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Edited Date/Time
6/22/2017 11:24am
hard to believe it's been 6 years since steber experimented with a 29er DH bike.
we're hearing rumors of some brands working on slack (like DH slack) long-travel (170, 180mm) 29ers that are made to pedal. is this the future? developing a 29er platform means a 27.5+ swap could be an option. the Enduro 29 has been a hit for a lot of people. can they go bigger and slacker and remain functional?
we're hearing rumors of some brands working on slack (like DH slack) long-travel (170, 180mm) 29ers that are made to pedal. is this the future? developing a 29er platform means a 27.5+ swap could be an option. the Enduro 29 has been a hit for a lot of people. can they go bigger and slacker and remain functional?
Also that's why I find questions about this or that type of bike, wheel diameter or bottom bracket interface being better, pretty pointless, when asked in a such generality. It just depends what you want to do with it.
Still, I would like to see (and try) such bikes, just out of curiosity for what they might be able to achieve in terms of ride stability.
So, what brand is it that you're referring to?
Interestingly my 2016 Stumpjumper XXL is kind of like this alebeit with less travel and slighlty steeper. The HA is currently 67 but I'm planning to use an angleset to get it down to 65.5. Then it'll be ready to rip until this beast comes out
It wont be a very good allrounder, but perfect for fast and open trails. I think current 29ers are still a fair bit from " too much for anything other than pedaling up a fire road". But of course it depends on what exactly you're referring to by long and slack. The Intense above might be too much for most trails; the new Nukeproof could surely go a bit longer by going slacker.
C. Porter claims to have found the limits for trail bike geometry. However, this may be true for his riding style and type of trails. I also wonder why - except for very few frames like the new Rune - headangles for 650b bikes haven't gotten a lot slacker recently.
I personally think that 180mm would be overkill for a 29er also in terms of required chainstay length. But to judge, it would be necessary to ride it and look at the time.
The Mojo Geometron (Chris Porter designed bike) has been converted to be tested as a 29er. Read more here: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/mojo-nicolais-geometron-plots-a-f…
I also agree that 180mm is too much for a 29er, given that the bigger wheels effectively add 20mm of travel roughly 160 is a better number for this kind of bike.
The production bikes are unfortunately usualy designed for average riders on average trails.
On a side note it is possible to make a bike with that much BB drop more manouverable simply by raising the bars, they help further exaggerate the in the bike feeling but also give more leverage over your angle of lean. Long live high bars and low BBs
...and might require you to change your suspension settings, but you then might just stuff in a few tokens to solve that (see the pretty good blogpost Team Robot had on that issue).
Point is, if you change something on your bike to achieve X, you might need to change a lot of other stuff too because otherwise you might loose too much on Y and Z.
Yet again, I hope 29ers will get a lot slacker and longer than most of them are right now.
I am a bit impartial on the bar height thing because I like my bars so high, and I agree it's all about compromise but most people in my eyes have their bars way too low for their needs. Plus a skilled rider can work a high bar height and still corner well (Look at Fabien Barel's Mondrakers of past and his original Canyon Enduro bike, any bike Nico Lau rides, and Sam Hill's bike to see high bars on pro bikes.
But that is another topic. Long, Low, and Slack 29ers should be available to those that want them!
The reach on the Enduro is nice and roomy but there's no way I'd want to go slacker ie longer in the wheelbase. I really don't see the point, unless it's for pure downhill, then you might as well be on a downhill bike. So are we talking about 29" downhill bikes that you can ride uphill? Why don't those guys just put a 1x11 setup on a dh bike if that's their thing?
A long, slack 29er should be so compromised in a lot of areas that it wouldn't make much sense in my opinion.
here's the full gallery w/ audio
http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/BCDs-Carbon-29er-Downhill-Bike-…
My Riot is full coil, built for when the trails point down. Given that, I can't imagine that a 29er with more than 160mm would be like. What would a 180mm 29er used for? Not trail riding.
Personally I like long travel 29" but if we're talking ultimate speed it won't be long before someone makes some proper 650b+ tires and it'll be game over for 650b and 29".
They Probably are going to refresh the enduro 29 and I hope make it a ton slacker
I still strongly prefer a 2X drivetrain and 36 forks, and I am happy that's what is spec'd on the 2016 9.8 I am getting. The DT Swiss Spline 1900 wheels seem a skosh narrow and light for my riding, but I'll ride 'em til they give out. Maybe they won't. But I'm not going to the trouble to build a Boost wheelset until I turn 'em into octagons.
The angles on the 9.8 felt perfect - the geo chart shows almost identical reach and stack figures to my 26" Yeti. And it rides way lighter than I thought it would. I hit the (junior) jump lines at my local trails and it took to the air very confidently. It gets up to speed quickly, and seems to roll a lot faster than the little wheels do. I *really* didn't want to like it as much as I did. I got home from the demo, and my wife asked how it went. Sadly, I told her "I have to sell the Yeti." It's that much better than my beloved SB66. It was pretty cool how she wanted me to keep it - she knew how much I busted my a** to build it. But in the end, I don't think I'd ride it enough. The plastic 29er will do everything the Yeti does (plus the Stealth Reverb is a nice upgrade - SB66's don't accommodate internal routing, and the hose can be a nuisance).
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