Is 29er the new norm today?

gat3keeper said:

For those who have access to nice bike parks (whistler,etc)... are there more rider using 29 or 27.5?

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Not at all scientific but here’s an informal survey:

Big wheels just make more sense on rough terrain. Their advantage was held back by:

1) Crappy geo - usually long chainstays that made the front feel heavier, which resulted in poor handling. You might think that extra weight on the front is good for traction, but bikes works counter-intuitively. The front wheel will want to take-a-digger (push) in turns when there's too much weight on it, breaking traction due to the ground shearing. The body instinctively knows this and will subconsciously get its weight back, but that is not a strong position for cornering compared to having the chin over the stem (and shoulders over the bar).

People would judge bikes by how easy they were to manual. It was important to those in the know, but some others couldn't rationalize with this method of judgement. People tried to counter this issue with lightweight wheels, tires, handlebar, frame, etc. All this helped, but I'd say that it was finally addressed by extending the front wheel further out (slacker HA, longer reach, longer fork). This had the effect of making the body's CoG closer to the rear, further from the front. Balance was regained, with a longer front-center to match the longer CS. Some 29ers balanced things with a shorter CS instead, but they tended to not be as fast as long wheelbase options; they were more like big-wheeled BMX bikes (Honzo, Riot).

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2) Parts that were too flimsy. The wheels increased in size, but the rest of the bike did not increase proportionally. Weight weenie movement didn't help either. Carbon was selling due to the promise of stiffness. Carbon's too expensive for many, so new standards rolled out to address the issue - tapered steerer, bigger fork stanchions, boost spacing, wider rims...

People slowly opened up to trying heavier tires, rims, and even inserts, on top of living with other heavier parts. Long wheelbase geo masked how heavy the extra weight felt. Heavier-duty parts became more of a norm, seeing multiple brands offering options. For example, a Fox 36 seemed pretty heavy-duty until the 38 came out--now people consider a 36 a mid-travel option. The Fox 34 today seems like a very light-duty trail option compared to back in 2012.

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29 wheels were adopted for XC race and trail bikes early on, since these crowds didn't really care much for balanced geo nor heavy-duty parts. The logic was that whatever worked for the winning XC racers, should have been good enough for the general populace. When everyone was on mostly the same equipment in the races, rider fitness and skill were mostly responsible for differences, so equipment progress was kind of slow, with racers simply demanding lower weight and more efficient power transfer.

The gravity scene wasn't willing to give up their dialed geo and stout parts. It wasn't until these things were solved that they found that bigger wheels were truly superior. Still, they notice some downsides like the rear tire buzzing their ass when they bottom out the bike's suspension and their own lower body's suspension. Gee Atherton had a high profile crash caused by slamming hit butt on his rear (mullet 27.5 rear) on a big huck, that was caught on film (Athertons in "The Knife Edge").

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Long story short, it's improper to generalize. People called 29ers a fad due to fanatic hyping. 29er wheels aren't so good that discerning people would choose them over an equivalent smaller wheeled option with better geo and stouter parts. For example, I'd take a Vitus Sentier 27 over a Vitus Sentier 29, since the 29er version has ~15mm longer chainstay which spoils the handling. The cheapo 29er wheels are also weaker than 27.5 wheels, and the 29er fork of equivalent travel will be flexier (less predictability and less confidence-inspiring). Among high-end expensive options, a vast majority of bikes that make it to my best-of-the-best list are long wheelbase 29ers.

I'm compiling your posts from multiple threads:

gat3keeper said:

I live in South East Asia and brands here for sale are very limited. Not much of choices. However, there are some brands that is being sold occasionally at our local shop and one of them is Evil.

Any feedback on this brand? How's the frame? Riding feel? etc ... ?


Where is it made?

What is your model recommendation for trail/enduro riding?

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gat3keeper said:

Im riding an xc fs as of the moment.

