26" 27.5" and 29" Wheels and mtb's.

[Pusher]

Nice feed back. Any reason why you went for the Trance over say the Anthem?

[LazyTrailRider]

[GlennSCrooks]

Very interesting. Thank you for your honesty in this regard..

[CAAD4]

So how much do you want for the XTC then?

[thezula]

Nice feed back. Any reason why you went for the Trance over say the Anthem?

 

Anthem is more cross country. It's 4" travel as apposed to 5", and the Trance is just more geared toward trail riding whereas the Anthem is more geared towards XC.

 

I don't think you could really go wrong with either - depends on your needs. If you still do XC and trails Anthem could be a better choice.

 

PS Maestro system on Giants are the best dual suspensions IMO. I know this as I tried every single competitor to the Giant Trance before buying.

 

I couldn't believe how hard (non existent) the Merida dual suspensions are. It's like "look I have a dual suspension it looks cool but doesn't do anything".

 

The end result was I chose a lower spec component Giant over a higher spec Merida cause the ride and handling of the bike is more important to me than what shifters and gears I have on the bike.

[Caerus]

"Wheels tend to buckle easier, especially on the single tracks, so be prepared to fork out 5k for a custom all mountain wheelset if you are a regular on the single tracks."

 

I was wondering this, as people with a 29er might take a more direct route over rocks , roots and the like.

[no calves]

not to poop on anybodys party but wouldnt it be better to compare the xtx 29'er with a hardtail and not a fully? im on the xtc advanced and the anthem advanced and i do agree the fully is faster on a lot more terain but for flat racing nothing beats a hardtail. when i go to tokai it is the anthem that goes but for i.e. the karoo to coast or transbaviaans it is the hardtail. im looking at the momsen because i will be doing the desert dash at the end of the year and i persnally think a hardtail 29'er will be the best bike suited.

 

just my 2c

[no calves]

not to poop on anybodys party but wouldnt it be better to compare the xtx 29'er with a hardtail and not a fully? im on the xtc advanced and the anthem advanced and i do agree the fully is faster on a lot more terain but for flat racing nothing beats a hardtail. when i go to tokai it is the anthem that goes but for i.e. the karoo to coast or transbaviaans it is the hardtail. im looking at the momsen because i will be doing the desert dash at the end of the year and i persnally think a hardtail 29'er will be the best bike suited.

 

just my 2c

[leeu52]

Are we comparing a 5" travel duallie with a 0" hardtail and finding the duallie a more comfortable ride, especially on technical non XC tracks? If yes, I totally agree. Trance is a great bike for bumpy, creepy crawly stuff.

[thezula]

not to poop on anybodys party but wouldnt it be better to compare the xtx 29'er with a hardtail and not a fully? im on the xtc advanced and the anthem advanced and i do agree the fully is faster on a lot more terain but for flat racing nothing beats a hardtail. when i go to tokai it is the anthem that goes but for i.e. the karoo to coast or transbaviaans it is the hardtail. im looking at the momsen because i will be doing the desert dash at the end of the year and i persnally think a hardtail 29'er will be the best bike suited.

 

just my 2c

 

we are comparing the handling of a 26" with a 29".

A full suspension 29" will be even more sluggish (less direct) 29" HT even more of a dog on the trails. Suspension or not it won't change the fact that 29ers are slower, less direct and sluggish compared to 26" bikes. Suspensions don't improve the responsiveness of a bike - anyone having ridden a bike and HT form and in FS form will agree the hardtail is more direct and responsive.

 

So to get back to your question. I compared a 26" FS (the less direct version of a HT) to a 29" HT (as direct as they get).

 

Yes a Full Suspension will handle the gnarly bits better of course. But that's not what I pointed out here - I pointed out handling - turning, direct feel, responsiveness etc.

 

For what it's worth have been a long time owner of a 26" HT too and have tried 20" full suspension, and let me tell you it is less direct than the 29" HT.

[thezula]

not to poop on anybodys party but wouldnt it be better to compare the xtx 29'er with a hardtail and not a fully? im on the xtc advanced and the anthem advanced and i do agree the fully is faster on a lot more terain but for flat racing nothing beats a hardtail. when i go to tokai it is the anthem that goes but for i.e. the karoo to coast or transbaviaans it is the hardtail. im looking at the momsen because i will be doing the desert dash at the end of the year and i persnally think a hardtail 29'er will be the best bike suited.

 

just my 2c

 

we are comparing the handling of a 26" with a 29"

 

If anything (and according to my actual experience) a full suspension 29" is going to be less responsive and less direct and less nippy than a 29" hardtail.

[Erasmus]

was my popcorn?

[levett]

I ride a Trance X1, and was riding a Scandal hardtail 29er - I've recently moved over to a Kona Hei-Hei softtail 29er (3 1/2 inch rear travel as opposed to the 5 inch of rear travel on the Trance) and I have to say that the Trance and the 29er Hei-Hei are very similar.

 

Both have their pros and cons - the Trance obviously wins in the tight single track stuff, but I prefer the Hei-Hei for everything else.

 

But before I'm flamed, I'm neither a rabid fan of 29er's or of 26er's - each has their merits, and eich is better at somethings than others.

 

At the end of the day, it's down to what you feel most comfortable on!

[SpesializeR]

I have a Trek Feul X9deul and bought a Spesialized Epic Comp29er in Jan 2011. This is a fair comparison and the 26er loose all the way. We must always remember that there will be pros and cons ,but how long have we been riding 26ers. Give yourself time to addapt and then it is a different experience.

 

Do your homework on dimentions I have no toe overlap and the brain shock at the back sorts out most of the gomma gomma feeling on flats .

 

I feel that HT and ST can never be compared they will always be different and unconparable. Compare HT26er with HT29er and the same with softtails that will give a nice read.

 

my 2C

[Mecnic]

When I was at The Epic, as a mechanic I was privileged to work on and ride everything from from S works Epic 29ers to Anthem X 29ers and my trusty 26er Anthem X.

 

I found after riding the 29er Anthem that is rode a lot like my 26ers only notable difference was I could feel the 29er rolled better but I was in lighter gears to get the wheels turning and the top out speed was a little faster. Other than that the bikes felt pretty much the same. Found the Epic to be a hard ride.

 

Please note these were just trips up and down the site to make sure the bikes worked properly and to get them to the bike park, so no rough stuff or trails, and never rode them all that long was just my simple observations.

 

A good bike design is a good design regardless of wheels size in the case of 29ers you win some advantages but also lose a few same with 26er so I say personal choice.

 

Good post though

[Tieffels]

OK seriously, we need to agree on some of your definitions, otherwise there is a lot of contradicting between what you are saying and how I understand things..

 

XC = Cross Country. The Olympic sport of MTBing. Short technical laps, fairly technical, as in most normal okes would walk plenty times. That is how I understand it at least, and by the sounds of it this is the type of riding you enjoy. So in my mind this is exactly where a 29er should suck? Yet you say it is good to race XC on? Cross country does not mean riding across the country.. Rather I think you're talking about marathon riding when you say XC. That is big long outrides with a good mix of jeep track/gravel roads etc. Think MTN Ultra rides, Sabie, Barberton, Attakwas etc. Yes, then 29er might make sense.