To all you 29er's out there!

good stuff, should be perfect for my GF Paragon frame coming real soon.
soooooooo looking forward to losing that horrid jump you get on 9 speed cassettes.

good stuff, should be perfect for my GF Paragon frame coming real soon.
soooooooo looking forward to losing that horrid jump you get on 9 speed cassettes.

Not needing to spin the cranks to shift should be a nice feature.

Also, if you consider adding gears to a bike adds 1Kg*, would'nt it be best to add all this weight over the contact point of the rear tyre?

Would really help traction during out-of-the-saddle climbing.

(*totally pulled out of the air)

There's not many in London either... but if you have a mud/gravel/clay canal or river path you don't really want to go so fast that you don't have control enough to stop yourself taking a dip.

Understood. Guess my circumstances differ as I only tend to ride for up to 2 hours and ride for fun/fitness so go as fast as my fitness/skill allows.
64GI is a good offroad gear for that purpose, any lower and I risk getting overtaken by pesky geared MTB riders.

A small block running at low PSI should be OK for stoney or rocky trails (like those pictured), ride OK on the road with a bit more air, and cope with some mud (although this would be the obvious weak spot).

Yeah the only problem it that being CX tyre they are not durable by nature.

If you have half your house on the back, traction should'nt be a problem ;)

Ha it looks alot worse than it is. The rucksack on the back has one change of cloths and a sleeping bag inside, none of which are in a compression sack, I could have and should have used a backapck about half the size but wanted rummaging room.

Maybe its personal taste, but I'm not a fan of the slick central area, knobbly edge, tyre design. I just dont like the way they corner on the road, or loose grip when the mud is to hard for them to sink into, off-road.

Me neither my preference for this type of mixed tyre is an inverted tread of some sorts.

I HTFU a long time ago and run 64 GI :-)

The truth is there are not many mountains in the New Forest...!

[internetgrooming]Where abouts in the NF? I'm sure I've asked you this before. My parents live down there. I have a fixed cog on my ss mtb that I've never used offf road, you could show me some trails.[/internetgrooming]

[internetgrooming]Where abouts in the NF? I'm sure I've asked you this before. My parents live down there. I have a fixed cog on my ss mtb that I've never used offf road, you could show me some trails.[/internetgrooming]

Yes, I remember you saying you visited now and again. I am in Thorney Hill (between Burley and Bransgore)
I head towards Burley and take the fireroads up to Boulderwood and then go towards Ringwood and that area. Also go out towards Brockenhurst a fair bit via Holmesly Mill and back to A35 and up to Boudlerwood again.
Fair few miles of road section on some of the routes but can make some half decent 20 miles loops.
As said before, not exactly challenging but made better the faster you go!

Me neither my preference for this type of mixed tyre is an inverted tread of some sorts.

Forgot the vulpine
http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/29er/vulpine29er/
Says 'lightweight' casing, which doesnt sound good.

If what is often said on the MTBR 29er forum is true (and it appears so). Whereas the most popular 26" tyres come in wired or folding, sidewall protected or lightweight sidewalls etc. There is often only one 29" version, and its usually the lightest. I suppose this will change with the market.

the european champs are held at the forest of dean in april but the uk champs are in wales next year, as far as i know entrys for that have not been announced, however the entrys for the euro champs are very close to sold out for UK entrants so get in quick! - i can check the roster for you if you like

www.ssec10.blogspot.com

just got an email, Im in! woop woop race time here we go here we go.

what are peoples opinions of teaming a 19.5" sliding dropout inbred 29er with karate monkey forks?

That is exactly my plan jv, they are both suspension correct forks after all.

was thinking it might be too heavy though?

was thinking it might be too heavy though?

On-one are restocking their carbon 29er forks.
http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/info_FOOO29SCF.html
http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/?page_id=599

But the above combo should also work, A-C for the forks is 468mm. Which is about right for the inbred (on-one carbon forks are 470mm).

The karate monkey frame and forks are only £300 though, so £125 for just the carbon forks might not apeal.
http://www.hardie-bikes.com/products.php?plid=m1b14s164p562&rs=gb

here we go.

here we go.

