26″ vs 29er; Observations from a 29er Fan
So that everyone knows where I’m coming from, I’d like to clarify that my name is Jeremy and I am a 29er fanatic.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to North Carolina a couple of weeks ago and I got to do some mountain biking. To show you that us riders here at mtnbikeriders.com are just a bunch of regular Joe’s, I did not get hooked up with the latest and greatest from Gary Fisher’s 29er lineup for my rides out in the NC. Rather, I borrowed my sister-in-law’s bike which is a Mongoose Rockadile. This bike is not a 29er, rather it’s a hardtail 26″ bike, a few years old but in good ride-able condition.
Most 29er riders will tell you that the biggest difference they see when riding a 29er is not seen when riding a 29er it is seen when going back to a 26 inch bike after having ridden a 29er for an extensive period of time. I got to experience this first hand when I rode in North Carolina. While there, I spent all of my riding time on the 26 inch hardtail after having strictly ridden 29ers for a long time.
And I’ve got a few observations I’d like to share from those miles on the 26 inch bike:
– There is absolutely no question that the 29er rolls over roots and rocks better than its 26″ brethren. Actually, the 29er rolls over basically anything better than the 26″ bike. While in North Carolina, I rode the most root filled trail I’ve ever done and all I could think about is how much I missed my 29er for this ride. Each root required just a little more effort than I normally would have to give in my 29er. It also required a little more balance as I’d normally just roll over them, now I had to ride over them.
– The traction on turns with the 29er grips differently and in my opinion, better, than the 26″ bike. We’re not comparing apples to apples (since the tires aren’t the same width, I’m more comfortable on my 29er…) and I recognize this. But I observed that I can normally take turns on the 29er at a faster speed than the 26″ bike. It may have had to do with my familiarity with my 29er and my lack of familiarity with the Rockadile, but with the 26″ bike, I was constantly scrubbing off speed as I dove into turns. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure my 29er would have held my line at speed through those turns.
– The 29er keeps momentum better than the 26″ bike. This became very apparent to me when I was on a relatively flat connector trail between two loops. While on the connector trail, I pedaled to get up to a certain speed then kind of just let the bike cruise along. Each time I did this though, I felt like I was having to pedal again sooner than I normally would have on my 29er. Basically, I felt that my momentum was gone sooner on the 26″ bike than the 29er. It was a weird sensation, something I didn’t expect, but was pretty noticeable. On my 29er I know I could have kept my speed a little bit longer than the 26″ bike did. This might not seem like that big of a deal but for longer rides and being more efficient while riding, it is. Less pedaling (using the momentum of the 29er) means less effort exerted which means less on rides.
– I did notice a plus for the 26″ bike. It’s something that I noticed right away. The 26 inch bike accelerated much faster than the 29er. To me, there is no doubt that the 26 inch bike accelerates faster than the my 29ers. “No doubt” because it was IMMEDIATELY noticeable. Spin out of the parking lot to the trailhead and I could feel myself accelerating faster right away. If I was already moving at a good clip, I didn’t notice this as much. But from a stand still or when riding slowly, I definitely notice the jump when pedaling.
After reflecting on riding the 26 inch bike in North Carolina, I am even more firmly convinced of the benefits of rolling the big wheels. For me, the disadvantages of the 26 inch bike were readily apparent because of the time spent on my 29ers. The time on the 29ers made me expect certain attributes when riding (as mentioned above) that the 26 inch bike just did not deliver on.
Because of this, I’m sticking with my 29er.