26 officially done?

C

czecharch

Likes Dirt
And for the rest of us too, 'cause we're clearly too stupid/vapid/unskilled/gullible to know what sort of bikes we like to ride.
Thanks sunshine!
 
Knut

Knut

Troll hunter
You must love it Moorey, you do mention it a lot lately. A bit too much to think you are not enjoying it.
 
R

rednightmare

Likes Dirt
MARKL said:
-flexier and weaker wheels Given the widespread move to thru axles this is less of an issue
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Yeah, this is true. 29er spokes are still pretty long though.

MARKL said:
-chain growth issues on FS bikes Looking forward to hearing why would this be any different to a 26er?
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I think it would be the combination of the increased BB drop needed for the 29er and need for a decent axle path (similar to a 26"DH bike) that would be the problem resulting in a lot of chain growth compromising pedalling and suspension (like NSM said, a gearbox or idler would be a workaround, though). In fact, there'd probably be too many factors to juggle resulting in too many trade offs to make it as competitive as a 26" DH bike. I know Trek gave the 29er DH bike a crack but shelved it. Intense seems to be doing some testing on their 2951s and 69ers (26" on the back) and there's the Lenz PBJ bike out there. Nothing mainstream has gone into production AFAIK so at this stage it looks like the 650B DH bike might be the ticket.

tioga dh seat.jpg
Nicolos Voullioz version!
 
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MARKL

MARKL

Eats Squid
Most talk of axle path for downhill bikes, with a few notable exceptions (Zerode/Brooklyn) is a load of marketing drivel - the wheel pretty much goes up and down or in the opposite direction to what marketing would suggest. 8+ inches of travel causes massive chain growth irrespective of wheel size that must be managed - most manufacturers do this by compromising the axle path with the rear axle heading forwards in the deeper part of travel to combat this. I can't see how wheel size will effect this.

IMO (and my own designs) the size of the wheel (and the position of the BB in relation to the axle line) does not compromise the axle path.
 

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No Skid Marks

No Skid Marks

Blue Mountain Bikes Brooklyn/Lahar/Kowa/PO1NT Raci
MARKL said:
Most talk of axle path for downhill bikes, with a few notable exceptions (Zerode/Brooklyn) is a load of marketing drivel - the wheel pretty much goes up and down or in the opposite direction to what marketing would suggest. 8+ inches of travel causes massive chain growth irrespective of wheel size that must be managed - most manufacturers do this by compromising the axle path with the rear axle heading forwards in the deeper part of travel to combat this. I can't see how wheel size will effect this.

IMO (and my own designs) the size of the wheel (and the position of the BB in relation to the axle line) does not compromise the axle path.
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A 29er wheel would hit the seat tube with most DH bike designs. Hence my comments for needing at least parallel to seat tube axle path, or softride style seat post(wheel would still hit seat).
 
MARKL

MARKL

Eats Squid
No Skid Marks said:
A 29er wheel would hit the seat tube with most DH bike designs. Hence my comments for needing at least parallel to seat tube axle path, or softride style seat post(wheel would still hit seat).
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For the majority of DH bikes chain growth is still the limiting factor for the axle path.
 
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outtacontrol

outtacontrol

Likes Bikes and Dirt
indica said:
I said ALMOST..... I understand you cannot read - being from Townsville n all....

Actually this is getting pointlessly nasty.







My bike is better.
Fuck you.
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Ha ha, you do know you live in Atherton right?

All the couples up there don't have the same last name because they're married. It's because they're brother and sister....

Jeff is coming down next week for 2 days, you should see if you can bum a ride.
 
R

Reigner

Likes Bikes
My 2c...

Rode a Specialized Stumpy FSR 29er this morning having never ridden a 29er dually before. After doing some reading, I went into the test ride thinking it would climb and roll better but be a bit too 'big' for the tight and twisty stuff. I was surprised how well it turned and I believe how well it rolled and climbed definitely made up for the minor 'loss' of maneuverability. After riding it for about 10mins I was really starting to get used to the feel of bike and i thought to myself that I could easily live with this bike. Its probably worth noting also that I'm 6'2, which would probably add to the homely feeling. My first 29er experience was on my mates rigid 29er last weekend, another mate who saw me riding it said that my height made the 'large' wheels look normal.

All in all, for certain people and riding types the 29er wheel size is definitely justified. I dont see a problem in having 29er's and 26er's and the subsequent need for shops stocking both sizes of tyres, rims etc. As people have already said, the DH end of the riding spectrum will probably stay with 26er's for the foreseeable future. For XC and larger AM/Trail riders I see 29er's taking over. The existence of the 2 sizes is fine, whether we really need the 3rd size (27.5) ... im not going to comment having not ridden one.

To those who haven't even ridden a 29er but continue to bag them out ......... :noidea:

Cheers.
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
MTB things that were going to 'die/dissapear/get-burnt-in-town-squares-in-massive-piles-surrounded-by-townsfolk-with-pitchforks':

Rigid forks
Hardtails
Steel frames
Flat bars
Raceface
Riser bars
Tubes
Derailluers
GT
Plarforms
Vee brakes
Pneumatic shifting

And with the exception of the last*, all of these things still exist. Are some less popular than they once were? Of course, but at the end of the day there's still enough people willing to buy them to make it possible for other people to keep on making them.




*No one wanted Airlines, and if they did, they didn't want to pay for it, and if they wanted to pay for it they were probably too dumb to be allowed to use it.
 
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