Transitioning between 26ers and 29ers

DangerDirtyD

DangerDirtyD

iMTB Hooligan
I’m used to riding a 26er and find that when I ride wifey’s 29er downhill, such a bike feels so stable with the big hoops and gains so much momentum with my weight that I enter turns way too hot compared to my 26er. I find myself crashing or bushwhacking offtrail, and I wish my wife’s 29er had beefier fork stanchions (currently fox32 120mm) for steering precision and Shimano Saint brakes (currently SLX with 203 front rotor) for more control and less arm fatigue.

Ok...back to work.
 
Get off the brakes. No seriously, all bikes stand up when you hit the brakes, the sensation is even more pronounced on a 29r. There is good news however, because of the tire contact patch increase, you have more grip so you can carry that speed through the corners. That's the game with 29rs that make them "faster". I'm not even sure that they are technically faster, just that the riding style to get the most out of them forces you to focus on carrying speed through sections of trail not just into sections. I think that's an exercise that all of us should be practicing all of the time it's just that on a 29r you don't have a choice.

That being said, the wagon wheels like to carve a nice consistent line so until I get used to the bike or the trail, I carry wide entries most of the time.
 
DangerDirtyD said:
I’m used to riding a 26er and find that when I ride wifey’s 29er downhill, such a bike feels so stable with the big hoops and gains so much momentum with my weight that I enter turns way too hot compared to my 26er. I find myself crashing or bushwhacking offtrail, and I wish my wife’s 29er had beefier fork stanchions (currently fox32 120mm) for steering precision and Shimano Saint brakes (currently SLX with 203 front rotor) for more control and less arm fatigue.

Ok...back to work.
Click to expand...
Might as well grab a little slacker head angle while yer at it. :sneaky:
 
My transition went like this:

I rode a 26" Yeti 575 for many years. Loved the bike. And the second one...
29ers were fun but I only got to demo a few so I wasn't sure.
Picked up a Stumpjumper 29er hardtail from the shop were I started working. Began riding the 29er almost exclusively. The Yeti felt weird and not as fun anymore.
Sold the 26" Yeti.
Never looked back.
 
rossage said:
My transition went like this:

I rode a 26" Yeti 575 for many years. Loved the bike. And the second one...
29ers were fun but I only got to demo a few so I wasn't sure.
Picked up a Stumpjumper 29er hardtail from the shop were I started working. Began riding the 29er almost exclusively. The Yeti felt weird and not as fun anymore.
Sold the 26" Yeti.
Never looked back.
Click to expand...
You have to get yourself some extended quality time with a 27.5, just so that you can say you did.

Otherwise, there will forever be a hole in your cycling experience.
 
SnakeCharmer said:
You have to get yourself some extended quality time with a 27.5, just so that you can say you did.

Otherwise, there will forever be a hole in your cycling experience.
Click to expand...
Very dramatic! Add a DH bike, cyclocross bike and singlespeed. We need to spackle those holes in the cycling experience!

OK, slight jabs aside, 27.5s don't ride noticeably different than 26ers, IMO. Not missing much if you already love 29ers.
 
I rode a '94 Bridgestone MB-2 till around 2002. Then rode a 700C bike with 35mm knobbies locally for a while. I finally went back to mountain bikes in 2008 with a Karate Monkey. About six years since riding my 26er, and WOW was I blown away by how easy it was to roll over stuff. I kept the Monkey for three years till '11 when I picked up my current bike, a Gunnar Rockhound. Great bike that goes anywhere I want to go, but got the itch for a new one, and a 27.5+ bike is coming in soon! OK, personal history aside... once you go wagon-wheel, you won't go back (although a B+ is sorta smaller, but not really)!!!

All about me:
2863214487_f95ce66cef_z.jpg

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6270544914_7effd0e728_z.jpg
 
I guess I was one of the early converts.....

In 2003 I got a Gary Fisher Sugar 293. Loved the big wheels, hated the steep head angle and 6' chain stays. Nearly impossible to get the front wheel off the ground.
Screenshot (44).png

I kept it about 6-8 months.....replacing the the front triangle that cracked. I was still riding a SC Bullit at this time, and also went back to riding a SC Chameleon.

Then in 2006 I went back to 29....but this time SS w/ the '06 Redline Monocog. Yeah, I bought a $300 bike and put a $100 headset on it.
Monocog.JPG

I would keep this bike for a few years....rode it alot. Enjoyed the SS. it was heavy....28+ lbs of Chromoly steel. Again, it was 1 of several bikes in the garage.

Then in 2008 it was time to get a geared 29er. I was running into knee issues on the SS, and started doing some racing, so I needed a geared HT. So I got a 2008 Fisher Paragon. Really liked the bike
Screenshot (45).png

This would be my go to bike for about 18 months.....then it broke. Fisher was great and replaced it, but it was a design flaw and I wasn't sold on having it fail again and the shop I was working at was no longer a GF dealer.....so I sold the replacement frame and tried something really different.

2009 I ordered up this badboy......
Screenshot (46).png

Ventana El Pardrino. First time buying a frame from a very boutique manuf'er. Really liked it. However it kinda had the same issue as the Sugar 293....the rear chain stays were on the long side. I did some endurance races on it. I honestly planned on keeping it.

