CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

29 inch wheel experiences?

(19 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by Charlethepar
  • Latest reply from allebong
  • This topic is not resolved

  1. Charlethepar
    Member

    I'm considering getting a new 29 inch wheeled MTB.

    Because of storage issues, this would have to be both a trail/ cross-country bike and used for my daily commute across toon.

    Have people tried 29 inch wheels? I'm a big guy, and it seems logical that I should have bigger wheels than my 12 year old son who now has a small conventional full-size MTB with 26 inch wheels. However, I am concerned about a loss of manoeuvrability, both in town and country. Bigger things, in nature and in engineering, tend to take longer to turn corners.

    Any experiences to share?

    Sorry if there have been previous treads on this, I did have a good search round and couldn't find anything.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. Darkerside
    Member

    29er = 622 = 700C = the same wheel size as most other bikes. True, you'll be running slightly fatter tyres than a standard road bike, but you won't suddenly turn yourself into a barge.

    Buying a whole bike, or building up from bits?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. rust
    Member

    I think a decent number of folk with 29er's have a 700c set of wheels with skinny tyres on for commuting.

    Good geometry seems to have sorted out most of the niggles with 29er's lacking manoeuvrability.

    Surely the obvious answer is 650b?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    "you'll be running slightly fatter tyres than a standard road bike, but you won't suddenly turn yourself into a barge"

    My brother recently got a 29r and I made this observation, but then compared the tyres of his 23c road bike with the 29r - it really is very surprising just how much bigger a set of 23" 29r wheels are. Seriously, it felt completely different. Though I have to say out in the street it still seemed to have a decent controllability.

    I'd be tempted, if I got a 29r, to have (as has been suggested) an offroad wheelset, and a 700c set for town riding on a comfy bike.

    In theory the geometry and intended purpose of a 29r should mean that it's more manoeuvrable than a 700c specifically-road-bike, even with thos efat tyres.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. allebong
    Member

    If you've been round any mtb forums looking for information you may have gathered that 29" vs 26" is basically their version of the helmet debate, destined to ruin otherwise amiable communities and also to run forever with no hope of resolution. Don't even mention 650b....

    So, anyway, from watching various debates, and from some experience with 700c vs 26" wheels, these are my observations:

    29" rolls better in a straight line over obstacles and rough ground. It climbs better, it doesn't get bogged down in rough sections as easily, you can keep momentum going where 26" would start to struggle.

    26" is more agile. They turn better, the bike responds quicker, they are better for tight twisty trails where you can't get much straight line steamrolling speed going.

    I believe the above 2 points are generally accepted as true, the argument then comes down to what kind of riding you're expecting. There are definitely going to be trails where a 29" is best, others where 26" still rules, many that are the best and worst of both together. Compromise as normal.

    Some other points: 26" is always going to be stronger and sturdier. I don't think there will be a 29" dirt jump bike coming along anytime soon for this reason and others. 29" still has far fewer tyre choices though this becomes less of an issue every day.

    +1 to the suggestion not to use the trail wheels and tyres for the road. As well as being horrifically slow, you have to contend with dodgy cornering, usually insufficient puncture protection, and very rapid wear to boot.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. Charterhall
    Member

    Pro mtb racers are using 29ers so whatever downsides there are with handling are certainly not showstoppers. For me, at 5'6", the geometry of 29er frames look hideous and the few that I've sat on don't appear to provide adequate standover height. My other concern with them isthe extra length to fit into the car, I'd either have to take the back wheel out or remove one of the car seats. I just wished they'd left well alone and allowed us to continue using 26.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    "I just wished they'd left well alone and allowed us to continue using 26."

    Erm. The grand grand majority of MTBs still ARE 26....

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. Charlethepar
    Member

    Thanks for these interesting responses.

    It had actually never struck me that my road bike, with 700c tyres, has what are effectively 29 inch wheels. Once you have heard that, it probably comes as no surprise to know that I am looking to buy a complete bike, not make one up myself.

    I tend to think that keeping trail tyres on the road increases the amount of exercise I get on a realtively short commute - less efficiency = more effort. Is this crazy?

    I am interested at the stronger and sturdier point, as I am generally pretty hard wearing on bikes (um, and on cars, which always seem to end up dented and scratched in my unloving hands).

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. rust
    Member

    The stronger thing only applies at a certain point. I've got friends who have been known to trash the occasional 26 wheel who seem to getting on fine with their 29 ones.

    WC, it's scary the number of bike brands that have no 26 wheels in their 2014 line up.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Really? I've not looked but surely the big boys like Spesh, Trek, Merida, Boardman, GT, Giant are still producing 26ers?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. panyagua
    Member

    Boardman - no:
    http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/index.html

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Wow, okay, that's remarkable....

    Though I'm not quite sure 26" tyres and tubes and so on are going to disappear from the shelves completely.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. rust
    Member

    Giant - very few:
    http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bike-finder/everyone/offroad/?level=all

    Three or four lower end bikes. The only high end 26 bike is their downhill bike.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. rust
    Member

    If you enjoying marketing buff you'll love this:

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Video Widget

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Can't we just compromise and invent a 27.5" wheel?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. Cyclops
    Member

    Cynical people might suggest that these new wheel sizes are a clever excuse to sell people new bikes. I see Giant are now pushing 650b in a big way and phasing out 26" and 29".

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Now that everyone has 700c wheels, lets sell them the same wheels again. But in imperial measurements!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. steveo
    Member

    Can't we just compromise and invent a 27.5" wheel?

    http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain/ht-27/high-latitude-lt

    I was about to say go buy an altitude but they've gone marketing stupid too...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. allebong
    Member

    I tend to think that keeping trail tyres on the road increases the amount of exercise I get on a realtively short commute - less efficiency = more effort. Is this crazy?

    Not crazy, just unconventional given the amount of focus many people put into making their commutes easier rather than harder :P

    I can understand your motivation but I don't think trail tyres on road is the way to go about it. Compared to road tyres it is barely distinguishable from riding around with a brake jammed on. In that case you could always unjam the brake if you felt you'd had enough of the added resistance, but with trail tyres you're stuck with it. Imagine a day when you're exhausted and have to commute, fighting the tyre resistance even over a short distance is awful, speaking from experience. Compared to a road bike you're already making things pretty hard by riding a mtb, hence why swapping in road tyres is so common for commutes.

    The other things I mentioned earlier should also be considered about trail tyres on road:

    -Depending on how blocky the tread is, the handling on tarmac can get very tenuous. Braking feels off as the knobs squish under load, cornering on the side tread can go bad quickly if you push too far and it buckles.

    -Accelerated wear can be severe depending again on the tread design and the compound of the rubber. Mtb tyres don't last offroad, riding them frequently onroad in between and you'll be going through them very fast.

    -Puncture protection. I've had mtb tyres take all kinds of abuse offroad, only to be torn by a small bit of glass on the ride back that a protected tyre would have shrugged off.

    With all that said you can of course commute on trail tyres, I have done so myself briefly, and see people doing it quite often. You just incur an awful lot of penalties for doing it. If you want added resistance with slicks you can always adopt my method of packing far too much and refusing to go more than 4 miles without the kitchen sink....

    I am interested at the stronger and sturdier point, as I am generally pretty hard wearing on bikes

    I think between 2 equally well built wheels the 26" is theoretically marginally stronger, but there's so many variables. I'd imagine a 36 spoke 29" wheel will be more resilient than a 32 spoke 26" wheel etc. I have to say with all the abuse my mtb gets and all the resulting problems the wheels have been basically trouble free, and they're not particularly special.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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