Anyone else gone to the dark side? Confession: I’ve just bought a 29er..

[dyna-ti]

Even worse. I went 29er and electric to boot

 

[nstarmore]

Its a Pipedream Full Moxie - small Scottish company who seem to specialise in the slightly ridiculous.

Ohh are they Scotland based now, I knew the company had been taken on by new owners a few years back but wasn't sure who

 

[float]

I had a realization yesterday when I compared apples and oranges and took my vintage bike and my new 29er HT each for a spin: both are fun in their own regard and can be appreciated for what they are. While vintage won't any longer be exclusively what I ride, I have a feeling my vintage bikes will still be ridden more or less as much as my new 29er will be. Neither one is taking away from the other bike's inherent charm.

 

[enigma]

I have 26'' / 27.5 / 29'' and at 74 years young still manage to frighten the crap out of myself whatever I ride .
My view is it's evolution + a bit of fashion as I haven't seen any world cup winners riding 26'' for a long while.
Having skills and fun is what it's all about I watch the youngsters on a 29'' wheeled Halfords bikes riding round on one wheel and riding over everything that they come across .
I don't know the wheel size but the skills are a different level in this video.

I never had an interest in downhill, but that was worth a watch ... amazing and gotta agree with the commentator, how is he sat down with balls that big!

 

[enigma]

If the "dark side" is 29er, is 1 27.5" wheeled bike a grey area?
If so, then I suppose I've slipped into a grey area with my Ibis Mojo HD4. Which I love. It is different to my 26" wheeled bikes, but great in a new (to me) way.

Hows the grey area? I am reading through this whole thread as I am considering a 27.5 orange or similar rigid frame bike. I love 26 bikes I have a fleet, but as others have said they become precious. And parts are readily available, all be it still expensive but you can actually buy stuff in shops not on here for these more modern steeds.
How do you find this grey area? Ive not ridden one, know no one who owns one, and ive ridden a decent 29 a high end specialized a few years ago, heavy and sluggish, so bloody sluggish to ride in comparison to my old konas etc.
Thing is I am getting older, I dont jump , hop skip like its '94 and I still obsess over MBUK. Longer day rides a little easier on something I dont need to be precious about will I think take me back to a feeling something more like I did twenty years ago though and have some bigger dreams for day rides etc..?

 

[Aech]

I never had an interest in downhill, but that was worth a watch ... amazing and gotta agree with the commentator, how is he sat down with balls that big!

As much fun as I'd have tearing down that I'd get far more satisfaction from riding up it.

Downhill only has never appealed to me as in my opinion it's lazy biking, to me the reward of the downhill section is that you've worked damned hard to get up there in the first place.

 

[grahame]

Well, Enigma, I like it. A lot. My first ride on it was as a rental on my all-time favourite route - Porcupine Rim (from Masons Draw Campground). A ride I'd previously done a dozen or more times on 26" wheeled hardtails and 100mm full suspension bikes. The HD4 was brilliant. Different to the 26" wheeled bikes I was used to, but not so ponderous around corners as the 29er I'd rented the day before. The tyres are big (I think it counts as a 27.5+ with 2.6 width tyres that have a similar outside diameter to 2.2" 29er tyres, so I could keep up with the "big wheelers" on the flowy sections and feel a bit more "natural" on the tighter stuff.

As I said, it was a rental that I decided to buy. The shop gave me the rental fee off the purchase price, so the day's ride was like an elongatged demo.

If you can, I'd heartily recommend renting any modern bike you are thinking obout and ride it on a familar trail before committing to buying. It worked for me, your mileage may vary, etc.

 

[enigma]

Well, Enigma, I like it. A lot. My first ride on it was as a rental on my all-time favourite route - Porcupine Rim (from Masons Draw Campground). A ride I'd previously done a dozen or more times on 26" wheeled hardtails and 100mm full suspension bikes. The HD4 was brilliant. Different to the 26" wheeled bikes I was used to, but not so ponderous around corners as the 29er I'd rented the day before. The tyres are big (I think it counts as a 27.5+ with 2.6 width tyres that have a similar outside diameter to 2.2" 29er tyres, so I could keep up with the "big wheelers" on the flowy sections and feel a bit more "natural" on the tighter stuff.

As I said, it was a rental that I decided to buy. The shop gave me the rental fee off the purchase price, so the day's ride was like an elongatged demo.

If you can, I'd heartily recommend renting any modern bike you are thinking obout and ride it on a familar trail before committing to buying. It worked for me, your mileage may vary, etc.

Agh ok, thankyou for replying, mirrors my thoughts i saw the other week in Aviemore in the cairngorms , scotland they were hiring mid range Marin rigid frame, 140mm fork bikes all be it 29 er.
If I had time I would of liked to hire and try again , larger wheels, less gears, etc for a proper ride not a round the block which in all fairness wont have given time for me to get over it feeling weird.
I will look into hiring options for the next couple of planned breaks, see if I can get a few hours in on something different.

 

[float]

Agh ok, thankyou for replying, mirrors my thoughts i saw the other week in Aviemore in the cairngorms , scotland they were hiring mid range Marin rigid frame, 140mm fork bikes all be it 29 er.
If I had time I would of liked to hire and try again , larger wheels, less gears, etc for a proper ride not a round the block which in all fairness wont have given time for me to get over it feeling weird.
I will look into hiring options for the next couple of planned breaks, see if I can get a few hours in on something different.

I own several 26", a 27.5", and now a 29". All hard tails. If we're talking early 27.5" then I'd say it's just as difficult (if not more difficult) to find 27.5 compatible stuff. There was never a significant duration where 27.5 was the dominant standard. It's especially difficult if your 27.5" bike is an older XC bike, because that means narrow tires (with wide 27.5" tires being more common these days), 9mm QR, and elusive 27.5-specific forks with QR dropouts. The task of finding a good fork for a 27.5" bike with 9mm QR is similarly difficult as finding a good 26" fork with V-brake studs.

This is one of the reasons I decided to buy a modern 29er, because it's a breath of fresh air to be able to buy for the bike new and readily available parts that are the common standard. And while 29" bikes still look comically huge, and while 29" wheels are still sometimes a handful, they do roll extremely fast. The rollover is also quite impressive, ironing out those grabby bumps that hold back 26ers and even 27.5ers. My 27.5" bike still feels more stable than any of my 26" bikes, but the 29" bike is exponentially better.

 

[al-onestare]

I was specifically searching for a thread like this and am so glad to have found it. I've been riding vintage bikes hard and have really been enjoying them. I always knew I would ultimately find the perfect modern bike, but I was perfectly content on waiting potentially years for that to happen.

Well, with no warning, I just copped the perfect new bike - and it's a 29er. Incidentally, it's my first time riding a 1x drive train. The short of it is that the bike is incredible and I am actually scared that I will no longer wish to ride my vintage bikes once I've done some serious riding on my new bike. To be clear, my vintage bikes have been my main and only bikes for both street riding and trail shredding. I especially love taking them on trails, because it's just such a fun and unique challenge - and I still adore 26" wheels for their agility - but I know I will feel tempted to reserve my new bike for trail duty.

My hope is that I can at least still enjoy my vintage bikes on occasion. I am still reading through replies on this thread to see who is in the same boat as I am. Silly as it sounds, I almost swore off altogether the idea of buying a new bike because I felt like a decades-old MTB was all I realistically needed.

For me, I love the older bikes more because I'm a more confident rider thanks to the 29er.