So I rode a 29er

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

When I bought my carbon 29er, I kept my 26 inch Merida 96 and swore I would use a horses for courses approach as to which bike to ride! Well my Merida has not been ridden since! Love my Hardtail 29er!

 

For all intents and purposes, those meridas WERE hardtails. Yoosis, the suspension on those things was almost non existent.

[fanievb]

for what its worth.

 

I rode the 29er again (same one) during a race yesterday (ok only 15km but its a race none the less)

 

some stats;

 

I got my first top 10 finish

 

Strava don't lie so see the achievements/stats below (I subsequently lost the KOM, but still top 5)

 

 

 

edit: I run a rotary motor, thus high revs #varkhart

Edited June 23, 2014 by fanievb

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

for what its worth.

 

I rode the 29er again (same one) during a race yesterday (ok only 15km but its a race none the less)

 

some stats;

 

I got my first top 10 finish

 

Strava don't lie so see the achievements/stats below (I subsequently lost the KOM, but still top 5)

 

 

 

edit: I run a rotary motor, thus high revs #varkhart

 

Erm, and how exactly is the 29er attributable to the top 10? That's a GREAT example of anecdotal evidence.

[nathrix]

Hmmm interesting, allrighty then...

 

..but 29ers just roles over obstacles, not talking jumps or DH, much better then the smaller wheels in marathon races...

 

Perhaps the majority of people riding their 29ers in stage races should demand their money back immediately and go out and buy 650b's if that was true?

 

Been riding 29ers for a couple of years now, if it was that much harder riding 29ers, "because of the BIGGER drive train", I should fly on a smaller wheel size because I'm fit now and my little legs are stronger now? What BS, really...

 

Also, not all 29ers ride the same at all. The parts (wheels, gearing, forks, etc) does make a difference but not that much. e.g. i feel much more comfortable on my Ritchey compared to my Niner or my Sawyer. I had top of the range parts on the Niner, but was not 100% comfortable. On the Ritchey i didn't have top of the range parts on it, but i was 100% comfortable on it, even riding ss rigid and completing the mtn marathon races on it with no hassle. Now i have swapped the parts out between the Ritchey and the Niner and the Ritchey is 100% comfortable, but now I have gears and less rest on the downhills.

 

There will always be haters. At the end, ride what you feel comfortable with and what's best for your type of discipline. Don't believe some of the "technical" dribble from some idiots who don't ride 29ers, It IS that simple.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Thing is, RTFM - it's true. The wheel on the bike is effectively the final drive ratio, and forms a direct link in the "gearbox" of a bike.

 

The bigger a wheel is (given the same size cassette & chainring etc) the more force (power) you will have to put into the cranks in order to for it to turn a full revolution.

 

That's why it's apples and pears. Yes, a 29er wheel will roll over undulations in the road / gravel more efficiently than a sixer, with the same geometry. But if you're on a flat surface, and you have a 29er and a 26er next to each other - for a given speed, in the same "gear ratio" (ignoring the wheel / final drive element) - say - 42/11 - the 29er rider will have a slower cadence than the 26er rider. That doesn't mean that the 29er is faster, because even though the cadences are different, the power outputs remain constant across the 2 bikes. If you want to go faster, you'll have to crank harder, which means more power and more cadence.

 

If you really wanted to compare attainable speeds on a niner and sixer, you'd have to change the size of the chainrings on one of the bikes to compensate for the difference in wheelsize. BUT - you'd still be expending the same energy as each other if you were going the same speed.

 

The difference comes in with the slight benefit that the larger wheels have ito angle of approach on jeep track - they do roll easier, that's plain physics. But still - it's a slight difference, which would be easily overcome with training or a different gearing on the sixer.

[Fabian46]

Did a ride last week with a mate, and both of us were on 29ers, his a Titan Carbon Race, mine a GT Zaskar Pro. we then swapped for a bit. Compared to mine, his steered like a donkey and was lank uncomfortable! My Zaskar is as nimble(for my style of riding) as my full sus 26er.

