Hi guys, been thinking about picking myself up a 29er MTB. I'm quite tall, so I think the larger size would suit my frame better (and a friend who is a competitive MTBer and the same height speaks very highly of them). Anyone have any opinions on something in the 1500 - 2000 chufs range, full suspension? I don't do any crazy downhill stuff, just offroad trails, forests etc. Was looking at some of the latest Scott offerings, but they might be a little out of my price range, but maybe didn't explore all the possibilities fully.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...&submit=Search

I do not know if Motobecane are available in Switzerland but in the U.S.A they have the best value for money spent bar none.Check them out on bikes direct.

There's also a canyon 29er's

(http://www.purecycling.ch/_fr/vtt/bike.html?b=10016)

You have all components and components user guides at the end of the page (equipment+geometry)

Thanks for the info guys. Anyone actually ride one of these? How do you find it?

No, they were an news about it, along with many comments from pro- and from bike users (also in bike radar, but could not find the new).


Apparently it was far from obvious that the 29'ers were better than normal-
It's much more a "user feeling"- I think it's also a marketing move...

PS: for "tall users" you can go for a 26" bike with a larger frame (L or XL)...
There's a dummy calculator in purecycling site:
(click on Trouver la taille du cadre)

http://www.purecycling.ch/_fr/vtt/bike.html?b=10005
(it's not working too well this year, it seems to only take the height into account)...
But basically a L frame should be for you...

PaddyG,
I tried a 29er for the first time at Lenzerheide Bike Days last year. Even though its 'only' 3 inches higher, I felt much more highly perched, but after a while the bumps simply disappear. Key advantages of the bigger wheels are the ability to maintain momentum and roll over bigger obstacles. All the major manufacturers having pretty extensive 29er ranges now - even BMC if you want to stay local!

http://mountainbikeriding.com/your-n...n-bike-part-1/ is a good comparison of 29er vs 26er.

Nonetheless my 30 minutes experience convinced me. I'm assembling a niner (http://www.ninerbikes.com/bikes) for my winter project .

I'll probably buy a (second) bike next year and a 29er is definitely on the radar to try, as I like the sound of their reported advantages. I was originally thinking of making a light, simple XC bike, which might be harder with a 29er.

Canyon haven't really gone heavily into the 29ers though. I was looking at their website last night and it seems like the only 29ers are hardtails. I have no interest personally in a hardtail. If I could justify the cost, I'd probably go for one like this... http://www.nicolai.net/161-1-Helius+AC+29.html - it's been getting awesome reviews.

I have a hard enough time keeping 26" wheels on my bike. If I went 29" I would have to buy a 10 pack of extra wheels. I have tried a niner W.F.O (140 mm full suspension). It was very slow in the corners and hard to get back up to speed out of the corner whereas I can normally pump through a corner and actually increase speed. But YMMV.

I ride a Gary Fisher Paragon 29er. Its a smooth ride, with tubeless ready wheels (if you want them). Go for a hard tail, and dont waste money full suspension.

I am inclined to agree, that a hardtail bike is perfect for the forest and trails that you are looking at. Personally, I feel I have less control on a bike with back suspension. I can't comment on the 29ers though, as I have had no expereince of them - sounds interesting....

Thömus has the best bikes. Giant brands are fantastic too.

I'm more of a comfort rider, I'm not really into pumping into corners and accelerating away


I've had hardtails for 10 years or so, I just fancy something a little more comfortable as I cruise through my mid-life crisis

Thömus are also outragiously expensive; I know as my aforementioned mate was sponsored by them.

There is an excellent local shop who are Specialized dealers. I'll maybe take a look there too.

Thanks for all the replys and contributions guys.

Hi PaddyG,
I have a Specialized Stumpjumper 29er and am very happy with it.
One thing that you might wanna look into is to instead get a hardtail with tubeless tires.
A 29er with low air pressure in the tires acts pretty similar to a fully 26er and you get a lot more bike for your money if you go for a hardtail.

Happy shopping!! :-)

Having ridden several of both 26 and 29ers, I think there are distinct advantages to both. You cant have the best of both worlds, but you can match your bike to the terrain you prefer to ride.

A 29er rolls over obstacles (larger rocks, cracks, bumps, etc) better than a 26. Once up to speed, the 29er also moves with a little less effort required to maintain speed (assuming nothing slows you down, such as obstacles). So, a 29er might be perfect for riding solo.

If you ride in groups, 29ers clearly take more effort to accelerate. If you are riding a 29er along side of people on 26ers, you will have to work harder at slower speeds or through any speed reducing material (gravel, sand, mud).

Also, a this sucks..... if you blow a flat, you cant rely on the extra tube in the saddle bag of your friend riding a 26er. This only matters on those dreaded double flat days. Its like a guy on a 650 road bike, with a group of people on 700 wheels.

Get a 26er.......if you cant make up your mind.

This theroy is correct in an XC enviroment but goes out the window in a DH enviroment where the obstacles can be quite larger. That extra 3" means nothing when you have a 2ft drop between rocks. lol

That being said the OP is not into DH so I will go back on topic.

You could always get a suspesion saddle post so you have the comfort of a fully with the performance of a hard tail. Or just get a fully, you know you want one

Update:
Spent the w/e with my 29er-owning friend and he loves it! Or should I say loves them, he bought a hardtail and a fully (both Scotts), . He uses the fully for leisure biking and the hardtail for competitive should he ever get back into it. As people above have pointed out, he says it really does flatten out a lot of obstacles and can really fly when up to speed.
I'm going to give an L-frame Scott Spark a spin this weekend (they said they would set it up for me based on my height and weight) and will probably order an XL afterwards.
There goes the remainder of last year's bonus .