I ride both a 26x2.6 and a 29. If you do get a 29", you'd get a 2.1 or
2.2" tyre, cos anything less is silly for muni (yep I've tried it).
For the last 5 months, I've been forced to ride only 29er, because I'm
abroad, and only have the Schlumpf 29er with me. So I've been exploring
what a 29er can ride. The 29er is significantly harder to ride down
technical stuff. However, if you keep at it, practice a lot, and go for
it hard, you can really bomb down things.
I've just come back from riding one of our local downhill tracks on the
29er, it's only a 'single black diamond', which on these trails
basically means that there are no drops above about 6 inches, and
nothing that would make you poo yourself on a bike. There are some
pretty cool obstacles though, like one section theres a set of 6 or 7
wood steps followed by a wooden bridge, followed by a drop, and it's
mainly pretty steep too.
On anything flat, if it's smooth singletrack, the 29 has a slight edge
speedwise, but very little over a 26x2.6. Once it becomes a bit more
technical, I think the difference evens out, and once you have to
really throw the uni around, I think the 26 probably has an advantage.
Climbing wise, on tarmac, I'd rather have the 29er, on easy fire roads,
there's little between them, for technical climbing, there's no
competition, the 26 wins hands down.
The other thing about 29ers, is that with the lighter tyre, I find I
crash harder on the 29er. It's gets caught on stuff more often, and
because it's so light, it seems to affect it more. Because you're using
a narrower tyre, you have to ride closer to the edge of your ability to
power over things if you're ever going to get anywhere. You're also a
little bit higher up, and generally riding slightly faster. I've got
some big old cuts at the moment, cos I chucked myself down a cliff face
the other day riding rocky singletrack on the 29er, fortunately no
serious injuries.
For a first muni, I'd always recommend a 26 (or a 24 if you want to buy
a KH muni). A 29 is only worth using as a muni once you've developed
the skills and leg strength to ride it over technical terrain. For
someone good, a 29 is kind of fun to ride, and can sometimes be very
fast, but if you get one straight away, you risk being stuck on easy
trails, and not developing the technical skills to hit anything
harder.
Joe
--
joemarshall
my pics http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albuq44
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