Upgrade my 26er or buy a 650B/29er?

[Rolf Hansen]

I have to start by saying that I cannot throw lots of money at my plan(s). Well not a lot of money all at once anyway. 

I'll start by giving details on my current bike:

2008 Cannondale Rush SL 26"

RockShox Reba Team Dual Air with remote lockout - recently serviced with no issues. Works great.

Fox 23RP shock 

American Classic hubs and rims - not sure what they weigh but they are incredibly light weight. Tubeless with Maxxis Ardent and Crossmark II.

Avid Juice Seven brakes with fairly new pads. 

Specialized Trail stem with Syncros wide bars, decent silicone grips.

SRAM X-9 shifter and rear derailleur with 34T oval chainring - 1 x 9.

The bike is in great condition and I really enjoy riding it. I don't think there is anything that really needs to be done on it. I ride every weekend and I enjoy technical trails like Hennops and Wolwespruit. I don't jump but plan to learn how to jump properly in the near future. Not Darkfest but just the normal jumps available on the regular trails.

If money was no object I would have bought a Scott Genius or Cannondale Jekyll and be done with it. I am fairly confident that my type of riding leans more towards a trail bike than an XC bike.

These bikes are known to convert very well to 650B with some limitation to rear tyre width - 2.1. I currently have a straight steerer fork but the bike's headtube accepts onepointfive headsets so I could make a tapered fork work without too much issue. I also have no issue with buying parts 2nd hand.

Would it be worth my while changing the fork and wheels to 650b and perhaps upgrade the drivetrain to 11x1? My sons both have bikes that would benefit from the Reba and SRAM X-9 if I upgrade so the parts will go to good use.

If I go for a new(used) bike it would probably be a 650b above a 29er but this is not set in stone. Should I rather go for a decent specced, newer hardtail like a Trek Roscoe or a Rapide Tigre?

Should I just leave it be and keep on riding it the way it is?

 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Rolf Hansen

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

My 2 cents is that a 2.1" 650b tyre won't have the grip you'd ideally want for the kind of trail riding you seem to enjoy. So I'd rather stick to 26". Seems like you love the bike and that it works well for you, so why change?

[Jewbacca]

I'd buy a dropper and just ride it....

[Trashy]

I second the dropper suggestion.

Converting your Rush to a 650b won't be worth the cost, IMO you're better off saving money on an upgrade and rather put that towards a new bike at some point.

[stefmeister]

Only upgrade parts if you're going to transfer them to a new bike/frame down the line, or are willing to take a huge knock in resale. Generally you won't get your money back for any upgrades, especially on old 26 bikes. 

Going from 26 to 27.5 will most likely not be worth it. New fork/wheels/tyres will not come cheap either, at least R10-15k. 

A dropper post, as mentioned, will make for the biggest improvement for your ride and the skills/confidence gained.

 

[Jono]

If you're referring to this Trek Roscoe https://www.trekbikes.com/za/en_ZA/bikes/mountain-bikes/trail-mountain-bikes/roscoe/roscoe-7/p/35116/?colorCode=black I reckon you will be blown away by what the latest geometry bikes with wide tyres slack head angle and dropper can do for your riding. Sounds like you are learning new skills like jumping and a hardtail is great for that. 

[Rolf Hansen]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I will do just that then - keep it and enjoy it the way it is, mostly.

I have been looking around for droppers but 27.2 seems like a bit of a rarity. Lyne has been out of stock on the 27.2 forever.

10 minutes ago, stefmeister said:

Only upgrade parts if you're going to transfer them to a new bike/frame down the line, or are willing to take a huge knock in resale. Generally you won't get your money back for any upgrades, especially on old 26 bikes. 

Going from 26 to 27.5 will most likely not be worth it. New fork/wheels/tyres will not come cheap either, at least R10-15k. 

A dropper post, as mentioned, will make for the biggest improvement for your ride and the skills/confidence gained.

 

Resale luckily is of zero importance for this bike.  If at some point I decide to buy a new bike it will be moved on to my youngest who currently rides a 24".

[Rolf Hansen]

3 minutes ago, Jono said:

If you're referring to this Trek Roscoe https://www.trekbikes.com/za/en_ZA/bikes/mountain-bikes/trail-mountain-bikes/roscoe/roscoe-7/p/35116/?colorCode=black I reckon you will be blown away by what the latest geometry bikes with wide tyres slack head angle and dropper can do for your riding. Sounds like you are learning new skills like jumping and a hardtail is great for that. 

I was in the Trek store to buy the Roscoe 8 several months ago. They sold the last one the day before so I ended up not buying anything.

