[asunder]

Good lord, I'm so torn... Complete analysis paralysis and I need your help...

I'm settled on the norco sight but am not settled on wheel size... Which way should I go? What would you do and why?
I'm 5'8"and a solid blue /black rider, happy doing trail riding all day and bordering on enduro on a good day.

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[bachman1961]

Good lord, I'm so torn... Complete analysis paralysis and I need your help...

I'm settled on the norco sight but am not settled on wheel size... Which way should I go? What would you do and why?
I'm 5'8"and a solid blue /black rider, happy doing trail riding all day and bordering on enduro on a good day.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

What have you been riding? Are you transitioning from 26" ? Do you have a bike that has been working well and fits you good. Why are you getting a new bike ?

You got to go with what you feel. I think you need to trail demo the two sizes because the common thread will likely be frame size. You'd be a medium , right ? Comparing two mediums with the different wheels should 'speak to you'. If that test ride option exists, you got to DO IT ! The kinesthetic experience beats charts, geo graphics, sales brochures and opinions. :thumbsup:

I'm late 50's and wanted a playful bike that I would not be rip-snorting around on with any hellacious moves, drops or speeds. (The bike will do all that and more, just not my method these days). Even at almost 5'11" I went medium frame for some extra muscle and control. Not sure if I would have steered to 29" because 27.5 was the only choice once I figured out the bike I wanted.
My guess is there is nothing about 29" that won't work fine for 5'8" but I wonder if you poll others that tested and bought, the results might lean to 27.5 for the under 5' 10" crowd.

 

[asunder]

What have you been riding? Are you transitioning from 26" ? Do you have a bike that has been working well and fits you good. Why are you getting a new bike ?

You got to go with what you feel. I think you need to trail demo the two sizes because the common thread will likely be frame size. You'd be a medium , right ? Comparing two mediums with the different wheels should 'speak to you'. If that test ride option exists, you got to DO IT ! The kinesthetic experience beats charts, geo graphics, sales brochures and opinions.

I'm late 50's and wanted a playful bike that I would not be rip-snorting around on with any hellacious moves, drops or speeds. (The bike will do all that and more, just not my method these days). Even at almost 5'11" I went medium frame for some extra muscle and control. Not sure if I would have steered to 29" because 27.5 was the only choice once I figured out the bike I wanted.
My guess is there is nothing about 29" that won't work fine for 5'8" but I wonder if you poll others that tested and bought, the results might lean to 27.5 for the under 5' 10" crowd.

Yes all good points. I'm coming off a yeti sb5 27.5, and also have a 29er Stanton Sherpa.
I have actually ridden both and felt good on both wheel sizes.. I think that's what is making this difficult!

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[S​​usspect]

Yes all good points. I'm coming off a yeti sb5 27.5, and also have a 29er Stanton Sherpa.
I have actually ridden both and felt good on both wheel sizes.. I think that's what is making this difficult!

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Educate me, is the Sight frame the same regardless of which wheel size you go with? If it is, you can just pick one with your gut and then get an extra wheelset later or borrow from your Sherpa (if it's boost). I have a FS bike and a Torrent HT that share wheelsets back and forth, it's the best.

 

[bachman1961]

Educate me, is the Sight frame the same regardless of which wheel size you go with? If it is, you can just pick one with your gut and then get an extra wheelset later or borrow from your Sherpa (if it's boost). I have a FS bike and a Torrent HT that share wheelsets back and forth, it's the best.

Gotcha. Heck, you know what your doin. I see the dilemma. Does the 'hype' of one size and supposed benefits appeal to your type of riding more than the other ? It sounds like your preferred riding style is changing some. Good luck.

 

[Thaumaturge]

I’m about the same height as you. I brought home a 29er Sight this year, but have to admit, I wasn't really considering the smaller wheels. I sold a 27.5” bike to buy the Sight.

Pretty much all of my riding involves significant singletrack climbs, and the rollover advantages of the 29er sold me on that size. It's a little tougher to get it going, but much easier to keep it going.

What I do find is that for tight, jumpy trails, this is not the ideal bike. I had a great example of that last week. Tried a new trail that is about 300m of little tabletops, hips, and step-downs, and it was the first time I missed the smaller wheel size. The big wheels will do it, but it's harder.

