Who's got a 29'er?

[kaiser]

Overall I'm happy though, but the weight and harsh ride ,means I'm out looking for a lighter better steal frame and some front suspension. But I'm in love with 29" wheels.

I have read that the Scandal rides more like steel than the inbred :? ! I have the Scandal, just waiting for my brakes to come through and it should be complete. Scandal,which you can see here!l

 

[JamesM]

My mate is selling this 2012 Kona Honza for £770ono. He's in W-S-M so you could pop round for a look if your interested. Drop me a PM if you are.

Eee is that the one on PinkBike? WANT!!! trying to get some loot together in time!!

Could well be, I know its advertised on a few websites. STW too I believe.

 

[NeilM]

OK, next question then: What wheels?

I may get some Hope hubs and build the wheels myself, but I'm interested to know what's good and what's worth staying clear of.

James: Turns out that my son knows Rob who is selling the Kona... small world.

 

[kaiser]

When putting my own together I read an awful lot about what works for what and wotnot. In the end I choose, Hope hubs/ DT Swiss Comp spokes and DT Swiss X470 rims. For me this represented a fair trade off between weight, cost and availability at the time and also for use for general XC riding. If I was doing it again I'd consider using Velocity P35's if going full rigid or Chinese carbon rims(theres a massive thread on mtbr) if looking for something a bit special. In saying that I've had no problems with the DT Swiss rim( I also built these myself, my second pair of wheels).

Some might say that your wheelset choice should be more important than frame material for instance as to how the bike behaves.

 

[NeilM]

Some might say that your wheelset choice should be more important than frame material for instance as to how the bike behaves.

I think I would probably agree with this, more from the road than mtb side, but it strikes me that wheel / tyre choice will play a big role in the final characteristics of a 29er.

When I meet up with the guy who has the demo bike, I'll ask his opinion, but my current thinking is Hope hubs and tubeless rims of some sort, with the bias more towards XC than general purpose.

I'm not going for a weight weenie build, but at the same time I see no good reason to expend my very limited energy resources on hauling unnecessary weight around the countryside.

I'll have to look at the relative weights of a few rims.

 

[Wasmachineman NL]

Had one, liked it for the ride, hated when buying parts.

 

[SpearedHot]

Neil M
If you are curious and have the $$$'s then buy a 29er. I have 26", 650b, and 29" bikes. I am not slower or faster on any of them because they are set up right. In my opinion, a well set up bike trumps wheel size every time (you have a hei hei right?). I will say that my 29er has better traction with the same style tires though.
IMHO you should just try it for yourself and decide from there. There are no disadvantages to 29" wheels (in a x-country setting) but there are slight differences in "feel" to each wheel size.

PS I just bought a Kona Rove that I'm really liking because I can ride road/gravel/singletrack on.

 

[NeilM]

Neil M

IMHO you should just try it for yourself and decide from there.

That's the intention, it's just a matter of fixing a date to try a demo bike

 

[monty dog]

I built a Ritchey P29er this year, running it rigid with a titanium fork. I chose the Ritchey because of the short headtube means I can run it long and low. I was running it SS through the summer but fitted gears as the wet winter meant I could barely get traction. The big tyres do feel ponderous at first - I ride a lot of singletrack on a CX bike so enjoy lightweight and quick acceleration. However, give it some gas and it flies - fitted some 2.4" Conti X Kings for more traction - my mate riding a 26" full susser simply couldn't keep up. My only dislike is wheel flop on the really technical stuff, but thats common to all 29ers. Wheels are Stans Crest on Novatec 711/712 tubeless is a doddle.

 

[NeilM]

Thanks Monty, that's really useful information.

I am weighing up the pros and cons of tubeless at the moment, as the Stans rims are more expensive than the competition, although the Crest's appear lighter than just about anything else in aluminium.