[Trashy]

31 minutes ago, Rolf Hansen said:

I was in the Trek store to buy the Roscoe 8 several months ago. They sold the last one the day before so I ended up not buying anything.

If that's your budget, you would definitely be able to find a nice used 650 full sus trail bike.

They come up fairly often in that range.

[Robbie Stewart]

As for learning to jump, don't think your bike is not up to the challenge. I have mates who hit some beeeg jumps on their entry to mid level 29er Silverback hard tails with stock wheels and all, including the Sun-whatever suspension. And they are sending those jumps.

As mentioned, get a dropper. I recently got a proper Lyne dropper post and it is worth every cent. They also have a good deal on a short stem and wide bars combo. I got 50mm and 780mm bars for cheap. For about 4k you can set yourself up nice for trail riding and you'll be sorted for the jumps when you start. Who knows, you might even begin to love your bike again.

Happy days and enjoy the ride.

[droo]

Dropper and fatter tyres and be done. Save the rest towards the new bike when that day comes.

 

If the drivetrain is knackered, 1x11 would be a decent option as well.

 

That fork should be able to go to 120mm just by removing a spacer in the air spring next time it gets serviced, check with whoever does it for you.

[Rolf Hansen]

36 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said:

As for learning to jump, don't think your bike is not up to the challenge. I have mates who hit some beeeg jumps on their entry to mid level 29er Silverback hard tails with stock wheels and all, including the Sun-whatever suspension. And they are sending those jumps.

As mentioned, get a dropper. I recently got a proper Lyne dropper post and it is worth every cent. They also have a good deal on a short stem and wide bars combo. I got 50mm and 780mm bars for cheap. For about 4k you can set yourself up nice for trail riding and you'll be sorted for the jumps when you start. Who knows, you might even begin to love your bike again.

Happy days and enjoy the ride.

Thanks.

Lyne does not have stock of the 27.2 droppers. I cannot seem to find anywhere.

As for the stem and bars, I did consider the Lyne special and I might still go for it in future. I did change the stem and bar after the first photo I posted and I am currently running a 60mm stem with 740mm bar. It does handle trails very well and does currently work well as a trail bike.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Rolf Hansen

[David Sutcliffe]

35 minutes ago, Rolf Hansen said:

Thanks.

Lyne does not have stock of the 27.2 droppers. I cannot seem to find anywhere.

As for the stem and bars, I did consider the Lyne special and I might still go for it in future. I did change the stem and bar after the first photo I posted and I am currently running a 60mm stem with 740mm bar. It does handle trails very well and does currently work well as a trail bike.

I have a Lyne 27.2 dropper if you're interested.  It was used for around 2 years and has been in a box for the last two, pretty sure it works fine.  If you're interested I'll get it out and check.  I'm at the opposite end of the county to you though, and don't have enough posts to sell to certain members, but I'm happy to take it to a bike shop to be checked out.

[Robbie Stewart]

59 minutes ago, Rolf Hansen said:

Thanks.

Lyne does not have stock of the 27.2 droppers. I cannot seem to find anywhere.

As for the stem and bars, I did consider the Lyne special and I might still go for it in future. I did change the stem and bar after the first photo I posted and I am currently running a 60mm stem with 740mm bar. It does handle trails very well and does currently work well as a trail bike.

I like your setup. I am rather fond of black and red myself. As for the bars and stem you've got a good setup then from the original pic, so no need to spend the extra money to buy something with purely aesthetic appeal value. 

I would take @David Sutcliffe up on his generous offer and you will be amazed at the transformation your riding will encounter merely by having the seat get out from under your but on trails. This is patently evident long before you will even think of hitting any jumps. Dropper post will be the single biggest improvement you could make apart from buying a new bike.

[Noshow]

That's actually a great bike, just ride it. Another vote for David's dropper post, wider tyres when yours wear out, set fork to 120mm if poss, and 1x11 (2nd hand if needed) when parts wear out.  Maybe an angleset headset if you want to go a bit slacker - it should fit but could be a bit pricey.

[Alouette3]

1 hour ago, Noshow said:

That's actually a great bike, just ride it. Another vote for David's dropper post, wider tyres when yours wear out, set fork to 120mm if poss, and 1x11 (2nd hand if needed) when parts wear out.  Maybe an angleset headset if you want to go a bit slacker - it should fit but could be a bit pricey.

The added fork length to 120mm would also have the positive of a slackening the headtube angle. On my old Trance, 25mm increase gave us 0.95 degrees. Get your hands on that dropper, just check that your bike frame is compatible with what ever the cable routing is. Older frames normally require external cable routing.

Bars at 740mm are already an improvement on stock and should be just fine. The rest you can replace as components wear.