29'er First Impressions

[Pho'dUp]

So I tried a 29'er singlespeed for the first time. It was a steel Jabberwocky with a 80mm Reba. I usually ride an aluminum 26'er SS. I am already preparing to get flamed for this , but I honestly can say that it's a very mixed review.

Positives: The big wheels, and long wheel base definitely smooth out the trail and make the bike super stable at speeds. Even with the 80mm Reba fork I definitely felt the bike would handle small, medium and technical riding pretty well. Even on rocky climbs the bike carried it's speed pretty well because the front wheel was rolling over the bumps easier. The rear wheel traction was really good. I found you could get much further up and out of the saddle on standing climbs and the rear wheel still had good traction. This is a huge benefit because it's a lot easier on my back.

Negatives: It felt sluggish. I mean once you get the bike up to speed it feels pretty nice. But on long climbs it felt like the bike took more effort to stay on top of things. I just felt a lot slower like I was dragging it up the hill. Of course, I'm not super fast guy, but it definitely felt like more effort than my 26'er. I was passing a guy on a long fireroad climb and when I started cranking harder the bike just felt like it didn't want to go. The caveat here maybe that my 26'er (though not super light at 24lbs) does have some pretty light custom wheels. The 29'er had a pretty heavy stock set.

Oh, the Jabberwocky. Nice low slug steel frame, didn't worry at all about hitting my knees on the top tube. Geometry felt pretty good. Not squirrelly at all but I need to ride trails with more technical steps etc. Not quite as laterally stiff I think as my aluminum hardtail but not that bad to me. Was setup with a Horizontal drops using a shimano quick release was no slippage problems for the rear wheel. I think the for the price it's a pretty descent frame.

Anyhow, I'm still considering a 29'er. Just wondering if anyone else had the same experiences when they changed to the big wheels. At least I think I need to budget for a pretty bling'in lightweight set of hoops to go with the bike.

Thanks.

Pho'dup

[ShinKen]

just a quick note from me. Yes it is harder to climb but eventually U will get stronger. The redline was soo heavy when I first bough it so u can imagine how ruff it was for me being my first SSer and 29er. now with all the blinging parts it makes for a sweet ride!! I love it and would do it again!!

On a diff note. I rode a Niner last week and the magic came back hardcore I'm still droooling

my few Centzz

[Burner]

the wheelset will make all the difference with your complaints.

[Pho'dUp]

Yeah, I'm already thinking of waiting awhile so I'll go with the Scandium Niner frame, and a light set of wheels.

[CPATCRASH]

I had the same experience the first time. That was a fairly heavy steel bike with stock wheels. Now I have both a ti SS and geared bike and the difference is night and day. Now I need a 29er suspension bike. Check out the Niner or at least get a light wheelset.

[guero]

i gave it a shot, and it was fun. i noticed many of the same things you did with the bigger wheels. at times the longer climbs did take a bit more effort, i remember patrick saying, "bret are you okay, you look like you are in slow motion" with each pedal stroke i was taking. momentum seems to be the magic word when it comes to 29ers.

long story short, it was fun, but it definitely didnt suit my agressive riding style (80mm hardtail). i still challenged myself on the downhills and charged them as hard as i could within reason. as you may or may not know, i sold purple haze yesterday.

f/s 26er with gears is where its at for me.

[Chopper]

I rode that same bike for a couple of days, assuming it's the one from The Path. I thought the differences I felt in the climbing was more related to the gearing than the size of the wheels. I am used to 26 inch SS at 32X20 and that Jabber is 32X22. That made me feel like I wasn't going anywhere for my effort. I have been told that you should go up two teeth on the freewheel when go to a 29er but I think I'm going to stick with my usual gearing.
I'm looking at the Niner also but when I rode one recently (belonging to a friend of CPAT's) it had a creak in the BB. One thing I love about SS'ing is the quiet ride and if that creak is normal for the EBB setup, I ain't goin there. It would drive me nuts.

[Pho'dUp]

Originally Posted by Chopper

I rode that same bike for a couple of days, assuming it's the one from The Path. I thought the differences I felt in the climbing was more related to the gearing than the size of the wheels. I am used to 26 inch SS at 32X20 and that Jabber is 32X22. That made me feel like I wasn't going anywhere for my effort. I have been told that you should go up two teeth on the freewheel when go to a 29er but I think I'm going to stick with my usual gearing.
I'm looking at the Niner also but when I rode one recently (belonging to a friend of CPAT's) it had a creak in the BB. One thing I love about SS'ing is the quiet ride and if that creak is normal for the EBB setup, I ain't goin there. It would drive me nuts.

