5-6" traval, XC, 29er? does it exist?

[Gerome]

I'm still running the 650 wheels on my tri-bike. I like to accelerate.

Dudes I talked to in July that were running the Downieville xc race on 29ers trashed their wheels. They said the wheels are much weaker than the 26 inch wheels. It seems like the stuff you'd want to do with 6 inch travel would demolish the very expensive 29 inch wheels quickly. Or, would the extra travel eat up the force that would have otherwise bent the 29ers on hardtail frames?

[uncle crud]

I'm still running the 650 wheels on my tri-bike. I like to accelerate.

Dudes I talked to in July that were running the Downieville xc race on 29ers trashed their wheels. They said the wheels are much weaker than the 26 inch wheels. It seems like the stuff you'd want to do with 6 inch travel would demolish the very expensive 29 inch wheels quickly. Or, would the extra travel eat up the force that would have otherwise bent the 29ers on hardtail frames?

At this size (26 vs 29) it seems wheels are wheels. A weakly tensioned wheel will taco or deform whether it's 24", 26" or 29". Sure the 29" is slightly more likely to deform, but not that severely. I have ridden my 29" MTBs very hard through choppy terrain and the wheels have held up as well as any 26" wheels I used in the past.

I weigh only 155 lbs so maybe that is a factor, and I'm a little smoother this year than in prior seasons, so maybe that's another factor. But not enough to matter.

My friends who are running 29" have found the same on wheel durability vs 26" wheels, and we all ride rocky choppy northern Rockies stuff.

[Spats]

Bicycle wheels lost twice as much strength going to disc brakes (because of the decreased flange spacing required for the disc mount) as they did going to 29ers. No one seemed to notice a difference then.

I've ridden Toad's, Xmas Valley, Missing Link/Western States, Pinecrest Peak, and Eagle Creek on my 29er hardtail. I've never touched the machine-built wheels to tension them, much less true them, and they're fine.

Perhaps the racers were using inappropriately lightweight XC rims? I have Laserdisc Trails, which are more towards the all-mountain side. I can see people having problems if they decided to race down 3rd Divide on, for instance, Delgado Discs...

[jetski]

BRING BACK the 24" love! Smaller is better!

Dude its all about the 25 inch rear 29 front and spare 650 rear in the camelback for the "technical" sections
Mark my words!
so who makes a good all round /all mountain/enduro/all day.endurance rim in a 25 inch

[rideit]

Bicycle wheels lost twice as much strength going to disc brakes (because of the decreased flange spacing required for the disc mount) as they did going to 29ers. No one seemed to notice a difference then.

..

However, Rim technology got much, much stronger around the same period.

[Duffman]

Am I the only one completely annoyed by the dumb marketing term 29"er? Hello, isn't it just a 700c rim diameter, the same size as, gasp, roadies have been using for years. I was a shop rat / manager back in the day in high school and college, and even back then there was a small push to have the 700c size as a standard for MTBs too (except for Tri-bikes, which went the other way to the 26" wheel size.) If these were properly called 27"ers, which is far less deceptive advertising, would they really have the same cult following and hipster appeal? OK, I know the bead seat diameter of a 26inch MTB rim is actually much smaller than 26", but still, a would a 28 1/4"er have the same appeal. Somehow I doubt it. OK, dumb, pointless rant over. Back to your regularly scheduled useful thread.

[Gerome]

Hmmm, what is the general outside diameter of the 26 vs. 28 1/4 tires? I know, it varies with tire volume, but is it close to 29?? Anyway, 29er is much cooler to say than 28er.

In March I saw the 29ers up close at sea otter classic. They sure are purdy, but I have to quell the gear whore somewhere. The only way I know how to do that is by saying I could get faster on a bike by loosing 10 pounds and sticking to training just as easily as I could throw down a grand or so for a new bike. Although, at this point, the dedication to taking up a training program, giving up good beer and yummy food is difficult to find.

[Spats]

Am I the only one completely annoyed by the dumb marketing term 29"er? Hello, isn't it just a 700c rim diameter, the same size as, gasp, roadies have been using for years.

All the bizarre inch measurements and random numbers (700C? 650B?) are silly, because they're ambiguous. Smaller 700c tires are 27 or 28 inches OD, bigger ones are 29 inches OD. A 26x2" tube is not the same as a 26x1 3/8" tube.

The way to do it is with the ETRTO designation: the first number in the pair is just the bead seat diameter in mm. So mountain bikes are 559, road bikes and 29ers are 622, 650C tri bikes are 571, old "27 inch" road bikes are 630. The number is printed right on the sidewall of every tire you buy, so you can't get confused and buy the wrong one.

[Gerome]

The way to do it is with the ETRTO designation: the first number in the pair is just the bead seat diameter in mm. So mountain bikes are 559, road bikes and 29ers are 622, 650C tri bikes are 571, old "27 inch" road bikes are 630. The number is printed right on the sidewall of every tire you buy, so you can't get confused and buy the wrong one.

ETRTO = Every Thing Really Thought Out (we're just not going to market it that way)

[mntlion]

intense 5.5 in a 29er for 2008. That matched to a rumored fox 130mm might be the ticket.

[Spats]

intense 5.5 in a 29er for 2008. That matched to a rumored fox 130mm might be the ticket.

According to Turner, no such fork currently planned until 2009. I'm not holding my breath.

[mntlion]

maybe a WB130 then...

[scrublover]

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=337242

[mntlion]

bump for any fox 29er, 120-140mm rumors?

[Spats]

bump for any fox 29er, 120-140mm rumors?

I believe they're doing a 120mm for 2009, but only in QR.

Rock Shox is revamping the Reba for 2009. 80-100-120mm, QR or Maxle (20mm). This is confirmed: prototypes exist and photographs are floating around the interbutts.

There is a rumor about a 29er Pike, but nothing firm.

[mntlion]

normal QR, longest travel fork avail now = manitpoo then?

[Skivinator]

Niner WFO 6.5" of travel. Looks sweet to me! I love my RIP 9

[mntlion]

bump from the past.

Think that it will actually happen for this spring?

any other 5-6" travel, XC, 29er options

[Spats]

How about that new dw-link (120mm) Turner Sultan with the Manitou or new Reba 120mm TA fork? If you need more travel than that on a 29er, I don't think what you're doing qualifies as XC anymore

The Niner WFO is supposedly shipping with a ~140mm Marzocchi fork, but both are still prototypes/vaporware.

[Rontele]

Lenz Behemoth

[Spats]

Rocky Mountain Altitude 29. DO WANT
http://www.mtbtrailreview.com/blog/r...de-29er-sleds/
Also there is a 120mm TA Fox fork now, but it's that annoying new 15mm Shimano "standard".

[Bpt175]

Zinn custom 29er, White Brothers now has a 150mm fork for a 29er too.

[mntlion]

stans rims on that look nice.

I've demoed the 26" altitude and like it, so I hope that the 29er version is good too. I should have one for the fall