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Mullet vs 29 for shorter rider?

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megablue

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My wife is looking to get a longer travel bike, but at 5’1 I’m not sure if she should go with a mullet or a full 29. I just don’t want her buzzing her butt in the rear tire if she went full 29. Anyone around this height that has comments either direction?
also suggestions for a longish travel(150-170mm), do it all sort of bike(within reason, obviously it’s a longer travel bike), by all means suggest away.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Psychoholic Racing said:
Mullet. I’m 5’ 11” and can’t stand a 29 rear tire. On steeps it’s in the way. Especially a long travel bike. I had a YT Tues 29 and you sit so high it’s not comfortable. Then add the tire hitting your butt on steeps and drops.
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Interesting at that height I figured you’d have no issue. I’m5’10 and have ridden full 29 for years with no issue
 
#4 ·
My wife, who is 4'10", now rides a 2023 Specialized Stumpjumper EVO size S1, in mullet configuration. Before that she rode a 2022 Transition Patrol mullet size small and before that a 2022 Transition Scout 27.5 size x-small. She has preferred the mullet configuration of both the Patrol and SJEVO over the Scout as well as the bit bigger size of the small compared to the x-small. She is a good rider and having the 29er wheel up front gives her more confidence going both up and down the trail. She says it also makes her feel more like she is in the bike instead of on top of it and when going down steep sections she can get back behind the rear wheel and behind the handlebars on the mullet bikes, instead of feeling like she is too far forward and right over the handlebars on 27.5 bikes, making her feel like she is about to go OTB.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
lucythefin said:
My wife, who is 4'10", now rides a 2023 Specialized Stumpjumper EVO size S1, in mullet configuration. Before that she rode a 2022 Transition Patrol mullet size small and before that a 2022 Transition Scout 27.5 size x-small. She has preferred the mullet configuration of both the Patrol and SJEVO over the Scout as well as the bit bigger size of the small compared to the x-small. She is a good rider and having the 29er wheel up front gives her more confidence going both up and down the trail. She says it also makes her feel more like she is in the bike instead of on top of it and when going down steep sections she can get back behind the rear wheel and behind the handlebars on the mullet bikes, instead of feeling like she is too far forward and right over the handlebars on 27.5 bikes, making her feel like she is about to go OTB.
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Curious as to how she feels about the evo vs the patrol as these are two bikes I have my wife currently looking at
 
#6 ·
And as far as recommendations for longish travel bikes, the SJ EVO is a great do it all bike. 150 rear, 160 front that can be run full 29er or mullet with the different linkage and you can make adjustments to the head angle and chainstay length as well.
My wife loved her Patrol as well, 160/160, but she had the ALU version and it was a bit heavy. The carbon version of the Patrol is much lighter than the ALU version and we would have bought that if it was available at the time.
So my wife now rides the Carbon S-Works version of the SJ EVO, which the SJ EVO is on sale everywhere, as frame only and full bike. The discounts are amazing right now.
I know people love the Santa Cruz Bronson, 150/160, and it is a very versatile bike as well.
And the new Ibis HD6 looks amazing for a mullet bike, 165/180, though its a burlier bike but they say pedals great.
 
#7 ·
She loved and got along well with both the Patrol and SJ EVO. I think for her it comes down to how heavy or light the bike feels. The size, length of a bike doesn't bother her as much as the weight of a bike. The Patrol felt like a monster truck, but a bit unwieldy one because of the weight, 35lbs. She could not get much pop out if it and on the way up it was a heavy struggle to lift and move around the rocky, ledge trails we ride in Arizona and Southwest desert and she would kind of feel she was hanging on for the ride on the way down. On smoother, flowy trails she loved it and could maneuver it better and get it to pump and pop. I ride a Patrol as well, in aluminum, and because of the size and strength difference, the Patrol to me is everything my wife wanted out of the Patrol. I can pop off anything, change direction quickly, maneuver it around the trail and monster truck everything on the way up and down but can haul it in when needed. If my wife had a carbon Patrol from the get go or was able to get one before the EVO, she might of just stayed with that bike. I have ridden the carbon version of my Patrol and it feels so much lighter and livelier. It pops so much more and feels so much easier to maneuver and flick around the trail. The carbon frame of the Patrol is 3 pounds lighter than the ALU frame. Thats a lot of weight in just the frame.
And the SJ EVO carbon frame is 1lb lighter than the carbon Patrol frame.
As soon as my wife rode the carbon EVO, she was amazed how much of a difference the weight and lightness of the bike made. All of a sudden she could lift and place the front wheel, she could jump and pop from feature to feature on the trail and not feel like she was just hanging on for the ride.
They both pedal really well for trail/enduro bikes, and are amazing downhill of course, but you can have so many different set ups with the EVO. Light trail bike, or heavy duty enduro bike.
But with prices right now you can get an EVO carbon frame or full bike for half of what a comparable carbon build from Transition would cost you.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Unless you get something with a short or adjustable chainstay length, mullet will have to be used to get back for good weight balance. S-Works is 30.4lbs in an S4.

