[jdog]

Like it or not 29" wheeled bikes are selling. Giant is off the back on this and it is a shame. I work at at shop where we sell Giant, Haro, Cannondale, Salsa, Seven..etc..

All the other major brands have embraced 29ers and they are actually SELLING!

I would love to see an Anthem 29er. I could and would sell many.

I just don' t get it.

Any thoughts??


My thought was that all the bike product devo guys at giant must be less than 5'-5"..

 

[EGF168]

Your title suggests there will be no Giant 29ers in 2009 but you didn't say in you post, have you been given the full list of 09 bikes by Giant yet?

 

[jdog]

Your title suggests there will be no Giant 29ers in 2009 but you didn't say in you post, have you been given the full list of 09 bikes by Giant yet?

I have not been given a full list but my rep is certian that NO 29er is in the lineup/

 

[JonathanGennick]

It is amazing to me that Giant is holding back on entering the 29er market. They are leaving money on the table. They are ignoring their customers. They risk missing the "tipping point". They are probably frustrating their dealers. Giant makes good bikes. They'd make a great 29er, I'm sure. A 29er Maestro trail bike along the lines of the Trance X (or even the Reign) would be wonderful.

 

[EGF168]

Agreed but in the last 2 years here in the UK when I go to my favourite riding place which I'll probably see about 50 other riders at, I've seen ONE 29er in 2 years, this is a seriously popular place to ride, I'm seeing a lot of interest on here but nowhere else.

I'm not against 29ers at all though, if they brought out a nice Anthem X 29er I'd do my best to buy it.

 

[JonathanGennick]

...when I go to my favourite riding place which I'll probably see about 50 other riders at, I've seen ONE 29er in 2 years...

I suppose it's possible that 29ers just are not as popular and widespread as those of us who ride them would like to think. Truthfully, I don't see them very often either, but I believe that's due more to inertia than to anything else. Most people whom I know are still riding whatever bike they bought years ago, and they probably will not buy a new bike until their current ride breaks, which might be never. So I expect to see a preponderance of 26ers in my town for some time to come.

The thing is, it is difficult for me to see myself ever buying a 26-inch bike again. Never say never -- I don't want to be dogmatic, but it's unlikely. And my 12-year-old son just told me this week -- after riding my 29er for a bit -- that he wants a 29er, and that I shouldn't bother to ever buy him another 26-inch bike. Thus, Giant is completely missing out on me as a customer. And I do spend a fair bit of money on bikes. (I also really like their Meastro suspension, and I'd love to have access to it).

I suppose, given Giant's size and the volume of merchandise that they need to move, that they may see it as more profitable to wait until if and when 29ers begin selling in much greater velocities than currently. Maybe for them it really is too early for 29ers be profitable.

p.s. Most dealers still treat 26 as the "default" size. Except for the local Gary Fisher dealer, the dealers near me have only a few, token 29ers in stock. If you go in to buy a bike, they will lead you to a 26-inch bike unless you know to ask for anything else.

 

[Benno]

29ers are really popular around here. We had our big 24 hour race (Summer Solstice) and the amount of 29ers there was amazing. I agree Giant is missing out.

 

[locustfist]

29ers are an American thing. Giant is a big global presence, and the biggest growing segment of riding is the freeride and aggressive AM movement.

yeah 29ers are big, especially with the west coast goaters...at certain spots here in SoCal the most common bike is a single speed 29er

 

[mountainbiker24]

The few people that I have seen with 29" wheels said they didn't live up to their expectations. I'm not saying that some people don't love theirs or that there isn't a market for them, because there obviously is, but I don't understand the point of 29" wheels. Personally, I have enough trouble keeping my 26" wheels to stay true and still be light. Besides, isn't the whole point of mountain biking the obstacles and irregularities in the trail? If you want a perfectly smooth, boring ride, get a friggin road bike. Giant makes a lot of those. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but there are reasons that 29er's are few and far between.

 

[jdog]

Here is New Jersey you will see more 29ers than 26ers at times. At a recent race it seemed that every new bike was a 29er while the 26ers were all old bikes.

 

[EGF168]

Some people are just buying 29ers to jump on trend or because they haven't tried them before they bought them and thought they were amazing where as I if I bought a 29er I'd have a reason, all the Bridleways were I live are very ruff going over horse hoof marks, so I'd like one to iron out some of the small size trail chatter.

 

[mountainbiker24]

29ers make sense for small trail chatter like horse tracks. I still believe that most people buy them for something different or because of all the hype. To each his own. I guess if I was in charge at Giant, it'd be a difficult decision to make, based on sales alone. Maybe after all of the wrinkles get ironed out by the smaller companies, they'll jump on the bandwagon. I hope they don't, unless there is so much pressure from the public that they can't pass up on the potential sales. This is one of those few times when the little guys can make a name for themselves.

