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Seems like a non controversial subject. Some friends think they're fun.
All bidness up front and paarty in da back bro!
A little more mullet pleez, 24/ 29 is gona be so mullet !
but seriously if you want a faster bike the full 29 is gona be fastest rolling
For gravel bike (road shifter & mtb cassette in back) or MTb (29r front and 27.5 rear?)
I am a fan of the first for ec gravel/adventure riding. Haven’t tried the latter yet.
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Whatever mullet configuration you wish to discuss is welcome.
Attachment 376268
What's the logic behind gravel mullet?Quote:
Originally Posted by Laps
As a mullet advocate, and 5'-8", I'd concede that full 29 is faster in straight sections of trail. But on tight turny stuff, being able to move the bike around and cut tighter radii will help more than a little bit of inertia.
Also, someone else made a great post here several months ago, pointing out that "modern" geometry landed at about the same time as full 29ers. For a lot of people, their first "modern" geometry bike was also their first 29er, and probably associate more of the improvements from the geometry with 29" wheels than is warranted.
The fact that many pro DH racers up to around 6'-ish are now running mullets after doing lots of back to back testing is also telling. A common comment I see from videos they post about that is that it's not any slower for them but it feels better cornering, and races are won in the corners.
I built up a Carbon Patrol V1 as a mullet - 29 front with 29er 150mm Lyrik and 27.5 rear. Works really well, especially on flow/jumpy trails. For chunky trails and flat out speed, I still like my full 29er better.
Just as a sanity check, though, I rode the same trail in 27.5 and mullet mode multiple times and the mullet mode was noticeably different and in my opinion, more fun. But maybe that's just confirmation bias... whatever. Bikes are fun and I like to tinker.
I also think it's a little easier to pump minor terrain features with the smaller wheels. 29ers just kinda trundle over a lot of that stuff, which is good for smashing but bad for pumping.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andeh
Personally, I don't have the fitness to pump every little root. I can do it for about 30 seconds before I'm exhausted. But if you watch top level DH guys ride, they're pumping hard over everything.
Gravel mullet (road brifter + wide-range MTB cassette) is for people who want MTB gearing on their drop-bar bike, for carrying steep loads up hills I guess. See here: https://bikepacking.com/gear/guide-t...t-drivetrains/Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
EXACTLY.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheK12
I have a complete 29 wheel ready to swap depending on the trail choices. But I figure 100k of descending should be enough mullet action to see the benefits or not for me. It’s obviously a ‘thing’ right now that is worth exploring.
Ah, gotcha. It's just the drivetrain. I was trying to wrap my head around why someone would want a smaller rear wheel on a gravel bike.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toddball
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toddball
Yeah, I'm pretty close to doing this to my "gravel" bike. Even just an NX Eagle cassette would make a huge difference for me the five or six times a year I use that bike for things that I really shouldn't. With worn out Minions on it my limiting factor is always gearing, not traction.
The other kind of mullet seems nice. Chances are my next bike will have differently sized wheels on the front and back. But I'm also a hack so it's sorta irrelevant.
I run a 48/32 with an 11-40 on my gravel bike, I’m prepared for uphill track stands (or just grinding up the pass).
The other, semi consistent thing I hear about the back to back tests from the pros is the lack of getting buzzed by the rear tire on the mullet vs. the 29er.... particularly for those that are a little more vertically challenged.
Absolutely, that was my number one reason to try it. The cornering in the twisties is an added bonus.
she is on a mullet - needed to clear the seat bagQuote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
could change out the front wheel, sometimes lazy wins...
https://photos.smugmug.com/Iceland/i...celand-9-L.jpg
actually it gave her a bit more upright ride which is not a bad thing for a 500 km trip
I really don't get the point. Seems like this is just another thing industry will hype to drive sales to riders who won't be able to tell the difference, yet will prattle on like it's the best thing ever. Even better than the last thing that was the best thing ever!
It's not just hype. I've been running a mullet setup for 4 months now, and have had zero butt buzz, whereas I previously got it about once per ride. It feels better in corners, and I find it easier to get lift as well. This is with essentially the same bike, just slightly different rear travel and seat angle. I converted from a GG Smash with 145mm travel to a Megatrail with 155mm travel. Same 160mm fork up front, same shock out back (just changed stroke & spring rate accordingly). Head angle is within 0.1 degree or so, and BB height is within a mm or two. Even same model of rim/hub/tire out back.
That was me, I think. I've definitely said some version of that before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andeh
I'm mostly of the opinion that mullets are of greatest benefit to short(er) people who find the bigger rear wheel to be more limiting in terms of how they can move around on the bike. I'm 6' tall so it's not so much of a thing for me, but I still like the way 27.5'' wheels corner and pump better than 29'' ones. Mullets don't feel like they claw back enough of that for me to really be worth bothering with. 29'' has real advantages when it comes to carrying speed and so on, but for me, mullets feel like an awkward middle ground that give up too much of what 29ers do well and don't gain back enough of what 27.5'' is good at. But again, I bet I'd feel differently if ass to 29'' wheel clearance was a bigger issue for me.
Yeah, I’m 5’ 8”, with the 29 rear on really, really steep trails, I was buzzing enough to actually slow the bike down, or at least it felt like that. Maybe 5 times on one particular ride, it was pretty annoying. But I don’t ride many trails like that around here.