But......somebody came out with this: (not mine...can't find my pics)
santa-cruz-tallboy-interbike09-01-600x392.jpg

So I sold off the Ventana....I was back to FS 29er....and carbon....and Santa Cruz.....Win, Win, Win. This would be the bike that finally pushed me away from 26" wheels for good. I still had the Heckler when i got the TB. However, I was able to ride 90% of everything on the TB that I could on the Heckler, and it was lighter and it climbed better. So I finally decided to ditch the Heckler.

Part of the reason for selling off the Heckler....was to start on a slippery slope that I fell head first into.

2010/2011 I got rid of the 150mm trail bike for this......
Screenshot (47).png


2011 Salsa El Mariachi....really really loved this bike. Rode it hard...harder than it was designed for. Rode it everywhere. Only thing I didn't like....it was heavy. 5.7 lbs frame. Eventually this bike took the place of my beloved Tallboy.

However I still rode the Tallboy from time to time.....more so on technical trails and road trips. Then I cracked the Tallboy in 2013.....and SC sent me this:
Goose20.JPG

Tallboy 2 Carbon....yeah, still have it. Still ride it every once in a while. Still a great bike, just not my go to.

2013 saw me get rid of the Salsa, because once again someone came out with this:
IMG_0056.JPG

Santa Cruz Highball.....fast, light, nimble. I would put 1000's of miles on this bike. It did everything I wanted it to. I rode it hard...really hard. Eventually it was no match for me.....Eventually it gave up the ghost.....

But don't frett....SC took care of me....
IMG_0699.JPG




So i have been on mostly 29er's since about 2006/2007. Until 2011 I still had a 26" bike, but I rarely rode it. I am comfortable on 29's. I have been riding them since they were like driving a bus....handling sucked, but they rolled over everything.

We recently picked up a tandem with 26" wheels, and it does feel a bit funny. I could not picture myself going back to a 26" single bike. Never spent any time on a 27.5 bike. For me there is no need to.....I don't need a long travel trail bike which would be the only reason for me to possibly think about a 27.5 bike....but there are enough 120-140mm 29 trail bikes that I'd go with first.
 
I started riding (mountain bikes) in about '98 or '99. It was all 26ers for me until 2012. However, in 2009 I demoed an Epic 29er to see what they were all about. It's shocking to ride one the first time on very familiar terrain. At that time, I didn't like it but obviously, that would change. After my bike accident in late 2011 (Epic 26er destroyed), I built my first frame up 29er (2010 SJ HT) to get back into the groove. From there I graduated to a used Pivot Mach 429 which I kept for a few years. From there, I moved on to another 29er HT (XC) and my current trail bike, a 27.5er Easter egg. Now, I have dumped that XC HT 29er and moved on to my current 29er , a light duty AM HT (Timberjack). Where will the Snake go next? :whistling:
 
Ebruner said:
Get off the brakes. No seriously, all bikes stand up when you hit the brakes, the sensation is even more pronounced on a 29r. There is good news however, because of the tire contact patch increase, you have more grip so you can carry that speed through the corners. That's the game with 29rs that make them "faster". I'm not even sure that they are technically faster, just that the riding style to get the most out of them forces you to focus on carrying speed through sections of trail not just into sections. I think that's an exercise that all of us should be practicing all of the time it's just that on a 29r you don't have a choice.

That being said, the wagon wheels like to carve a nice consistent line so until I get used to the bike or the trail, I carry wide entries most of the time.
Click to expand...
I need to learn to regulate my speed on the straightaways and enter turns slower so that I’m not grabbing brake levers and diving my fork into turns. If I can lose 30 pounds, that would be good too, but alas; it’s taco Tuesday, and also beer.
 
I hear you on the sketchy traction lately. The wind has blown the loose, finer sands off, leaving coarse, heavy grains sitting like ball-bearings on hardpacked or exposed rock surfaces. My Ardent starts screaming for traction until I sum up the courage to give it the flick of the wrist it needs. Makes for plenty of "Oh Sh!t!" Moments.
 
I know a old school Mountain biker who moved to Washington, very good rider just in his mid 60’s, he mentioned how we So Cal riders have to be better riders to ride what we ride here, minus slippery root systems I would tend to agree because there is no gription. Not something most want to here but core can, and does help you steer through a scetchy situation, and fast twitch muscle can be the difference between staying and getting through, or going down, or plowing down outside of the desireable line.
So I have not made a transition as of yet, but when it does happen regardles of wheel or bike it will simply be a matter of adapting to the new machine and riding it so it don’t ride me, at least that is my hope.
 
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DangerDirtyD said:
I’m used to riding a 26er and find that when I ride wifey’s 29er downhill, such a bike feels so stable with the big hoops and gains so much momentum with my weight that I enter turns way too hot compared to my 26er. I find myself crashing or bushwhacking offtrail, and I wish my wife’s 29er had beefier fork stanchions (currently fox32 120mm) for steering precision and Shimano Saint brakes (currently SLX with 203 front rotor) for more control and less arm fatigue.

Ok...back to work.
Click to expand...
I don't see a question mark anywhere in this post.

So..... 32mm forks are for kids. 34 maybe, 35plus is better. But you know that

You are entering corners faster on a 29 vs 26, for sure, especially if it's rough coming in because it's fast and smoother on a 29. So slow down, or get a 29 with more appropriate geometry to your new found big wheel speed. That is all
 
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