[jollybeggar]

I know there was a show of hands for those riding singlespeeds, I don't know the
percentage but from what I saw it must been a large number. 100% of the Flo-town riders were on singlespeeds, Milt on his vintage Surly and me on my new Mary SS.

I remember wondering after a few miles of Whypass if I'd ever ride my geary again, I had
so much fun and the 29er was an awesome ride. I was curious about others who've made the step up to big wheels, what are your impressions of your 29" bikes vs your 26" rides. I know Shiggy, Albee and others are riding 29"/SS I'd be interested to know what you like about your 29ers.

I'm fairly new to SSing, I built up a 26" SS bike from my old Trek hardtail about 8 months ago and loved it. So as a reward for working my butt off this year I bought myself the Mary SS, Whypass was only my second ride on the 29er. It may have been new bike euphoria but I felt like I was on wings. The big wheels just wanted to keep turning, when I started to slide through the muddy corners I just let off the breaks and the bike seemed right itself, and pedaling actually felt easier. Again it may just be that I'm excited about the new bike but I'm impressed with the performance of the larger wheels.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Jolly

 

[Albee]

Sometimes it's harder to get those wheels a-goin', but when you do, it rocks. I can go over bigger stumps and logs pretty easily, so it's also getting my confidence up for technical stuff that I might not do otherwise.

Looking forward to tonight's ride....Alpine Trail....yummy....

It'll be the most extended climbing I've done yet on a single, on the 29er....on the 29er single! (I've only been riding SS for 2 months, and the 29er is only a week and a half old.)I'm sure I'll be fine on the climbs; some of the SS'ers in the group ride steep climbs like they were going downhill, so how hard can it be?!? Must be the bike!

 

[Meat Foot]

Interested to hear your thoughts.

All of you Nancy boys running larger wheels to compensate for your short comings. Kidding, y'all. I have ridden a 29er twice, zero mud encounters though. Like what Albee said, it seems to take just a fraction of a thought longer to get the larger diameter wheels moving (duh). But, when you do, I find that they hold a line better. My next bike will probably be a 29er, I have successfully consumed the Kool-Aid twice and liked it. I did get a little tipsy both times I will consider running 180 cranks, as opposed to 175s on my other 26ers, in addition to running something like 34:22 or 34:21. I ran my mud (outta shape "meat jacket" to quote Sparty) gear on the 26er at ACM3 which is a 34:22 and rather liked the extra spin. My normal is 34:20 and I have run 34:19 when I felt saucy.

One ride was in So.Cal. and the other was at Fall BC riding on a trail I was familiar with. Other than my riding skills, there was no apparent drawback (ride quality) to the larger format wheels. Everything that could be railed on a 6er could be done larger.

Good riding with you all at ACM3!

Cheers!

 

[todd_freeride]

I considered a 29" SS before I built up my 26" SS. I liked it, rode it around, great fun. but I am more an AM rider. I'm used to technical DH so not much on my 5" hardtail is going to scare me. I would have gone 29, but its just a little too much XC for me. also I need my bike to be very flickable on the trails.

so instead of 29, I went 26" hardtail with 5" of travel. think I made a wise choice, I may not be as fast, but I'll be having more fun in the rockgardens and jumps