Love this bike, though. The traction is incredible, and it's so capable (almost) everywhere. I feel like Norco really nailed the “All Mountain” categorization with this one, which is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[asunder]

I'm about the same height as you. I brought home a 29er Sight this year, but have to admit, I wasn't really considering the smaller wheels. I sold a 27.5" bike to buy the Sight.

Pretty much all of my riding involves significant singletrack climbs, and the rollover advantages of the 29er sold me on that size. It's a little tougher to get it going, but much easier to keep it going.

What I do find is that for tight, jumpy trails, this is not the ideal bike. I had a great example of that last week. Tried a new trail that is about 300m of little tabletops, hips, and step-downs, and it was the first time I missed the smaller wheel size. The big wheels will do it, but it's harder.

Love this bike, though. The traction is incredible, and it's so capable (almost) everywhere. I feel like Norco really nailed the "All Mountain" categorization with this one, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks this is encouraging! Are you still able to do jumps etc or do you tend to avoid them? I think as my overall fitness decreases with recent fatherhood and age I'm tending to do more gravity stuff.. My background though is xc and I do still like to climb.

The difficult thing is that my understanding of tight techy riding will vary from another person's, so it's difficult to really imagine the point at where one wheel size will benefit over another

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[asunder]

I'm about the same height as you. I brought home a 29er Sight this year, but have to admit, I wasn't really considering the smaller wheels. I sold a 27.5" bike to buy the Sight.

Pretty much all of my riding involves significant singletrack climbs, and the rollover advantages of the 29er sold me on that size. It's a little tougher to get it going, but much easier to keep it going.

What I do find is that for tight, jumpy trails, this is not the ideal bike. I had a great example of that last week. Tried a new trail that is about 300m of little tabletops, hips, and step-downs, and it was the first time I missed the smaller wheel size. The big wheels will do it, but it's harder.

Love this bike, though. The traction is incredible, and it's so capable (almost) everywhere. I feel like Norco really nailed the "All Mountain" categorization with this one, which is exactly what I was looking for.

How do you reckon it would compare to say a Fuel EX, Or a stumpy, in terms of ride character?

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[Thaumaturge]

Ha, so many similarities! Our younger daughter will be three this summer, so I’m currently 25 lbs heavier than I was before she was born. Wouldn't trade it, but kids are tough on the waistline. I don’t have a strong background in XC, though. Always tended to prefer to let gravity do the work, but in recent years I would say I value both the climbs and descents equally. Or ... almost.

I don’t have any experience with the Fuel EX or Stumpy, unfortunately. We don’t have local dealers for Trek or Specialized, so I didn’t demo them. Not much help there.

I can definitely get this thing airborne, and that's as fun as ever, but at lower speeds it's noticeably more work than it was with smaller wheels. Once you get moving at a decent clip it feels pretty nimble, but most bikes do, I guess.

For climbing, at the spec level I chose (2018 A2), the weight of the wheels is working a bit against me. They're okay for now, but they're definitely on the chopping block when my budget allows for something lighter.

Getting back to my current fitness/fatness, Strava tells me that I’m faster on most descents now than I was even on my 160mm 26” bike from those days when I was that much fitter and lighter, so that's impressive to me. Just tonight I PR'd a segment that I have I think over 50 attempts at going back to 2014. The more I ride it, the more I think this is a solid contender for favourite bike ever.

 

[rlee]

At 5'8" I would ride a 29. But I would also demo a large and see how it feels.

 

[clintj]

The smaller wheels are a little more playful, sure. I found the 29er to fit my riding style better, which could best be described as semi truck: slow but steady uphill, occasionally looking for a runaway truck ramp downhill.

The geo and bigger wheels make the Sight fast as a thief downhill, but still very willing to take input and carve corners. The suspension supports you well for preloading jumps and handling drops, too. You'll feel a little challenged if your trails require you to make hard, fast cuts around trees and switchbacks, though. It takes just a hair longer to get the bike to kick over for those kind of things vs the 27.5 model.

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[asunder]

Thanks team, I'm about 16 hours away from pulling the trigger on a c2 27.5!

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[Thaumaturge]

Did you do it? Do you like it? Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[asunder]

Got it tonight.. A 2019 C2 27.5

First ride on Monday... I can't wait....

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[Thaumaturge]

Nice!