 

built mine from the ground up, so i have the parts on there that i actually want on there.

 

If you think that when you put the 26 and 29 together, and you apply the same power to the crank , that there'll be no difference, then you've confused yourself.

 

The "just get stronger and ride more" statement is also getting old.

 

If you dont ride or like 29ers, theres really noting wrong with that. Its got nothing to do with buying into the "bs marketing".

 

My money....my time....I determine how I enjoy riding, what i enjoy riding. Period.

 

26...27.5....29....it doesnt really matter....just enjoy the ride....whatever you choose.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Fabian46

[nathrix]

Thing is, RTFM - it's true. The wheel on the bike is effectively the final drive ratio, and forms a direct link in the "gearbox" of a bike.

 

The bigger a wheel is (given the same size cassette & chainring etc) the more force (power) you will have to put into the cranks in order to for it to turn a full revolution.

 

That's why it's apples and pears. Yes, a 29er wheel will roll over undulations in the road / gravel more efficiently than a sixer, with the same geometry. But if you're on a flat surface, and you have a 29er and a 26er next to each other - for a given speed, in the same "gear ratio" (ignoring the wheel / final drive element) - say - 42/11 - the 29er rider will have a slower cadence than the 26er rider. That doesn't mean that the 29er is faster, because even though the cadences are different, the power outputs remain constant across the 2 bikes. If you want to go faster, you'll have to crank harder, which means more power and more cadence.

 

If you really wanted to compare attainable speeds on a niner and sixer, you'd have to change the size of the chainrings on one of the bikes to compensate for the difference in wheelsize. BUT - you'd still be expending the same energy as each other if you were going the same speed.

 

The difference comes in with the slight benefit that the larger wheels have ito angle of approach on jeep track - they do roll easier, that's plain physics. But still - it's a slight difference, which would be easily overcome with training or a different gearing on the sixer.

 

Like i said, ride what's comfortable for you in whatever discipline you ride. Also, for my discipline and my type of riding, i will be slower on a 26" or 650b and much faster on a 29er, that's me and I'm not comparing myself to someone else or what they are comfortable with. It's me racing myself on different wheel sizes over the same route, a marathon distance 75 km +. My times have improved significantly since riding 29". I wish i had a 29" when i did the cape epic or desert dash or transbaviaans, even my 1st 2 attakwas and cape pioneer trek races. My body and strength is much better suited for 29ers, but we also not all build the same and don't have the same strengths to be riding the same wheel sizes. At least we have choices.

[fanievb]

Erm, and how exactly is the 29er attributable to the top 10? That's a GREAT example of anecdotal evidence.

 

erm, i didn't say (meant) that the result was a a result of me using the 29er.

 

what i can say is that i am faster on the downhills with it.

 

will i replace my 26, hell no

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Did a ride last week with a mate, and both of us were on 29ers, his a Titan Carbon Race, mine a GT Zaskar Pro. we then swapped for a bit. Compared to mine, his steered like a donkey and was lank uncomfortable! My Zaskar is as nimble(for my style of riding) as my full sus 26er.

 

built mine from the ground up, so i have the parts on there that i actually want on there.

 

If you think that when you put the 26 and 29 together, and you apply the same power to the crank , that there'll be no difference, then you've confused yourself.

 

The "just get stronger and ride more" statement is also getting old.

 

If you dont ride or like 29ers, theres really noting wrong with that. Its got nothing to do with buying into the "bs marketing".

 

My money....my time....I determine how I enjoy riding, what i enjoy riding. Period.

 

26...27.5....29....it doesnt really matter....just enjoy the ride....whatever you choose.

 

That's why I qualified my statement with things like it would have to be compared with bikes of the same weight, geometry, gearing (crank and cassette) and so on. If you're comparing pedalling efficiencies of a 26" 150mm AM machine to a 29" XC hardtail then it's a pointless exercise.