The v1 Druid cs starts at 414 Small and increases to 430 through the travel. Reach is 430. $2200 outlet. MX OK.
Druid LTD ED Frame Kit – Forbidden Bike Co. USA
Fork - Manitou Mattoc Comp with ABS+ damper. Tune the shim stack for her weight. Adjustable 110-160.
Guys in the Suspension forum can help with tune.
Light wheelset with Onyx hook hubs for Berd spokes. Duke front rim. Link .
V2 Druid is 423 CS 435 reach.
 
#14 ·
megablue said:
Interesting at that height I figured you’d have no issue. I’m5’10 and have ridden full 29 for years with no issue
Click to expand...
same here. @ that height and never hit tire on even the most aggressive trails. Just goes to show that riding style and body type make a huge difference.

To your original post, if your wife is not riding extremely aggressive terrain, likely wouldn't rub on 29. But having ridden my hardtail as a 27.5, a 29er, and mullet, mullet is more fun than 29er while more capable (technical terrain and speed) than 27.5
 
#15 ·
In my experience at about 5'8", it depends. Full 29 feels a bit faster, more comfortable, and efficient, but the mullet is more forgiving, confidence inspiring, and fun. For local races, long days in the saddle, or riding technical trails that aren't crazy steep, I prefer full 29. For freeriding or casual riding, crazy steep trails, jumps, playing around, side hits, pushing my limits on bigger features, shuttling or bike park days, I prefer the mullet. If I were 7" shorter, I would almost surely want the mullet especially on a longer travel bike unless maybe I was really into local racing.
 
#17 ·
lucythefin said:
My wife, who is 4'10", now rides a 2023 Specialized Stumpjumper EVO size S1, in mullet configuration. Before that she rode a 2022 Transition Patrol mullet size small and before that a 2022 Transition Scout 27.5 size x-small. She has preferred the mullet configuration of both the Patrol and SJEVO over the Scout as well as the bit bigger size of the small compared to the x-small. She is a good rider and having the 29er wheel up front gives her more confidence going both up and down the trail. She says it also makes her feel more like she is in the bike instead of on top of it and when going down steep sections she can get back behind the rear wheel and behind the handlebars on the mullet bikes, instead of feeling like she is too far forward and right over the handlebars on 27.5 bikes, making her feel like she is about to go OTB.
Click to expand...
4.10 with 29" front wheel would put the bars above the saddle.When the saddle is down the bars will so high in relation to the BB drop it's hard for the rider to weight the front tire. We talk a lot about butt clearance but we often forget bar height is an important factor for fit too. 4.10 and 29" will make for a poor fit anyway you look at it. Just because the industry is going all in on 29 doesn't mean it makes sense for everyone.
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
slimat99 said:
4.10 with 29" front wheel would put the bars above the saddle.When the saddle is down the bars will so high in relation to the BB drop it's hard for the rider to weight the front tire. We talk a lot about butt clearance but we often forget bar height is an important factor for fit too. 4.10 and 29" will make for a poor fit anyway you look at it. Just because the industry is going all in on 29 doesn't mean it makes sense for everyone.
Click to expand...
Bar height and BB drop don’t have any relation in terms of weighting the front wheel. Are you referring to stack height? Stack height and reach have much more correlation to the ability of weighting the front wheel. If so, that’s entirely frame dependent. My wife’s current bike (full 27.5) has a height stack height than many mullets out there.
 
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