29er or not?

[beccaB]

I will probably use the 29er for iceman which is a week away, yikes! It's a little different, but I don't get confused by the gears which are like my road bike, so I'm used to the way it shifts. The 26, I had to put my thumbs under the handlebars to shift, and with 8 rear sprockets there was a big jump between the largest and next one down, caused me some anxiety going up hills. I've only been on my new 29er once and it climbs like a dream!

[limewave]

Oooh, you will have fun riding it at Iceman

I've not done anything for 2 weeks and I've been eating a ton of food, staying up really late working. Now I'm starting to stress about it. Not sure one week of eating good is going to make up for 2 weeks of gluttony. But there's not a whole lot more I can do at this point. . . . it will be what it will be . . .

[Aggie_Ama]

OOOOhhhh an upcoming race? I raced my 26er but my times on my 29er are way better. I am sure much of that is the amount of work I put in this summer getting to know the bike but dang it is fun. Have a great time and give us a race report!

[surgtech1956]

I've been thinking about getting a 29er, the only trails I have near me is more of a hiking trail(4 miles) and when we go camping. Do you also have a road bike?

[beccaB]

I do have a road bike, well a very nice and light Trek hybrid. Between the 2 of those, I have 10,000 Miles! Been doing that for about 5 years. Just got starter mountain bikes last fall. The husband wanted us to do Iceman. I'm as trained as much as I can get without hurting myself. I've had the chance to ride on varying terrain. I actually sort of hate technical trails, and we went to Custer State Park yesterday and rode some of those. I was a sissychicken and had to walk some of it. Some of the parts that were hilly and sandy were a lot easier for me with the 29er, and I felt more confident. I really like the dirt roads around here, we do have to drive a little to get to them instead of starting out at the house like we do with our road bikes.

[limewave]

DH checked out a brand new 29er demo bike from our LBS--DH was the first person to ride it. LBS even offered to let him race it this weekend at Iceman. But DH was not all that impressed with it. Although it was a more comfortable ride, he didn't think it climbed as well as his 26" Stumpjumper. There is no doubt that the 29er's are heavier. Now he is looking at some 2012 26" bikes and might try riding another 29er.

[Bike Writer]

Congrats on the new 29'er and have fun at the Iceman! Sounds like a blast!

[zoom-zoom]

This thread is interesting to me. I currently have a 26er and am a complete noob at MTB, but I like it...far more than I expected I would. The plan is to hand down my Cdale F5 ('09...got it for a steal a month+ ago, as Cdale had hundreds of "petites" leftover just sitting in a warehouse) to my son in a year or two, then I'll upgrade a tad. DH is on a 29er and loves it, but he is also 6'2" and has relatively long legs. My inseam is 30", so I suspect that that could be somewhat of an issue. Toe overlap is an even bigger concern. I have it with both my road and CX bikes. It's no a huge deal on those, but I can see where it would be a bigger issue on a trail with tighter, slower corners.

[Aggie_Ama]

I don't have a problem riding and racing a 15.5" 29er, my inseam is about 28.5". I don't think unless you just often ride a course with a lot of hairpin turns you will have an issue with toe overlap. My 29er seems to corner better than my 5" travel 26er did, that bike always felt twitchy. I honestly have never heard anyone say anything about toe overlap in mountain biking, I don't know I guess it is an issue.

I know several women the similar build as me that went 29er and won't go back. But some people never want to give up their 26er.

[zoom-zoom]

I don't have a problem riding and racing a 15.5" 29er, my inseam is about 28.5". I don't think unless you just often ride a course with a lot of hairpin turns you will have an issue with toe overlap. My 29er seems to corner better than my 5" travel 26er did, that bike always felt twitchy. I honestly have never heard anyone say anything about toe overlap in mountain biking, I don't know I guess it is an issue.

I know several women the similar build as me that went 29er and won't go back. But some people never want to give up their 26er.

Good to hear. I know my options will be somewhat limited, since it looks like some mfgs. don't even make 29ers small enough for me to stand-over.

[Catrin]

Good to hear. I know my options will be somewhat limited, since it looks like some mfgs. don't even make 29ers small enough for me to stand-over.

I hear it is a problem making small 29ers....but I do wonder if the real problem is the manufacturers thinking they wouldn't sell enough of them to make the worth producing. From what my LBS explained to me there is a problem getting the geometry right below a certain size, but I don't know much about that.

[zoom-zoom]

I hear it is a problem making small 29ers....but I do wonder if the real problem is the manufacturers thinking they wouldn't sell enough of them to make the worth producing. From what my LBS explained to me there is a problem getting the geometry right below a certain size, but I don't know much about that.

I'm sure it's a bit of both, really. Finding cx bikes in my size is trickier. A lot of companies will only do entry-level bikes in smaller sizes.

[Owlie]

I'm sure it's a bit of both, really. Finding cx bikes in my size is trickier. A lot of companies will only do entry-level bikes in smaller sizes.

That sucks. While I have some options on the size (31" inseam) front, reach is always an issue for me. I need WSD in pretty much anything, though I may have a bit more wiggle room with mountain bikes. I've been looking for a CX bike, and apparently there's no market for a WSD cross bike.
I'm here because I'm entertaining the idea of a mountain bike. Maybe.

[pinsonp2]

Giant makes a womwn's cross bike that I find interesting, but I am not ready to buy another bike. Here's the link and they do make a XS and S frames in it:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/...oad/?level=all

P2

[zoom-zoom]

That sucks. While I have some options on the size (31" inseam) front, reach is always an issue for me. I need WSD in pretty much anything, though I may have a bit more wiggle room with mountain bikes. I've been looking for a CX bike, and apparently there's no market for a WSD cross bike.
I'm here because I'm entertaining the idea of a mountain bike. Maybe.

I got lucky. I fit perfectly on my 44 Redline Conquest. Redline is pretty good about making CX bikes in a 44 across their range. But if I needed a smaller size I'd be SOL. Ridley makes a smaller model of their very bottom and *I think* very top CX bike, but all the nice models in the middle start at 47.