How much higher is the BB on that beast? Seriously, those wheels look absolutely massive next to the 26's.
Yep! When I first looked at it in the store, I was floored. I held it up next to a bike with 26x2.3" and my jaw dropped.
Supposedly at the same height, more or less.
On the 29er the BB is lowered to compensate for the increase in axle height.
Since the early adaptation of the 29'er, there has been BB drop geometry. You literally do "sit down in" the bike. The picture above with the bikes side by side show the BB height is very similar.
Just as the BB-chainstay has changed to drop the BB below the level of the rear axle, the shorter head tube helps compensate for an excessively tall stack. I love a good, tall stack height, but if I ran the same bar/stem/headset/spacer combo on both bikes, the Stache would feel like an old-man hybrid.
Running a 25mm rise bar on the Stache versus a 50mm rise on my Komodo.
How does it climb though? I would like to get to the top of the climb without having a heart attack. LoL. Those wheels are massive!
You wouldn't believe me if I told you, LOL. My 26x2.4" Maxxis Ardent tires are Published weight 815 grams. Best tires I've ever had on my Komodo. Low knobs/fat casing so I can run lower psi and get more wrap-grip from the squishy tire. The 29x3" Chupacabra tires are ~884-895grams. They are excellent for my rocky/chunky terrain and handle rocks well. Not a huge difference in weight.
Stan's Flow EX rims: 490g
Sun Duroc 50 rims: 655g (not too shabby for something that's nearly double my Flow EX)
Compared to my Hope Pro-4 / DT Comp / Stan's Flow EX wheelset on my Komodo...sure, there's a bit of a perceivable difference. But my wheelset was almost $900. My entire Trek Stache was only $999.
If I had a $900 wheelset on the Stache, the numbers would be even closer together and the perception would be even more difficult to detect. I've got a boutique wheelset on one and an entry level on the other.
Weight is not the cause of any perceivable difference anyhoo IMO. It's the contact patch.
I think the biggest perceivable difference is when you're rolling on pavement. My Komodo is fairly snappy and the motor-up initial takeoff on the Stache is definitely noticeable. It has more to do with the larger contact patch than weight. The extra rubber on the ground does add an initial bit of resistance...but after the first couple of pedal strokes, it's all momentum.
The moment you hit the trail and all those bumps, the tables turn. I climbed things on the Stache that my 26" Heckler, 26" Komodo, 26" SS couldn't even begin to get traction on. I normally pick my lines wisely on my 26" which is fun IMO and I feel accomplished. But I intentionally pick some very straight and dill-holery lines on the Stache. When it just rolls through it, I just laugh. Chunky/rocky climbs? Glide right up.
As I motor toward rock-work, roots, etc...I find myself preparing to negotiate the obstacles... Yet when I get to them, it just rolls.
There is a little lens perspective foolery going on there making the difference appear greater than it really is.
Not much lens perspective foolery. I squatted to snap the picture and took it at the level of the wheelsets. 26" is about 26.3" and the 29x3 is about 30.5"...so you're looking at 4" difference.
