I’m at the Eurobike Demo day, the first day of one of the biggest bike trade shows on the planet. Here to work but determined to have plenty of fun, too. The world’s major players bringing huge fleets of demo bikes and I’ve decided it was time to answer the question of the “26er” or “29er.”
Since mountain biking was ‘invented,’ back in the day the default wheel size has been 26 inches. There have been the odd bike around with something different, I remember, many moons ago, a couple of manufacturers producing bikes with 26-inch front and 24-inch rear wheels.
In the past couple of years, the 29-inch wheel has become huge. In the demo bike fleets here at Eurobike 29ers seem to have a leading edge over 26ers in terms on the number of bikes. There is a huge push going on in terms of development and marketing, and at last 29ers are likely to make it onto the shop floors of the Arabian Peninsula’s bike shops in quantity this year.
But my question has been why? “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it?”… Isn’t it just going to get really complicated? With a small market already, our region’s cycle retailers have struggled to supply key components and consumables ( e.g tyres) suitable for the range of terrain and riding that goes on here. Won’t another wheel size just water down all this and offer confusion and lack of choice through too much choice as a result.
Despite my cynicism, I wanted to give the 29er a fair play and so to the demo day where I could ride bikes from manufacturers back to back on decent test tracks rather than just round a car park.
First, a bit of theory about wheel sizes;
The smaller the wheel build, the lighter, stronger and stiffer it will be. Because they are lighter, they accelerate quicker making a bike feel nippy. Bikes with smaller wheels can be built a lot smaller and shorter. A BMX is a good example of all of this. 20-inch wheels can take a beating on a small bike that loves being thrown around. The problem with small wheels is they fit ‘between the gaps’ on rough surfaces.
Bigger wheels, on the other hand, don’t fit in the ‘gaps,’ and so smooth out rides; reducing rolling resistance. Once up to speed, this makes them faster. It’s in the XC and endurance race scene that 29ers gained all their initial traction as ‘bigger wheels are faster.’
The bike I ride is a big burly 150mm, full suspension, 26-inch wheeled trail bike. Cycling is 90% about the rider, max of 10% about the bike. I love my bike and the experience so I rarely race, I ride for kicks and giggles. So it’s “Ian the Cynic (who already has a bike he loves)” that sets out to test 26 vs 29.
BMC were the first to sort me out with a bike. I wanted to start on something that would feel ‘normal’ so a BMC Trail Fox TR02 had SPD pedals fitted for me and the suspension set up. The Trail Fox is the kind of trail bike I think most people should buy. With 160mm suspension on both ends, it’s built up to be light and strong enough to ride both classic and modern mountain biking, with fun and composure up and down.
Immediately I felt at home on the bike. Built up considerably lighter than my bike it felt nice to ride. Jumping off a couple of kerbs on the way down the road out of the event centre; all was good in the world, the sun was bright in the sky and warm on the skin without feeling like a hair dryer was pointing down my throat and I was mountain biking, happy days.
Then once out of the village, the test circuit moved onto a gravelly farm track with a couple of rocks here and there, which I used as small kickers to pop off.
The track then dived into the woods and I came to a stop at the top of what looked to be a muddy, stony gully in a crowd of other testers. The marshal had stopped everything because of an incident. After a few minutes, a bike appeared on a shoulder, hauled up out of the gully. The front wheel was properly pretzled. The crowd oh-ed and ahh-ed, a cycnic crowed “ha ha, typical, it’s a 29er!” One of the problems with bigger wheels is they aren’t as strong due to the bigger leverages at play. This was the only busted wheel I saw, but was it just a coincidence that it was a 29er? Was it because there were more 29ers out there?
Once the rider was off the track, everyone set of down the gully. Some ‘dived’ down, others pottered. Rattling down over the muddy rocks and slippery roots, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye someone assisting another broken wheel rider, but it was only a glimpse as the trail needed my full attention due to ‘testing,’ purely for the benefit of you, the reader.
Once down the gully, the track crossed over a foot bridge and then along a fast, wide, wet track next to a stream. Small wet gullies crossed it and the Trail Fox easily soaked them up as I manualed through them feeling the plume of water thrown up behind me each time.
