29ers Anyone?

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
| unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
| thought is about a
new
| bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers and liked them. Anyone
| here have any long term experience on them? Pros? Cons?
|
| Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

Just a personal observation. With these out for a few years
now, I have yet to see a single one of these roll into my
shop. Along with that, I'm not seeing very many parts in
support of these bikes being touted by parts vendors. Now,
that just may be because International Bicycle is a more
'family' type store and we don't get very many high-end MTBs
in the first place, but it suggests that getting
tires/wheels, etc. may be tough.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest,
just details. The Nelson Paradigm =^o.o^=
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The Nelson Paradigm said:

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news-
:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a new bike. I've ridden a couple of
29ers and liked them. Anyone here have any long term
experience on them? Pros? Cons?

Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

Just a personal observation. With these out for a few
years now, I have yet to see a single one of these roll
into my shop. Along with that, I'm not seeing very many
parts in support of these bikes being touted by parts
vendors. Now, that just may be because International
Bicycle is a more 'family' type store and we don't get
very many high-end MTBs in the first place, but it
suggests that getting tires/wheels, etc. may be tough.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest,
just details. The Nelson Paradigm =^o.o^=
intergalax.comintergalax.comOpen ↗ intbike.comintbike.comOpen ↗
_______
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (grisoft.comgrisoft.comOpen ↗).
Version: 6.0.682 / Virus Database: 444 - Release Date:
5/11/2004

That would be my exact sentiment. I don't see 29ers in ANY
of the LBS's around here. If they're prevalent in your area
and you like them, why not?

--
- Zilla Cary, NC (Remove XSPAM)

Gary in VA said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a new bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers
and liked them. Anyone here have any long term experience
on them? Pros? Cons?

I've demo'ed quite a few..... after we close in the house(s)
I think I'm gonna make Mark make me a 29", Disc, Single
Speed Habanero (with a bottle opener, of course ;-)

--
--
John G. in Memphis, TN Have a nice......... night.
shavings.netreflect john.jpgOpen ↗

Gary in VA said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a new bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers
and liked them. Anyone here have any long term experience
on them? Pros? Cons?

Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

Congratulations on the job!

My brother has a Karate Monkey built as an SS and he loves
it. It's definitely a fast roller and it has a rigid fork.
Pretty nice if you like the feel. I like cruising on a 29er
but it feels pretty cumbersome on tight rocky stuff compared
a 26er. I may eventually have one.

Matt

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a

new

Quoted message said:

bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers and liked them. Anyone
here have any long term experience on them? Pros? Cons?

I've got one and my experience is that they are a good bike
at everything and great at nothing. While that might sound
negative, it is not meant that way. I've ridden mine on the
road and not noticed much of a difference from a road bike.
I've ridden it on the trails and not noticed much of a
difference from a mountain bike. On dirt roads, it is better
than both.

That opens up a whole different world of riding to me by
making it fun to hook roads, trails and dirt roads
together, but it will never completely replace either my
road or mtn bike.

I got mine with a suspension fork and quickly realized, that
for me, it was not the way to go. It makes the bike too
heavy and the front end too high. Switched to a rigid fork
and really prefer it.

Think cyclocross bike that is more mountain than road. That
is how mine is set up, but you may prefer it another way.

As far as availability of tubes and etc, Kelly sells them
online (www.kellybike.com , under oe and other parts). My
bike shop has everything that I need.

Hope some of this is useful and good luck!

TM said:

I got mine with a suspension fork and quickly realized,
that for me, it was not the way to go. It makes the bike
too heavy and the front end too high. Switched to a rigid
fork and really prefer it.

What kinda fork? Want to sell it?-)

--
--
John G. in Memphis, TN Have a nice......... night.
shavings.netreflect john.jpgOpen ↗

"JG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What kinda fork? Want to sell it?-)

2003 Marzocchi 29" MX Comp, gray. Ridden <5 times. If you
can use it, I'll send it to you for shipping + whatever you
think is fair. I'm not going to be using it and it deserves
to be ridden.

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a new bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers
and liked them. Anyone here have any long term experience
on them? Pros? Cons?

Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

Crappy rim and tire selection.

JD

TM said:

"JG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What kinda fork? Want to sell it?-)

2003 Marzocchi 29" MX Comp, gray. Ridden <5 times. If you
can use it, I'll send it to you for shipping + whatever
you think is fair. I'm not going to be using it and it
deserves to be ridden.

Deal.

E-Mail me at [email hidden]

--
John G. in Memphis, TN Have a nice......... night.
shavings.netreflect john.jpgOpen ↗

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a

new

Quoted message said:

bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers and liked them.

Me, too. Though not a true mtn bike, a few months ago I was
farting around on a hybrid and I was amazed at how
incredibly fast and fun it was on the trails. It really got
me thinking about a 29"er.

Here's some eye candy: tinyurl.com2ztrnOpen ↗ (links to
cyclingnews.com)

Quoted message said:

Anyone here have any long term experience on them?
Pros? Cons?

Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a

new

Quoted message said:

bike. I've ridden a couple of 29ers and liked them. Anyone
here have any long term experience on them? Pros? Cons?

A buddy of ours rides a SS 29'r (a beautiful Strong frame).
He swears by the bike and rides it everywhere.

- CA-G

Can-Am Girls Kick Ass!

"Carla A-G" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

A buddy of ours rides a SS 29'r (a beautiful Strong
frame). He swears by

the

Quoted message said:

bike and rides it everywhere.

- CA-G

Strong is the maker I'm thinking about. Trying to choose
between them and Sycip.

Gary in VA

(JD) said:

Gary in VA said:

... Anyone here have any long term experience on them?
Pros? Cons?