However, lately Ive been introduced to proper bike park (more technical) in my area, Im shopping now for a new bike with longer suspension.

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gat3keeper said:

Going down is kinda technical, switchback, berns, roots, rock garden, in short... Not that flowy.


Anyway, Aside from comfort, longer travel rear suspension means hard to climb?

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gat3keeper said:

On the trail Im riding, what comes down, must go up... Hehe.. meaning, if we descend 5km.. we need to go up 5km as well to exit the trail.

So which rear travel length is ideal for this?

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gat3keeper said:

I'm now leaning towards enduro biking and looking for my next bike. What are the pros using?

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gat3keeper said:

Nice!!!

I'm also eyeing for the Insurgent... what is the fork travel recommendation for this frame?

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gat3keeper said:

Lately, I've been browsing for various bike brand website and noticed that there are more 29er for sale then 27.5... should I jump to 29er if buying a new model bike?

Watching previous XC races, they are all 29ers... on EWS... most are using 29... in DH... mostly 29 as well.


I know that there are endless debate regarding wheel size but I'm the type of rider that kinda leans towards latest tech/geometry for biking. Is 29er the future?

For those who have access to nice bike parks (whistler,etc)... are there more rider using 29 or 27.5?

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It sounds like you have a trail or trails on which you need to pedal up a fair amount before riding down, and that the trails are technically challenging. You also want to start riding more bike park, maybe lift-served.

How tall are you? If you're really tall then maybe a 29er would be better. If you're really short then maybe 27.5" would be better. If you're somewhere in the middle height then either wheel size would be fine.

Since you live in SE Asia, how is your ability to get replacement tires, rims, spokes? If it's no problem getting either size then it doesn't really make a difference.

Taking into consideration what you've posted, I think the Insurgent would be a fine choice. The Offering or Wreckoning would also be good. I have a 2018 Evil Wreckoning LB as my trail bike that I use for basically everything other than bike parks (I have a DH bike for that) and it's great. The suspension is responsive both up and down, even with 161mm rear travel. It's built to take the abuse of aggressive riding and it's held up really well. It's also pretty quiet, which is great for me since I can't stand click, creaky, squeaky bikes.

You wouldn't go wrong with any of those three bikes. What's available? That's the bigger hurdle.

I'm only 5'6" , always in between sizes of almost all bike brands..

I always choose medium. Since its more comfortable.

I have 29er xc fs bike. 120mm fork.. not sure of the rear. (have to check). I also have 29er xc ht bike. Nothing fancy, but decent with ok components like rs recon/deore drivetrain. As you can see, i used to prefer xc type of terrain and riding on flat trail parks and occasional xc trail.. nothing too technical.

Until recently, I was introduced to proper bike trail/bike park (no lift though) as we dont have it here. Haha. Thats why I mentioned on my previous post that most trails here will start from the top. Then in order to go back or exit.. you need to pedal way up.

While my xc bike is ok... Im pretty sure i will be needing enduro or trail bike for more advance sections of the trail. We also have areas here specific for enduro/dh trail where competition is being held.

The reason I ask if 29er is a new norm is because, some website that I browsed seem to have more 29er now than it used to be. For xc bikes, no problem, since it is almost given to have 29 wheels. But for trail/enduro, I dont have any idea. Never had nor ridden any before. I just noticed on my local trails, most are using 27.5. Well, thats expected. We are Asian. avg height is 5'4 to 5'7". Taller guys seem to get 29er though.

Until recently, some guys are beginning to ride 29er.

Regarding brand choice. We dont have have much choices here compare to US/Euro market. Kinda funny is, we all know that most bikes are being made in SE Asia but we have limited access to none.

Anyway, the reason I keep coming back on this forum is Im learning a lot. Most people will give feedback based on their experiences which is a good source of information.

By the way, Im not a pro. Im in my 40s trying to pedal as much as I could to stay healthy. Hehe.



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