Goodpoint about the gearing. Unless I counted wrong, the bike Jabber was setup 32:20 so with the 29" wheel worked out to about 46.4 gear inches. My 26'er is geared really low (33:21) which is 40.9". The gearing felt pretty good because I didn't quite hit my lactic acid threshold on the long climbs and just about spun out on the flats. Maybe I'd do 32:21 on a 29'er.

I've read that about the Ebb creak. I'm used to that. I run my BB till they die so mine are always making noise. I like horizontal drops though but I think Niners only come with the Ebb.

[slowSSer]

question: does the 29er you demo'd have the same length crankset and a similar gearing ratio?

here's what I've discovered while trying to make the 26er ss and the 29er ss feel the same:

26er:
34:20 gearing
175mm cranks
100mm reba up front

29er:
33:21 gearing
180mm cranks.
80mm reba up front.

I've also strived to make the bar height the same on both bikes. the result? both bikes climb the same- reguardless of long climbs like Maple or short like cholla. descending? that can't be compared- the 29er is steel and the 26er is ti.

see if The Path can make the demo similar to your existing ride.

[tkblazer]

looks like mavic is getting into the 29er market

http://twentynineinches.com/wp-conte...c1.jpg&thumb=0

http://twentynineinches.com/wp-conte...c2.jpg&thumb=0

[CPATCRASH]

Originally Posted by Chopper

I rode that same bike for a couple of days, assuming it's the one from The Path. I thought the differences I felt in the climbing was more related to the gearing than the size of the wheels. I am used to 26 inch SS at 32X20 and that Jabber is 32X22. That made me feel like I wasn't going anywhere for my effort. I have been told that you should go up two teeth on the freewheel when go to a 29er but I think I'm going to stick with my usual gearing.
I'm looking at the Niner also but when I rode one recently (belonging to a friend of CPAT's) it had a creak in the BB. One thing I love about SS'ing is the quiet ride and if that creak is normal for the EBB setup, I ain't goin there. It would drive me nuts.

The bike you rode had 32X22 gearing as well. That is very close to 32X20 on a 26" wheeled bike.

[WarPony]

I had a very similar experience as you when I first rode my ss 29er. I had come off a 04 Kona Explosif geared 34x19, so I bumped up to a 34x21t but that felt sluggish and hard (and I'm by no means a bad climber). I ended up changing to a 32x21, which was actually quite nice, though I was spinning out far too quickly...It allowed me to get used to the feel of the bike and learn how to make the most of it. I have recently switched my gearing to 33x21t which seems to be the sweet-spot for me on a ss29er in Socal. To make a very long and rambling story short, experiment and try and find that sweet-spot before you give up on the big wheels.

I wasn't sure i had made the right decision in the beginning either, but I made small changes to the gearing and cockpit and everything has worked out.

[BeantownRider]

Did the bike feel sluggish on long smooth fireroad climbs? What type of rubber were you riding and was it comparable in rolling resistance to your 26er? I ride the ugly geared brother of the Jabber with 100mm reba and rode a GF 29er prior and both bikes did feel slow on smooth climbs. But, as far as I'm concerned, if I was really worried about my climbing speed on pavement or fireroads I'd be wearing tights and riding a road bike.

Where the big wheels really shine in climbing is when the trail starts getting rocky. The larger wheels allow you to maintain momentum much better because they just float over rocks that would otherwise slow you down. I don't feel that decending is even comparable, the big wheels roll so smoooooth and flowy. My $.02.

[dubjay]

I went from a Surly 1x1 (steel) to a Voodoo Aizan 29er (scandium) and my initial impression was that it was much quicker actually. I ran/run both of them rigid.

From a weight standpoint, my 29er was actually 2-3 lbs lighter. I felt faster going over rocky sections for sure and climbing was better for me too, but that might have been because I actually geared it down a little. I went from a 32:18 to 32:21.

Either way, I do like the momentum that the big wheels give. I keep thinking about swapping out my Aizan for a Jabberwocky just because I found the Jabberwocky to be much stiffer. So..if and when the time comes, there might be a scandium frame (w/ sliding dropouts) available for you cheap

[dstepper]

22lbs Niner One-9, the quickest bike I have ever owned. Run 32 up front and either: 22, 20, or 18 on the back. The 18 is just so much fun but it does wear me out. Does not feel slugish, but there again my other bike is a 34lb 5-Spot with a 6 inch travel fork.

Note: I bought a Boone 18 tooth cog so I have a spare Surly 18 tooth for sale.

Dean