the same problem, they have literally just moved their 26er system onto longer stays. a different wheel size behaves differently and needs to be accounted for differently. Oh ya and to add a bit more salt, ive seen two cracked tallboy frames. sorry.