flash 29er or stick with what i have????

[jcvwburger]

seeing its the end of the year, thought of getting myself a flash 29er-1,, but not sure,, i love my GT zaskar... is there anybody who owns one of these bikes,, or who has crossed over to a 29er that can advise me what would be best,, i cover allot of long distance terrain, bit of singletrack and so on, but mostly marathon stuff...

[Wonder Woman]

I'm probably not the best person to talk to about this but in my opinion if you're pretty tall and ride a big bike you might enjoy the 29er. It rolls better over rocks etc etc but I think it would be a bit cumbersome on serious technical and tight corner type stuff.

 

I personally think it's a fad and think the 26ers are here to stay...you can't even get a 29er small enough for me

 

I think it'll kinda be like the single speeds and that, it's a nice bike to have and play with as long as you have your standard backup bike for everyday racing and riding.

[Mellow]

to be honest, if you had a dual sus bike and was thinking of getting a hard tail i would say - yes, get the flash 29er. but you have a 26 ht and the 29er is a bit more of the same thing. save the money and get a dual when later

[SUPER M]

I'm probably not the best person to talk to about this but in my opinion if you're pretty tall and ride a big bike you might enjoy the 29er. It rolls better over rocks etc etc but I think it would be a bit cumbersome on serious technical and tight corner type stuff.

 

I personally think it's a fad and think the 26ers are here to stay...you can't even get a 29er small enough for me

 

I think it'll kinda be like the single speeds and that, it's a nice bike to have and play with as long as you have your standard backup bike for everyday racing and riding.

 

 

You do not have to be big and tall to ride a 29'er.

 

If you read this months Tread Magazine issue you will see that the junior MTB XC girl champ rides a gaint 29'er. And she is like 16 years old and cannot weigh more that about 55kg's.

 

So you don't have to be a big guy to ride a 29'er.

[Kiwi]

You do not have to be big and tall to ride a 29'er.

 

If you read this months Tread Magazine issue you will see that the junior MTB XC girl champ rides a gaint 29'er. And she is like 16 years old and cannot weigh more that about 55kg's.

 

So you don't have to be a big guy to ride a 29'er.

 

Yeap, Willow Koerber is 5'1" (1.524m) and races a 29er. within a month of switching to a 29er she was 3rd at the worlds last year.

 

She finished second in the World Cup overall this year.

 

This is her lastest build:

 

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2010/10/01/1285923987004-17jx9t35lseb7-670-75.jpg

Edited November 8, 2010 by Kiwi

[jcvwburger]

Yeap, Willow Koerber is 5'1" (1.524m) and races a 29er. within a month of switching to a 29er she was 3rd at the worlds last year.

 

She finished second in the World Cup overall this year.

 

This is her lastest build:

 

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2010/10/01/1285923987004-17jx9t35lseb7-670-75.jpg

 

oh thats pure porn,,, yo yo yo!

[Eldron]

Me advice? 29er!

 

I raced my Niner Air 9 on the national XC circuit and a few of the marathon events and loved it. It rolls well over the bumps (especially good in the XC events where the extra "rubber on ground" is important), descends really well and it doesn't beat you up in the long haul.

 

In my opinion the 29er hardtail is the ultimate bike - the extra air in the tyres soaks up some of the bumps but remains completely rigid at the back - no bob or unpredictable suspension movement.

 

Burry rode a 29er at XC world champs. Enough said Ok he did only have one front chain ring so perhaps he's not the best example for us mortals but you get the drift...

[intern]

People. 29 is marketing. It will not make you faster. Burry did not come 3rd because he was on a 29er, he came 3rd because he is Burry. (It can even be argued, perhaps more cogently, that he came 3rd in spite of the 29er).

Think about it. The 26er market is saturated. Convince people that they will go faster on a different bike = whole new market. And us sheeple all fall for it. The bike shops can't keep up.

The pro riders (those riding for teams sponsored by bike makers) are REQUIRED to ride what they are told to...and to rave about it.

Does that mean the whole thing is bollocks? No, certainly not. But does it mean you should flog your 26er and go get a 29er, as it will somehow magically be better? Also no.

Cyclists are like golfers. We tend to fall for any kind of marketing schpiel that will convince us we will go faster (or hit further, in the case of the golfer). I mean, we even drain blood and reinfuse it. Mad, hey?

[intern]

Just quickly, more on that. Andrew McLean also does very well on 29er. He would do just as well on 26er. Don't fall for the logical fallacy of spurious correlation.

[Kletterer]

Broke my Giant Anthem X2's frame on Sunday while riding the Biogen 70km at Babba's. The seatpost just broke out of the frame, near separating top tube from seat tube and I ended up sitting on the wheel. Had to bend it back and force the post down into the frame in order to finish.

 

Now asking myself the same question. I am 1.97m tall, 94 kg. With the seatpost out to the max point on an XL size bike I am worried about stress on the frame. Will a 29 HT be the better deal for me? Will it last?

 

Timing is good. Wife is all sympathetic.

[Bat-ass]

All i can say to you intern.. is get a 29er,, then tell me you would rather go back to a 26... personally, i hope people stay on their 26ers... just meens i can keep beating them!!

[Wyatt Earp]

Just quickly, more on that. Andrew McLean also does very well on 29er. He would do just as well on 26er. Don't fall for the logical fallacy of spurious correlation.

You just burst my bubble, I thought having a 29'er would turn me in to a World Champ

[Bat-ass]

i mean... just look at that pic, the bike is so stable its balancing itself!!!

[Shebeen]

The funny thing about the 29er trend for me is that the public seem to be adopting it quicker than the pros. There are a few riding, but most of them are still on 26.

 

I'd look into it if buying new and def makes sense to bigger riders to me, but not conviced that its worth switching bikes for.

[Shebeen]

I'm an interested fence sitter in this debate. We keep on hearing the 'rolls' better claim.I like to follow science rather.

 

You'll need proper science because 29er must be the first advancement that adds weight to a bike(and cyclists are picky over their grammes)

 

Surely someone has done a controlled test on this by now, with powermeters,same tyre pattern etc?got a link handy?

[kennyg]

I have ordered my 29er. I will keep the dual 26er and let you know and compare its performance on my standard routes.

 

I am on a great dual at the moment. I agree with ELDRON, the HT 29er may be perfectly suited to the highveld terrain.

 

But I will keep you informed as to the debate and then add my simple opinion to it all.