I had a mullet Santa Cruz Bullit back in the early 2000’s.
I was on the low end of the height range on the medium so we mulleted it out (26ers then so a 24 in the rear)
It worked well. I rd the hell out of that thing on the pass and at big sky for several yrs
A mullet haircut is short in the front and long in the back, so shouldn't the big wheel be on the back of a mullet bike?
Business in the front, party in the back.Quote:
Originally Posted by geomorph
I'd be curious to demo one, but for the terrain where I am now I don't feel like I give up much with a normal 29'er.
I like both 27/29 and full 29. No way im throwing a full 29 down steep trails and bigger jumps with a 29" inseam though. Thats just tempting fate hanging too far off the back. I like pumping through the xc trails or carrying a little extra speed on long aloine days with the 9er and swapping steep loose turns with the 27(along with the safety it brings). Im pretty much 50/50 on my enduro bike until the park opens then itll sway towards mullet. Emtb is always going to be mullet because E
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some good mullet gab in here.
i've been rocking the skullet.
slaughter up front and hillbilly in the back.
size don't matter with this killer combo.
Slightly off topic, but here goes. I went to 165 cranks because of the mullet action. Today I did my first real climb, and I could feel the difference. It was kind of like losing one tooth off of the rear cog, IMO. However, the bike is a lot heavier now with dh casings, I was feeling that, too.
my best time on this climb is something like 24 minutes, tonight was 36. Yeesh. However, I did get a 16 fastest on a long trail I have only ridden once before, 8 years ago. So pointed down, it still shreds. There were sections going balls out in the 30/10, and the 165‘s showed their shortcomings in a feeling of ‘lack of leverage’...but I could have just been spent.
More testing and navel gazing is in order.
this.Quote:
Originally Posted by evdog
inserts too.
The smaller wheel should make the ez gear easier and then you lose a touch of leverage with the shorter cranks. Smaller dead spot with shorter cranks might benefit from a higher rpm? Im thinking the dh casing tire and the smaller rear wheel will be the biggest difference on the climb. 9er is definitely going to roll noticeably faster. Most WC dhers 6' tallband under are on mullets. Less ews racers are. Horses for courses kind of thing for meQuote:
Originally Posted by rideit
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I have ridden mullet wheels often. I rode a Trek 69er singlespeed for years and loved it with that Maverick DUC. That bike rides really well, since it was ridden as designed.
I had a Turner 5 spot 26" that I put a 27.5 on the front. So much wheel flop climbing.
I also had a Merlin fat beat, so soft tail moots ybb rear 26. I made it singlespeed and put a lefty on with 29 wheel. Rides well and very cool, but not as well as a 29er.
Basically I think it comes down to personal preference on your style and terrain.
Some bike are going to feel better to some people
But overall I think most good bike will ride best when ridden as intended from the factory. Modifications should be light and mostly upgrades that didn't happen stock to keep thev sticker price down.
I have only tinkered with bikes I didn't like that had poor resale.
The mullet making a comeback now... Need to sell bikes! I bet it rides great if well designed and implemented and some riders will love it. Will we all be riding mullets in 5 years and bikes with two wheel same size be cheap on eBay? Doubt it.
Same way we're not all riding 29 or 27.5 or ....
But 26" are cheap on eBay...
The mullet hair style is making a comeback as well...
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Same with the cock broom but ill just stick with the mullet wheels
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those of you going mullet - are you doing this on a 27.5 or 29?
Seems to me like you’d benefit more by doing this on a 27.5. Don’t see much good coming slackening and lowering my already slack and low enduro
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Answer: it depends. https://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threa...adness.291264/ has a good summary of options.Quote:
Originally Posted by east or bust
Its much cheaper to mullet a 9er, plus you now have both. Flip chip makes it easiest to keep the same geo/bb height. My meta doesnt have a flip chip so i put one offset bushing in reversed to raise the bb whdn it has the 27.5 installed. Its still lower and i have another offset bushing for the other eyelet being shipped. Still not sure if ill use the other offset bushing. I have the original air shock with standard shock bushings when its full 9er and a coil with one or 2 reversed offset bushings when its mulleted. That works perfectly fibe as is. After that i did add 10mm to the fork and have gone to 165 cranks although the added stroke on the coil r shock cancels the 3mm bb height gained by the extra 10mm on the fork
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Have you tried reversing the polarity on the flux capacitor?Quote:
Originally Posted by grinch
You change the geo less on a 29er, unless you also lop 20mm off the fork travel on the 27.5 bike. You just have the wheel size changing, instead of wheel size and fork length.Quote:
Originally Posted by east or bust
There aren't that many bikes that aren't designed to be mullets that don't get weird if you do it.
I thought you all were talking about the original mullet. Disc brake in the front and canti in the rear, but I’m several years (decades?) out of touch with modern bike stuff obviously. Is cyclocross still a thing? It was pretty awesome outbraking everyone into the corners in the mud back in the day with the front disc.
Not yet, but im swapping the 38 from the meta to the decoy for the yari thats on the decoy and that will lower the axle to crown, bb and steepen the bike so ill be adding a reverse components -.5 degree race so that should cover the need for altering the flux capacitor/true story.Quote:
Originally Posted by jhyatt
Oh and 50mm rise bar to accomodate the shorter steerer but nevermind that in case it gets confusing
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