I've got an eMTB. I did lots of pushing as a kid. You had one good bike, usually whatever your friends had. Mine had road bikes. And a too small bike from early years.
He was my hero growing up. I ended up DESTROYING my left foot mountain biking as a kid. Lost function all together. I will someday scream down a mountain again. So much love for downhill shredding!! I've never felt more alive and miss it so bad I could cry. Be safe people and go see the beauty of this planet.
we were building bike,s in north wales in 70s with fat knobbly tyres single small crank with a 7 speed derailleur on 26" wheels I used motorbike handlebars but you could buy a set of cow horn's but they would crack and snap and your chest would hit the centre stock, AND I know they custom bikes in the sixty too that look like MTB. Do a search on cow horns handlebar there are plenty of pictures onthe net
I honestly didn't think 29er's were as impressive but then I actually bought one, and man you don't even know. Properly set up these things are beast, although I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a 29 wheel-size for trails where quick maneuverability are key. They are somewhat bulky if you don't know how to wield them...
29ers are better at open trails where speed and stability is what matters and better at overcoming big obstacles and not solid terrain. 26ers are better at narrow-curvy and technical low-speed trails that require delicate handling where a more compact bike excells. Both bikes are good but they are made for different situations stop bitching about which is the best.
The next person who tells me 29ers have a 'bigger contact patch' will have their voice box ripped out: contact patch size is completely independent of wheel radius!
One word: Momentum. The larger the diameter of a gyroscope, the more energy it takes to stop it... accelerating might be a little tougher but maintaining speed is easier.
@deth84 That's a common misconception. Although the surface area is increased, along with friction at the point of contact, it does not effect the drag because it is static friction between the tire and the ground, not kinetic- (the reason it's more effient let the tires still roll when braking hard). This means the only reason a 29er would roll slower, is because of friction in the hub or other parts of your bike. *29ers have significantly high rolling resistance at low tire pressures.
@deth84 You've got that just a little bit backwards. The friction between the tires and the ground is what drives you forward, this is why tires have treads on them. Otherwise we would all go mountain biking with greased up street tires, right?
@Krinkels6666 Add to that Rolling Resistance: Wikipedia has a decent explanation the symbols needed to express the equations are not available on RU-vid comments
I know racing style are mostly 29" wheeled bikes these days. Their tires however are different animals entirely designed to decrease friction and rolling resistance and create a stable yet minimal contact patch. The physics are changed completely with the shift into MTN bike tires by width alone, even without factoring in the aggressive tread v=d/t d=ut+(1/2)a(t^2) v=u+at v^2=u^2+2ad 'u' = initial velocity 'v' = final velocity See I'm right, I think? Maybe?
@Krinkels6666 I meant a 29" mtn bike for frequent pavement rides. The aggressive tread combined with the large contact patch do make them harder to accelerate & maintain speed because of increased friction. At least harder than a 26" wheeled mtn bike with a similarly aggressive tread pattern. Therefore for in-town style pavement rides I feel the 26" wheeled mtn bike is far easier to use.
@deth84 sounds like you need a stronger engine. I have both (29&26) no arguments with your comment, but if you haven't tried a 29 and you go hard in the hills you should give it a shot. I consistently finish the local course faster on the 29 because I can ride the big obstacles faster (more stable) and uphill even with more friction the tree roots don't hold me back. Don't even consider them for a road ride unless you go over curbs a lot. They have their place.
Can't speak for all 29ers but the Fisher G2 geometry works for me. I've survived some downhills that would have eaten me on smaller wheels, but then I'm no good at video games, either.