Anyone gone back to 27.5 plus?

I just bought a 27.5+ HT. Because it’s what I like riding. Not many choices out there.

I put 27.5 x 2.8's Rekons on my Niner Sir 9 this spring. It is wonderful! I swapped my 29er wheelset over for one ride and then put the 27.5's back on. I really like how the bike rides w/ the 27.5's, they perform better on tighter and twister trails. And I get all day comfort of a steel frame and taller sidewalls. I am overall faster on my 29er FS bike though. But not every ride is about speed.

27.5+ tires seem to be easy to come by. 29+ tires appear to be harder to find with limited selection. I've been pricing out building a set of 29+ wheels for one of my fatbikes, but I am not seeing the benefit considering I already have a 27.5+ bike that I enjoy riding. I guess between 27.5 x 3.8's vs 29 x 3.0's, I will stick w/ the 3.8's.

My quiver includes bikes with these wheels:
27.5 x 2.8
29 x 2.6
29 x 3
They're all good. If somebody put a gun to my head and told me I had to get rid of all but one wheel size, I'd keep the 29 x 2.6. Best all around for my needs.
But I'd cry a lot about losing all the other wheels.
=sParty

True that! If my niner fit a 29 x 2.6 in back. That would be the setup I would use. My xr4 29 x 2.4 almost rubs...

29ers suck for me. I have a plus hardtail and it’s so much fun.

So many of them today can be ridden with 27.5+. You have a lot more options than you think.

I rode a 29er hard tail and a 26” trail bike. Now I ride a 29er enduro and a 27.5 plus trail bike. Both are fun to ride for different reasons. I wouldn’t get hung up on wheel size. Try to beg borrow rent or ride as many bikes in both wheel sizes as you can and go with what feels right. These days it’s hard to go wrong with any respected brand.

I have two 27.5+ bikes and have no plan to replace them, use to have 29 wheelsets for them both but really didn't care for it.

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I haven't gotten along all that well with 27.5+. I understand the desire on a rigid or HT but overall I find them to have too many compromises and go back to my 29ers with 2.4/2.5" tires.

I have one set of 27.5+ wheels in the garage and they are on my daughters bike, it's a rigid Salsa Timberjack and plus tires I think work great for her and her riding.

I contemplated swapping them onto my RSD to give them another shot, but I need to buy a microspline freehub for that wheelset and that has proved to be just enough of a barrier for me to have done nothing about it.

natas1321 said:

I have two 27.5+ bikes and have no plan to replace them, use to have 29 wheelsets for them both but really didn't care for it.

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What did you prefer about them that made you go back?

FrankS29 said:

...but overall I find them to have too many compromises...

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What kinds deterred you from it?

29+ was never as popular as 27.5+ so they're going to be harder to find. 27.5+ will probably be around for a long time but there are definitely way less new 27.5+ bikes being sold. Personally, I never cared for plus tires.

jeremy3220 said:

29+ was never as popular as 27.5+ so they're going to be harder to find. 27.5+ will probably be around for a long time but there are definitely way less new 27.5+ bikes being sold. Personally, I never cared for plus tires.

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I've liked 29+ personally when I've rode them, but was mainly referring to 27.5+ vs regular 29er (2.3-2.6ish) in this thread. I've gone back and forth trying to figure out which I like better as a primary bike/setup. For a while it was + but now that I've spent some more time on 29, I'm understanding some more of the benefits (primarily rollover and momentum for me). I do like the volume/added cushion and traction of plus, but am seeing how it can feel a little vague/muted when riding.

AdamBike said:

What kinds deterred you from it?

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Durability, vague cornering, undamped rebound, traction in certain conditions and not as good rollover advantage as a 29er.

For my trails and riding preference, I just kept going back to 29ers with 2.4" tires.

FrankS29 said:

Durability

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Didn't consider much about that... as in the sidewalls or some other aspect being weaker than 29s?

jeremy3220 said:

29+ was never as popular as 27.5+ so they're going to be harder to find. 27.5+ will probably be around for a long time but there are definitely way less new 27.5+ bikes being sold. Personally, I never cared for plus tires.

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Hmmm.. do we suppose 29+ isn't as popular as 27.5+ because 29+ is harder to find or that 29+ is harder to find because it isn't as popular as 27.5+?
FWIW I have both and prefer 29+ but have the impression that not as many riders have tried it. Seems there are far fewer frames available that accommodate 29+ wheels/tires.
Sorry to take this thread in a tangential direction but I'm genuinely curious.
=sParty

In my experience, to keep weight in check on plus tires manufacturers are forced to use thinner sidewalls and cut material.

This leads to durability concerns, but also exacerbates vague, unsupported cornering when running proper pressures.

When you bring up pressure to compensate, you start to get a ton of rebound from the tire.

Sparticus said:

Hmmm.. do we suppose 29+ isn't as popular as 27.5+ because 29+ is harder to find or that 29+ is harder to find because it isn't as popular as 27.5+?
FWIW I have both and prefer 29+ but have the impression that not as many riders have tried it. Seems there are far fewer frames available that accommodate 29+ wheels/tires.
Sorry to take this thread in a tangential direction but I'm genuinely curious.
=sParty

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Beats me, I'm just saying that 29+ is going to die before 27.5+

FrankS29 said:

Durability, vague cornering, undamped rebound, traction in certain conditions

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This is why enduro and DH have settled around 2.3-2.5". In terrain other than hardpack the grip really comes from the knobs penetrating the dirt. That's why MTB tires have knobs and not a tread pattern like a road tire. Now for climbing, nothing beats a knobby aired down plus tire for grip but for cornering you generally are relying on the cornering knobs penetrating the soil.

Just fit my riding style better, like how they the rollover ability but have sharper steering than the 29's I used. Over a period of a year and some I was faster on my hightower with the 27.5+ setup than my hightower with the 29's on my local trails. Also the bike just felt more playful with the 27.5's.

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