 

At the end of the day, wheelsize should be the last consideration. Your chosen discipline should be first, which would dictate geometry, travel, and so on. Then frame size, and then looking at the bikes in that sub-segment, and choosing the one that you think performs best of that lot - regardless of the wheelsize.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Like i said, ride what's comfortable for you in whatever discipline you ride. Also, for my discipline and my type of riding, i will be slower on a 26" or 650b and much faster on a 29er, that's me and I'm not comparing myself to someone else or what they are comfortable with. It's me racing myself on different wheel sizes over the same route, a marathon distance 75 km +. My times have improved significantly since riding 29". I wish i had a 29" when i did the cape epic or desert dash or transbaviaans, even my 1st 2 attakwas and cape pioneer trek races. My body and strength is much better suited for 29ers, but we also not all build the same and don't have the same strengths to be riding the same wheel sizes. At least we have choices.

 

100%. If only people asked the right questions to get to those decisions though...

[Fabian46]

That's why I qualified my statement with things like it would have to be compared with bikes of the same weight, geometry, gearing (crank and cassette) and so on. If you're comparing pedalling efficiencies of a 26" 150mm AM machine to a 29" XC hardtail then it's a pointless exercise.

 

At the end of the day, wheelsize should be the last consideration. Your chosen discipline should be first, which would dictate geometry, travel, and so on. Then frame size, and then looking at the bikes in that sub-segment, and choosing the one that you think performs best of that lot - regardless of the wheelsize.

 

Yup....on the money.

 

The problem with these kind of threads is that you get DH and "Enduro" guys mostly commenting on these threads. Its already been determined what the 29er is good for.

 

The other thing is that most new MTBers will lean towards a 29er because they often start out doing less technical type riding, and then end up asking valid questions on the Hub and get hammered(especially on Fridays....hehe)

 

But like you said...theres alot more to it than JUST wheelsize

Edited June 23, 2014 by Fabian46

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yup....on the money.

 

The problem with these kind of threads Fanie is that you get DH and "Enduro" guys mostly commenting on these threads. Its already been determined what the 29er is good for.

 

The other thing is that most new MTBers will lean towards a 29er because they often start out doing less technical type riding, and then end up asking valid questions on the Hub and get hammered(especially on Fridays....hehe)

 

But like you said...theres alot more to it that JUST wheelsize

 

I actually disagree here... I think it's because most bike shops don't see beyond marathon riding, and force the 29er issue because that's all THEY know and there can't possibly be anything else, can there!?

[nathrix]

100%. If only people asked the right questions to get to those decisions though...

 

Yes well put. That's the VERY difficult part for many, asking the right questions as they are not experienced enough and still trying to understand all this confusion with the different wheel sizes, gearing, suspensions, etc. available to us out there and what type of riding you will do. Unfortunately there are some leftest on here (not you ) who will feed some technical dribble and BS to those who are trying to figure out what will best suit them before they spend their hard earned cash.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yes well put. That's the VERY difficult part for many, asking the right questions as they are not experienced enough and still trying to understand all this confusion with the different wheel sizes, gearing, suspensions, etc. available to us out there and what type of riding you will do. Unfortunately there are some leftest on here (not you ) who will feed some technical dribble and BS to those who are trying to figure out what will best suit them before they spend their hard earned cash.

 

And then you get the "expert" LBS salesmen who are like racehorses. Oblivious to everything but what is in front of them.

[marko35s]

I actually disagree here... I think it's because most bike shops don't see beyond marathon riding, and force the 29er issue because that's all THEY know and there can't possibly be anything else, can there!?

And because they will walk into somewhere like Sportsmans Warehouse and see an array of 29 inch wheels, a few 650b and kicking around somewhere a 26'er that the staff steer them away from because it's "old and just for beginners/poor people".

[Hairy]

When I bought my carbon 29er, I kept my 26 inch Merida 96 and swore I would use a horses for courses approach as to which bike to ride! Well my Merida has not been ridden since! Love my Hardtail 29er!

Can't blame the 26'er wheel for the mistake of being on a Merida