Planning on getting the monster out for it’s debut tomorrow night! Hope to see you all on the ride!
jealous :oops: that is a sweet looking ride.
Holy.
Crap.
Mind completely blown. This is going to be a very fast, very capable, agile, fun rig. DO NOT listen to all the negative stuff about 29ers. Those people haven’t actually ridden one yet. It goes like stink. And keeps going. Uphill, in the big ring. Seated. I don’t know how either. And, you can seemingly point it at anything. It is very confidence inspiring. And it’s no slug. When I drop the outside pedal and force those wide bars down to the ground, you wanna believe that mother hooks right around like nobody’s business. Pronto. And all this nonsense babble about not being able to jump/pump/have fun. It’s all mindless dribble. Trust me. Feels like a cross between the point and shootness of a monster truck, and the speed and handling of a rally car. This is so going to be a very awesome year. If you are considering getting a 29er, stop considering. Just do it. I will NEVER GO BACK. NEVER!!!
Except for the BMX. I love BMX. I love 29ers now too. A lot.
About time…
29ers are a lot of fun. Can’t see going back to 26" for my regular ride.
wow folks that is some strong emotions there. and just think that is just the first ride in shudie. wait till the boy gets the thing in the woods. he might have a life altering experience. are you ready for the 24er bmx?
I know, eh? If I were ever to buy a new mtb it would be a 29er Hardtail, no doubt about it.
Well, after some actual mountain biking, and more riding in general, here are my thoughts.
Le 29er.
In the singletrack, this thing is a beast. It sticks the climbs like a goat. Very stable descender as well. Might not be as nimble, but the race line is a thing of the past. Point, shoot, blitz. Yup, done deal. Still fun, in a whole new way. It’s not sluggish, but it took a few rides to relearn a few little things. I even scampered up the steps, stones and rock walls on our property without batting an eye. I wouldn’t even try the 26" bike on them before.
Now, I don’t know how much of this is due to the last bike being rigid, rim braked, narrow barred, etc, but this thing keeps bringing me smiles. I may take heat for this, but I can only imagine what a well sorted out dually must feel like nowadays. My next rig will probably be a Giant Trance X 29er. Just the fork I have now is crazy feeling. And having a remote lockout is the sweetest thing ever. Yup. My rigid riding will probably be limited to BMX and road biking in the future. And that’s OK. I watched some trophy trucks on youtube. Suspension is good.
Hear that? That’s the sound of the earths rotation creeping to a halt.
Now, for the goofy bits.
Wheelies. Was never good at them. Now I am. On a bike with longer stays? Fine by me, I guess. Road riding. I caught up to my boss who had about 300 meters on me at speed when he crossed the road ahead of me. Caught up and poked some fun at him. It MOTORS! And trials type moves. I was hopping and punching up things that I would think a 20" mod bike would be better for. So, in short, this bike makes no sense.
Only thing I can think of doing to it right now, is rolling the bars ahead a bit. My little outing on Friday at Second Lake left the outside of my wrists hurting. Need a wee bit more sweep when you are used to much narrower bars. Other than that, a Shadow Plus rear derailleur might be nice so limit the chain slap a bit. But now I’m getting fussy.
So, I am loving the bike. And I’m glad I went with the triple, and not a double. The granny ring is handy when you haven’t ridden for a little bit, and you are on bigger wheels uphill. On a really punchy zero momentum climb. And more top end as well.
Get out there, and try one out!
So I take it you’re making the jump to Cat A along with the big wheels and front squish? Sounds like those of us targetting Cat B might be in trouble… 
I can’t blame you there, I don’t know about the 29 but the dual suspension is a blast to ride, makes long rides a lot easier on the back. After a few years of hardtail riding, I was shocked to be back on a dually even if it’s only 120mm, so much fun. You loose a bit of the power transfer but what ever, it’s worth it to me.
Ha, the granny ring is just plain handy regardless, well for me anyway :oops: