I'm currently in the (very slow ) process of building up my SS Inbred 29er. And now I've got to the point of gear ratio choice and I'm a bit stumped. I'm aware that it's a personal thing as to what gear you like and what the terrain is like, but I thought if someone had to guess a gear to initially go with, then some of your guesses would be better than mine. I've tried just putting the geared 26" bike in several ratios to get a feel for it and around 32 - 16/17/18 all felt okay, with 32 -17 probably the best. But what gear would I need to use on a 29er to get the equivalent? And what gears do you all use? Thanks.

As a rule of thumb the difference between a 26" SS and a 29er is 2 teeth, so if you liked 32:17 on 26" wheels 32:19 should feel similar on your 29er.

I tend to run 18T or 20T in the flatlands of mid Wales

(32/17)*26 = 48.94 gear inches

(32/19)*29 = 48.84 gear inches

I use 32:19 on my 29er for pretty much all duties. I used to swap it for a 20 or 21t for bikepacking, but didn't find it helped to any great extent and I was just slower. If you're in fairly flat territory, you might want to think about 32:18.

Thanks for that, I think I'll start with 32-19 and see what that feels like as a starter. Ta