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Pretty concerned This will ruin the Cinderella story, and the small team success which is core to the sport and one of the best parts. Not enough riders and small teams. Protected riders are kinda lame, but I do think it has more to do with how long and how many. It should be from race to race not season to season. DH is dangerous, if you make it on the podium of 5 you should have earned a bye for the next round. It rewards consistent riders and gives a first timer a breather for the next round. Wildcard...

This is why I tend to be suspicious of rider feedback. It's hard to hold all the other variables constant when you're testing and comparing any mountain bike product, but it's really easy to jump to conclusions and think you know exactly why you're feeling what you're feeling. So if someone has two identical bikes with identical suspension setups that have been optimized for different wheel sizes and body positions, and they do back to back testing on those bikes, then yeah I'm gonna put a lot of stock in their takeaways about wheel size. But if they're different bikes...

Yeah. I dabbled in the 24x3.0 thing a bit. Even built up a set of Double Wides. But I'm on my big boy 26's for the long run I figure.

It's a great solution. If I could snag a Reign, I'd ride it MX and just pick up someone's castaway OEM Roval rear wheel as a swap out and pick up a T9 Butcher when they're on sale. Have both wheel sizes in one bike and maybe $160 in the 29er wheel. Then, if @SRube gets to an event where it's like Massanutten with a lot of momentum and minimal switchbacks, toss on the 29er rear to get that extra mythical .5 second of race time. Edit: I'd dump my money on a solid 27.5 basher hand built rear DT...

And Privateer will be taking preorders soon for their updated frames. I love that they and Raaw have mullet compatibility built in. I'd be grabbing a new 141 or 161 frame if I hadn't just purchased a Lithium, which I plan to mullet this spring as an experiment. I'll be moving from a 2.35ish rear to 2.5 to help offset the bb drop just a little. Bottom bracket starting point is ~350mm so hopefully I can keep it almost reasonable at around ~340mm. Already running 165 cranks but don't want to go shorter. I recently demoed a Bronson MX and...

It sounds like you're a great candidate for a mullet. I've ridden full 29 and mullet and I really don't believe there's a significant difference in speed, traction, or bump absorption between the two. They both work great. As a tall person with a ton of racing and product testing experience, I really couldn't care less if my bike is mullet or 29er, as long as I have a spare rear wheel and tires available. BUT if you're short enough that a 29" rear wheel could get in the way of your body's range of motion on the bike, I'd...

I'm 5'8 160lbs, own a Druid v2 (Med 29 150 lyrik w/ -1* headset), and have ridden mixed wheel sizes on other bikes. I prefer the roll over and speed from full 29 especially in the bike parks/racing. I personally believe that mixed wheel configuration is best served where the steep grade of the trail is the main feature. If your everyday trails/racing are not on sustained steep grade downhill, it doesn't really justify it for me personally. I'd rather own a 29er trail bike that I ride on properly STEEP trails a few times a year, than a mixed...

I am a zealot so take it for what it is, but I'm 5'10" w/ a short inseam. The reach on my medium has gotten somehow cramped at 450mm, but I'm on a full 27.5" Kona Process 153. I've had a Specialized Demo 29 and then ran it in mullet & felt like I'd unlocked the cheat code for my DH happiness after 20+ yrs. On the opposite end, for trail, something about a 29" front wheel and the odd ride height, leverage it takes to get it to turn and be playful on the trails & the shorter travel...

Funny you mention the stem, I'm not sure if it was the fork offset but I initially started with a 40mm stem and hated it as the steering was far too quick and twitchy and moved up to a 50mm. I don't think stem length adjustment was enough to fundamentally affect the ride characteristics though - the longer reach/top tube combined with a longer chainstay (442mm at top of travel but growing to 474mm at bottom out as it was a Deviate which also has a HP/rearward axle path) made it great at carrying speed but was just too much...

Go for the mixed wheel, medium, low-pivot bike. I am a similar height, and ride a lot of pumptrack and jump bike these days. Switching to a 27.5 rear wheel has allowed me to transfer those jump bike skills more directly to my enduro bike because of the additional clearance/range of motion. For someone our height, unless you've got weirdly long limbs, you'll likely be too stretched out on a large and feel you have to actively lean forwards to weight the front wheel in turns. I recently rode a large Bronson (475 reach vs. my normal 455 setup) and...

MX for sure, if possible ride the bikes and see what fits, if your buying online flip a coin and don't think to hard about it.

I am very similar to you - live in northern east coast, 5'9", and have raced some ESCs and will probably do them this year. I actually have owned a Rocky Mountain Altitude for the past 2 years. So far I have run it in the full 29 but I just bought the MX mount and will be trying it this season. My motivation for trying that is I hope it will help me be able to use more leg movement without buzzing my rear, and because I hope it will help speed up cornering in the super tight twisty...

‘Playful’ is a state of mind. If you’re worried about the Druid not being playful enough, go watch some of Dylan Siggers’ edits.

Why not get a bike that can run both sizes and an extra wheelset? I’m also 5’8” and prefer a mullet for longer travel bikes but I ride full 29” for XC/trail. If I was getting a single bike to ride trail/enduro I’d look for something that could run both and have a light 29” wheelset and a heavier duty mullet set. Off the top of my head something like a Reign or a SJ Evo have the necessary adjustments but I’m sure there are others. If I couldn’t do 2 wheelset I’d probably go 150mm full 29 given your...