Crappy rim and tire selection.

Yeah, but there's enough. And more all the time.

For tires there are too many semi-slick-ish tread patterns
and precious few more aggressive treads. But there is at
least one decent rear tread pattern (the WTB MotoRaptor 2.1)
and one really pretty good front tread (the Bonty Jones ACX
2.2). Traction tends to be better and more reliable, even
with relatively low or worn out knobs.

There are really plenty of rims. Not just beefier road rims,
but also offroad specific and disk specific rims.

They aren't for everyone. The rotating part of the wheel is
biggger, so given the same rim type, tire thicknes, etc,
it's all going to be heavier. You can make a pretty
lightweight 29" offroad wheelset, but it's going to tend to
be flexier and more fragile than an ultra-light 26".

They ride differently. Different in a way I like. I bought a
third-hand Fisher Supercal29 last fall to do a long-term
experiment. For my kind of riding, they work. It really only
took a few weeks for me to decide. Just received my new
custom Curtlo 29er last week. The only 26" bike I have now
is a beater early-90s StumpJumper that serves as my no-lock
townie bike. Cornering on dirt on a 26" bike feels skittery
to me now.

Give a 29er a test ride if you get a chance. They are pretty
interesting. Especially if you are a big rider anyway, like
6'1" or more, the wheels fit proportionally into the frame
design at least as well as "baby wheels". And they do have a
more robust way of rolling. You've really got to feel it for
yourself. Some people don't notice any compelling difference
from 26", but clearly others do.

And there are downsides. There *are* tire and wheel choices
(and we may get a new 2.35" bigwheel tire this season!), but
the fact that lots of regions have NO bigwheel retailing
presence is a real problem. When I travel to ride with my
big wheel, I make sure I have all the rubber products I'll
need when I leave home. You can't count on being able to
find the bigwheel stuff at a randomly chosen LBS.
--
Tom Purvis - arkansasvalley.nettpurvisOpen ↗
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article
<[email hidden]>, JD

Quoted message said:

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:-
<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a new bike. I've ridden a couple of
29ers and liked them. Anyone here have any long term
experience on them? Pros? Cons?

Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

Crappy rim and tire selection.

_ While there aren't 800 roughly identical tires, there
are enough to be getting on with. You will probably have
to deal with web/mail order to get what you want. One
thing to keep in mind is since the contact patch is
longer, you can generally run a smaller tire than you
might on a 26 in wheel. Personally, 44m WTB nanoraptors
seem as big as I'll ever need, but my 29'er is a Surly Cross-
Check with flat bars.

_ Booker C. Bense

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Does my 700c X 40 count.

I MTB 2004

[email hidden] wrote:
| Does my 700c X 40 count.
|
| I MTB 2004

I dunno, but I've got 700c x 45 on my full XT 'hybrid'!

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest,
just details. The Nelson Paradigm =^o.o^=
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Database: 444 - Release Date: 5/11/2004

Booker C. Bense <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article
<[email hidden]>, JD

Quoted message said:

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]-
k.net>...

Quoted message said:

I start a new job on Monday (after 18 months of
unemployment/underemployment) and of course my first
thought is about a new bike. I've ridden a couple of
29ers and liked them. Anyone here have any long term
experience on them? Pros? Cons?

Gary in VA (and staying in VA)

Crappy rim and tire selection.

_ While there aren't 800 roughly identical tires, there
are enough to be getting on with.

For you, but not for me. Subtle differences in tires are
noticed by an experenced rider. Barneys see tires as
"roughly identical".

Quoted message said:

You will probably have to deal with web/mail order to get
what you want.

Not in my 'hood. There are plenty of good LBSs that will get
them for me if I wanted.

Quoted message said:

One thing to keep in mind is since the contact patch is
longer, you can generally run a smaller tire than you
might on a 26 in wheel.

So, you've bought into the hype hook, line and sinker. You
obviously don't ride where I do. I want fat tires.

Quoted message said:

Personally, 44m WTB nanoraptors seem as big as I'll ever
need, but my 29'er is a Surly Cross-Check with flat bars.

That means, "you can disregard all I've had to say because I
don't ride a 29inch wheeled mountain bike".

As far as what Tom Purvis had to say, he can ramble on all
he wants about 29ers. I'm (as most other mountain bikers)
not buying it.

JD

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Carla A-G" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

A buddy of ours rides a SS 29'r (a beautiful Strong
frame). He swears by

the

Quoted message said:

bike and rides it everywhere.

- CA-G

Strong is the maker I'm thinking about. Trying to choose
between them and Sycip.

Gary in VA

Strong has Jason The Mutant welding for him now. Even so,
Strong is the better choice, especially for custom.

JD

(JD) said:

Booker C. Bense said:

JD said:

"Gary in VA" <[email hidden]> wrote:
> ... I've ridden a couple of 29ers and liked them.
> Anyone here have any long term experience on them?
> Pros? Cons?

Crappy rim and tire selection.

_ While there aren't 800 roughly identical tires, there
are enough to be getting on with.

For you, but not for me. Subtle differences in tires are
noticed by an experenced rider. Barneys see tires as
"roughly identical"... ...As far as what Tom Purvis had to
say, he can ramble on all he wants about 29ers. I'm (as
most other mountain bikers) not buying it.

So don't. I'm really not selling it. I tried to
describe it. FYI.

As for rambling on, well, everybody's good at something.
Maybe you should killfile me.

Why so much angst about this subject? Why should you care
if a few barneys like me roll around on different wheels
and rubber?
--
Tom Purvis - arkansasvalley.nettpurvisOpen ↗
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell