Riding 29ers.
Written by Brandon Els | 20th February, 2012
In January 2012 I put up a blog on my test rides in December of the Spark 29 Elite, Scale 29 Elite and Spark 26er so that I could compare how the bikes ride. I have now been riding a Spark 29 PRO very hard and on varied terrain.
In my first blog I commented that you cannot ride a 29er with the flow of a 26er especially if you the type of ride that likes to double jump roots and carve through technical parts of a trail. I think I was wrong for reasons I am discovering as I ride a 29er full time.
The weight and length of a 29er is more than that of a 26er. Therefore as I am now finding if you ride a 29er at the same speed as a 26er then it is more difficult to double jump etc, but if you ride with a lot more speed and confidence on a 29er you can ride the same style as a 26er. I am sure that some scientific mountain biker could prove this through some law.
It implies that you must be a lot fitter on a 29er to ride the technical style, you need the same technical skills, but you need to execute them at higher speeds and adjust in-flight in shorter times.
And remeber this is just for my style of riding as there are many styles and it make me have a big off yesterday as I push the limits of my new toy!!
Happy Cycling!
Brandon