 

[yarrahappinni]

On my car I have a demo cannondale 29er and my 08 giant trance to do a comparo. First ride was around a local 9.5km XC track. The trance was 1 minute faster (30min lap) but the Cannondale was foreign to me and had crap brakes so maybe today when I ride some more I may be faster on the 29er?

I like others never seen a 29er on a local scale (in shops) and when I pull up to people they look and than look again, thus a conversation starts. But for performance the 29er isn't there (and probalby won't) so Giant will look at it and go that's a nice bike but not a mass market item and we mass produce bikes and the best value.

Yes the 29er is a useful bike but I get better performance and a better ride out of my trance, so why bother, or is it just North American marketing hype to get you to add another hook on the wall? Before I shut the book I would like to try a Gary Fisher Superfly, which is a race 29er.

If Giant did think to get into the 29er market I reckon you will only see it in there rec range and that is a real good place for a long haul 29 inch wheel bike and spec wise the Cannondale is also about there (cable disc brakes, what are they thinking)

FYI: The cannondale is lighter than my trance (11.3kg), but it looks like a brick.

 

[Benno]

come to Ontario and you can get whooped by any number of expert and elite riders that use 29ers. I think it is a myth that they are slower. It is all what you are used to and is personal preference. I am sure they are faster for some people. Personally they don't work for me but I'd be willing to try one every once in a while to make sure.

 

[yarrahappinni]

Not to be a negative person I tried the 29er again today and I am convinced the 26" Trance is a better bike. It handles the tight stuff better, goes over the rough stuff better but the
29er is a good looking toy, but that's it for me. Put a set of slicks on them and enjoy riding them on fire trials. For all you "mountain" riders stick with your reigns, trances & anthems. giant corp aren't dumb, they've done their homework the 29er isn't an improvement on what they have.

Trying hard to convince myself the 29er is a better rolling machine I raced a 26er up a fire trial. Ok the result was in favour of the 29er but it wasn't in line with all the hype and nett result and the 26er was on my tail but he couldn't pass me (a former expert NZ XC champion).

I'm not totally against a 29er range but better results will come from improving the the anthem & trance ranges. My poor old trance was up against a top of the line scott spark and a couple of Cannondale machines and it held its own, so pooring money into improving a proven machine would be better than cashing in on a marketing hypo machine.

I am playing on the 29er with the view of upgrading my trance to an 09 machine but the 29er just didn't do it for me. I'm up for suggestions for the best long distance race machine.

 

[jdog]

On my car I have a demo cannondale 29er and my 08 giant trance to do a comparo. First ride was around a local 9.5km XC track. The trance was 1 minute faster (30min lap) but the Cannondale was foreign to me and had crap brakes so maybe today when I ride some more I may be faster on the 29er?

I like others never seen a 29er on a local scale (in shops) and when I pull up to people they look and than look again, thus a conversation starts. But for performance the 29er isn't there (and probalby won't) so Giant will look at it and go that's a nice bike but not a mass market item and we mass produce bikes and the best value.

Yes the 29er is a useful bike but I get better performance and a better ride out of my trance, so why bother, or is it just North American marketing hype to get you to add another hook on the wall? Before I shut the book I would like to try a Gary Fisher Superfly, which is a race 29er.

If Giant did think to get into the 29er market I reckon you will only see it in there rec range and that is a real good place for a long haul 29 inch wheel bike and spec wise the Cannondale is also about there (cable disc brakes, what are they thinking)

FYI: The cannondale is lighter than my trance (11.3kg), but it looks like a brick.

This is hardly a fair test.. You tested YOUR personal full suspension bike against a demo 29er hardtail.

To get more real world results you might consider riding a 29er dual Sus bike or a 26" hardtail.

Clearly riding a hardtail of any wheel size is different than a dual Sus bike.

I am glad that you did at least ride a 29er as many people say that they do not like them but when questioned it turns out that they have never even ridden one.

29ers are not for everyone but with world class racers now using the big wheels for better results, people will begin to take more notice.:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=427555

The real point of my first post was that while 29ers might not be for everyone, they are certainly not a passing fad or a marketing scheme. Giant is missing a great chance and loosing some hard earned market share. I hope they are reading this.

 

[JonathanGennick]

On my car I have a demo cannondale 29er and my 08 giant trance to do a comparo. First ride was around a local 9.5km XC track. The trance was 1 minute faster (30min lap)

It's not always about speed. There are other aspects to consider. I won't rehash them, because there are 10,000 threads already that do.

If Giant didn't create such good bikes, I wouldn't care so much about their lack of a 29er. It's precisely because I like their bikes that I wish they'd jump into the 29er market.

 

[jdog]

You certainly can buy a 29er Built by Giant. It just won't say Giant on it.

Giant makes bikes for many other companies. Certainly they make some other companies 29er??