I killed almost two hours on a conference call today discussing 29ers with a few other designers & builders. Pros, cons, perceptions, illusions, realities, proportions, lab tests, focus group tests, preconceived notions and halfarsed opinions... all were discussed.
In the end, I concluded that until a 29er 29s, that is, does whatever 29ing is, they ought not be called 29ers, because they do not 29, any more than a 26er 26s. This erroneous "er" suffix is the bad 1st impression root of 29" objectors continued annoyance at hearing wheel size mentioned as if it's the only important factor of an entire bike.
And now you've killed time reading about it. ...in this thread.
I like these little conversations of ours.