The track left the woods and went along through a field next to a river before a short section of black top led to a brutal, muddy, slippery, long and gut-busting climb. I knew it was going to hurt, but I also knew it was perfect for testing grip and ‘rideability’ of the bike. The Trail Fox climbed just as I’d expected it to, brilliantly with loads of grip. Modern trail bikes climb the rough stuff brilliantly.
A section of field and then a road back through the village, gave me chance to reflect.
After a fun lap of everything I’d expected, next up was my first ever ride on a 29er. BMC had a Trail Crew spec Four Stroke FR02 29er set up for me. Immediately, the difference was obvious. Just riding through the crowd at the event centre, things felt smoother and faster rolling.
Out of the road I was thinking and feeling everything as I was very conscious of riding. The four stoke has 120mm travel at the front and 100mm at the back. Whilst the ride of the 29-inch wheels was smoother, and felt a lot faster, there was less cushioning in the landing when I messed around off the curbs.
On the gravel track it was all smoothness and speed, but popping the rocks- the harshness was there compared to the longer travel Trail Fox.
Down the gully my first 29er ride didn’t feel as composed as the pervious 26er. Harder tyres maybe? Less travel? Or maybe I just wasn’t used to it?
Fast and smooth along the river, the front wheel didn’t lift as easily through the small gullies and the back didn’t soak up the hits in the same way.
Up the climb it felt like the tyres were pumped up harder than before, with the back wheel not gripping in the same way. I have a feeling if there was a stopwatch on it I’d have been faster.
Hmmmmm, lots of food for thought as I cycled back to the event centre.
For the second pair of bikes Giant were going to look after me. The guys at Ride have been very vocal about the new Trance X 29er and this was the first bike available. A bit more travel than the BMC Four Stroke with 120ish mm front and back; it did feel very tall to climb on as we were setting up the suspension. Down the road and the gravel track, the TranceX had all the smoothness and feeling of pace of the previous BMC 29er but with a tad more cushion when hitting things. Down the gully, there was plenty of grip and composure over the rocks and rooty steps, but it felt like a big bike through the trees and this was the only bike on the test that I clipped a handle bar on a tree. Fast n’ smooth along next to the stream, I could feel the extra travel at the rear through the small gullies. Up the gut-busting climb, there was more grip from the rear making things feel a lot more poised and in control. Was this the extra travel or a different slightly softer tyre though? Hmmmmm
Back to the event centre for the last bike, a Giant Reign X. The Reign has been a popular all-comers’ burly trail bike for a long time and I’ve ridden them before. The X takes things up a notch with extra travel front and back, with a 250g heavier frame giving increased strength and stiffness. Arguably way to heavy and pointlessly GRRRR for general riding, I immediately fell in love with the bike. Bikes like this make me feel like I should be a magazine rider, landing the big hits, throwing huge tail whips and manualing through the gnarl. Fact of the matter was I was just riding down the road, jumping off the kerb like a kid but I was instantly in love with this bike.
Along the road trying to throw whips off the kerbs, I could feel the draggier 26-inch wheels with the heavy tyres, but that 180mm bounce which wanted to soak up everything. Again down the gravel track I was wheelying as much as possible; grinning from ear to ear with the sun warming me to the cockles of my heart. The bike just tore up the gully and looking at the GoPro footage, I can see the obvious difference in speed down between the 29er and 26er bikes I’d just tested. Boom through one gully, that plume of water was there behind me again, boom through the next, pedaling hard to hit the next one even faster, BOOM. HELL YEAH!
Rounding the corner to the climb, I was worried it would hurt but as the back wheel bit into the ground, with so much grip and composure and up I went. Undoubtedly, the stopwatch would have said the 29ers were a lot faster up, but I felt they lacked the composure of both the longer travel 26ers.
So back to the event centre reflecting on 29er vs 26er question. No wait, just one last blast down that rocky gully on the Reign X.
So in conclusion, I think I’ve got a test to decide if you’re a 29er or a 26er mountain bike rider. To decide, answer the following multiple choice question.
Which group of surnames best represents your cycling heroes?
A) Wiggins, Cavendish, Hoy, Evans or Overend?
B) Hill, Baraclough, Peat, Ashton or Atherton
If your answer is A, then you should seriously look at the current crop of 29ers to bring a grin to your chops because they are fast. However, the two 26er bikes made me feel like the rider I want to be and had me grinning from ear to ear, and that’s the feeling I ride for.
Published in September 2012
