29" MTBs

Colin Blackburn said:

And, do any serious MTB riders use bikes with 29" wheels?

I think they've been in common use in Kalifornia for a few
years, but until recently were illegal in UCI-sanctioned
events, presumably to keep those pesky 'cross bikes out.
However, while looking at the Romans'^H^H^H^H^H^H^HUCI's
gruesomely-overhauled web site the other day, I noticed
that they have changed Rule 1.9.3 from 26 to 29 inches as
of Jan 1st this year.

--

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
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Colin Blackburn posted ...

Quoted message said:

At the weekend the Independent supplement had the 50 top
bikes listed (in the opinion of two of their technology
writers!) No big surprises, some folders, some road bikes,
some MTBs and lost of hybrids. And the new Chopper. No
recumbents. One bike that caught my eye was a Gary Fisher
MTB with 29" wheels at about 700 quid. The blurb went on
about it riding over rough stuff better.

ISTR that early MTBs had wheels larger than 26". Why did
they move to 26"? Availability? Strength? And, do any
serious MTB riders use bikes with 29" wheels?

Dunno .. but I do recall that Honda (motorcycles) introduced
23" front wheels on their 70's XR and XL line up of Enduro
and Trail bikes. As they were the only company that did this
their sales weren't enough to generate interest by the tyre
companies and so spare tyres that were good were unavailable
unless you had sponsorship .. Most people retro-fitted 21"
(Standard size) front wheels. The larger wheel, while great
in theory, did nothing for handling at all off-road, and was
a debatable asset / liability on-road.

If, and I haven't seen these 29" wheels, this goes the same
way, then I'd expect them to die a death after a few years.

--
Paul

(8(|) Homer rocks .. 😉

Quoted message said:

If, and I haven't seen these 29" wheels, this goes the
same way, then I'd expect them to die a death after a
few years.

The so-called "twenty-nine inch" wheels use xx-622 rims, so
they /may/ not die out that quickly...

--

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
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Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:09:48 +0100, Dave Larrington <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If, and I haven't seen these 29" wheels, this goes the
same way, then I'd expect them to die a death after a
few years.

The so-called "twenty-nine inch" wheels use xx-622 rims,
so they /may/ not die out that quickly...

Yes, the bike in question is billed as "dual use" in
that you can stick 700c tyres on and have a hybrid. How
that makes it different from sticking slick on a 26" I
don't know.

Colin
--

Dave Larrington posted ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If, and I haven't seen these 29" wheels, this goes the
same way, then I'd expect them to die a death after a
few years.

The so-called "twenty-nine inch" wheels use xx-622 rims,
so they /may/ not die out that quickly...

Right, thanks. At least reasonable tyres shouldn't be in too
short a supply for whoever buys them then .. 😉

--
Paul

(8(|) Homer rocks .. 😉

Colin Blackburn said:

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:09:48 +0100, Dave Larrington
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If, and I haven't seen these 29" wheels, this goes the
same way, then I'd expect them to die a death after a
few years.

The so-called "twenty-nine inch" wheels use xx-622 rims,
so they /may/ not die out that quickly...

Yes, the bike in question is billed as "dual use" in
that you can stick 700c tyres on and have a hybrid. How
that makes it different from sticking slick on a 26" I
don't know.

Colin
--

The larger wheels have lower rolling resistance, don't they?

--
Michael MacClancy Random putdown - "They never open their
mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."
- Thomas Brackett Reed www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

Michael MacClancy said:

Colin Blackburn said:

Yes, the bike in question is billed as "dual use" in
that you can stick 700c tyres on and have a hybrid. How
that makes it different from sticking slick on a 26" I
don't know.

Colin
--

The larger wheels have lower rolling resistance,
don't they?

Probably. Here's the text of the blurb from the Indy:

"[Description of MTB...] But that's not all. Swap thos thick
knobbly tyres for 700c road tyres, and you have a bike
suited to commuting and general road-riding. I's the ideal
all-rounder."

The bike is called the Dual Sport 229.

I felt this gave the impression that the writers thought
this was novel rather than something that can be done either
way to a 26" wheel MTB or a 700c hybrid (given enough
clearance.) They probably just rehashed the sales literature
from Gary Fisher.

Colin
--

"Colin Blackburn" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ISTR that early MTBs had wheels larger than 26". Why did
they move to 26"? Availability? Strength? And, do any
serious MTB riders use bikes with 29" wheels?

Colin
--

My mate uses a 29'' Nishiki and I ride a 26'' Cube. I did
6.39h in a 110 km mtb marathon with 3.000 meter of climbing
He did 6.10h on the same ride, but he's a better rider than
I am. This is the first year he's using the 29'' bike, and
he says there's no real difference in riding exept for the
real steep climb, which are little easier now.

I would not buy a 29'' for the purpose of converting it to
a hybrid, coz there is (or should be) a bike for every
type of use.

Bert L. from NL

--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu

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

Quoted message said:

Yes, the bike in question is billed as "dual use" in
that you can stick 700c tyres on and have a hybrid. How
that makes it different from sticking slick on a 26" I
don't know.

There's more choice on the market for 700c slicks, mind.

David E. Belcher