MtbbikeVanlife

If I recall correctly, there are one or two of you out there who do a bit of mountain biking.....

Out of interest, have you got 26ers or have you bought into the 29ers ?

Carl... In Richmond, VA.... No mountains, but loads of mountain bike trails

AdobePinon

I still ride a 26er because I prefer the shorter wheelbase for the kinds of technical riding I like to do. If I rode mostly flowing singletrack with either no technical stuff, or small stuff that can be rolled through with enough momentum, I'd have moved to a 29er years ago.

Hiro11

Now you've got 650B to think about as well...

IMO, in the majority of situations a 29er is preferable to at 26er. The main exception is (like Adobe Pinon says) technical riding at very low speed. Personally, I'm used to road and cross bikes so a 29er feels comfortable and instinctual to me. Also, most bike shops have gone 29er at this point.

The one thing to note is that I'm 5'9" and a full suspension 29er with a reasonably long-travel fork can just barely be made to fit me. Some compromises would probably have to be made to get a 29er to work for someone shorter than me.

Also, here is a great 29er for the money.

AdobePinon

You had to go there, didn't you? :-D

You make a good point about the shorter people. Several of my friends are physically incapable of riding a full suspension 29er.

Part availability is something else to keep in mind too. Wheel size is one thing, and is not so hard to deal with along as you are buying standard tubed tires. For everything else, the devil is in the details. I ride 26" UST tubeless, 20 mm thru axle, 6-bolt rotors. Trying to find a set of cheap wheels to mount my studded tires on (if you've ever owned any, you'll understand) was very difficult. The first set I found had neither braking rims nor rotor mounts - not sure what they're intended for....

MtbbikeVanlife

At 6'2" the 29ers feel much better for me than the 26ers, so coming over to the US and discovering them was a bit of a revelation ! (29ers still rare in the UK).

Now after a year on my 29er hardtail (Breezer Jet Stream Comp) I'm looking for a Full Suspension...... Some of the trails around here are hard on the back ! (that, or it's my age...). Pretty sure it wil be another 29er, but there are a couple of 650b's that look interesting - might help getting round some of the tighter switchbacks....

Now.... how much to fly a bike back to the UK for the Christmas break ?????

AdobePinon

If you're comfortable riding the 29er on your trails, I'd guess that's what you'd want to stay with for FS. Switchbacks are largely a matter of technique, and willingness to just go for it. Applicable techniques include hard carving (possibly with delayed steering), wheelies, hop turns, endos, and any number of variations that have the potential to send you to the ER.

As for taking your bike home, probably not worth it. Excess baggage costs, bike box, insurance, dealing with the airlines when they inevitably screw up..... Might look at rentals instead.

Swisstony

when I flew back from US with United and took my bike with me, United took it for free.
as for a bike box, I went to the local bike shop and asked them for one they were planning to throw out. I checked my insurance would conver it (they would) and perhaps I was lucky, the airline didn't screw up....

...was a pain to put it back together at the other end though< I must admit....