Have a good one!

Massively jealous. Will have to get my smallfurry arse over the water next year ;)

(ED: 4000th post and I'm talking about my arse. Fitting as the previous 3999 were out of it I suppose :S)

Hah!

BTW, not sure if it was mentioned here but Chain Reaction have 29x2.55 WTB Weirwolfs at £10 each, picked up 4 for myself, should keep me going for some time.

Wow thats less than I paid (£14 or something). Waiting for the trails to become ridable, so havent tried them yet. They mount up with a nice fat round profile though, so look good so far.

May still put something narrower and lighter on the back though [/tyre nerd]

Got them all sitting here still not fitted, apparently they don't grip well in mud but that's not really a big problem, also unless you mount them backwards they apparently have crap rear traction going up hills. Though this is all just taken from internet forums, and as well all know internet forums (especially cycling ones) are full of people who don't know what they're talking about =P

Yeah the LT (low tread) is the mud issue. Was wondering wether or not mount the rear backwards. I'll probably get a Geax Saguaro 2.2 (or maybe an exiwolf 2.3) for the rear anyway though.

There is more personal opinion, dressed up as fact, regarding tyres, on interwebs, than any other bike subject (IMHO).

Even on the road, tyres is personal.

So... last week I took the kona out on it's maiden voyage, nothing serious at all, just down the tow paths beside the Thames to Richmond. It was lovely! No cars/busses/pizza boys or frigging yummy mummies on the school run. And the tires:-) first time i've ridden low pressure fatties, felt like I was bobbing away in the middle of a calm ocean.

verdict = tasty

Smallfurry, or anyone else for the matter, how are you finding your 29er in comparison to a 26" mtb.

on singletrack in lowland forests I can get more constant speed, better spinning and without it being too knarly for narow wheels and tyres equally enjoyable.
will freely admit that I havent hacked it down chapel gate in the peak, whytes level at afan or what I would call remote trails. someone else have to supply that info.

Smallfurry, or anyone else for the matter, how are you finding your 29er in comparison to a 26" mtb.

I find the bike slightly harder to hang from the workroom wall, than a 26".

I dont have any more info than that as of yet, as it -13C outside and all the trails are under a lot of snow.

I've managed to put my contact points in pretty much exactly the same place as on a 26", and the bars and saddle are'nt nearly as far in from the hubs as I'd expected. So my weight is over the wheels and not between them. Driving me nuts not being able to test ride it though.

Been taking the winterbike on rides outside of town, on small country roads, which are not salted (which causes slush and ice to form). Riding the studded tyres on the compacted snow is really smooth (they is nasty on tarmac), and gives a unbelievable amount of grip. With decent tyres, lights, and clothing it makes for a really nice ride.*

(*went off on a tangent there, sorry)

This could be a nice alternative to a rohloff http://www.bike-eu.com/news/3844/shimano-launches-11-speed-internal-hub-gear.html

Was reading about that earlier, range is a bit smaller but apparently it's gonna cost around £350 which is quite a bit cheaper.

I have no experience of these hubs but do the Shimano ones come with disc mounts?

This could be a nice alternative to a rohloff http://www.bike-eu.com/news/3844/shimano-launches-11-speed-internal-hub-gear.html

Nice!
I'm so putting an alfine on the next incarnation of the winter bike. It would be nice to have a hub geared wheel to throw on the SS 29er, for longer more undulating trail rides, too.
Just wish they'd make them more compatible with different shifters.

I'd like to run one with a cheap bar-end shifter for the winterbike. I did see a pic of the rapid fire shifter mounted on a computer extension, on a set of drops. In a way that made the levers reachable from the hoods. Ugly but practical.

Was reading about that earlier, range is a bit smaller but apparently it's gonna cost around £350 which is quite a bit cheaper.
I have no experience of these hubs but do the Shimano ones come with disc mounts?

Yeah, they come with Shimano's centre-lock mounts. which can be converted to standard 6 bolt via one of these.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=10262