For interest and possible help to Dave.

Either a geared rigid 29er

or

a SS rigid 29+

Where's the rigid 69er button?

FLV wrote:a SS rigid 29+

Richpips wrote:Where's the rigid 69er button?

Pfff, damn niche riders .

Ray Young wrote:

FLV wrote:a SS rigid 29+

Richpips wrote:Where's the rigid 69er button?

Pfff, damn niche riders .

well you did ask....

Most bikepacking done on a hardtail 29er, but I've also done stuff on a rigid 29er (same model of bike but not the same bike), some SS 29er and also looking to do some on the fatbike.

In the past 2 years I've done it on Fat Bike, 29er Hardtail, Rigid 29er+ and CX but I voted Rigid 29er+ as this will be bike packing bike I will use more in 2015 with the occasional Fat Bike bivi

I have a question (don't think it's off topic really) you guys who ride 29'ers, say tomorrow morning you needed a inner tube or a tyre for your bike how easily could you pick one up locally? Lets exclude the guys who live next door to CRC, Evans, Wiggles and the likes.

RobMac wrote:I have a question (don't think it's off topic really) you guys who ride 29'ers, say tomorrow morning you needed a inner tube or a tyre for your bike how easily could you pick one up locally? Lets exclude the guys who live next door to CRC, Evans, Wiggles and the likes.

Both my LBS's stock 29er tubes, never found any that don't tbh. If all else fails lots of people use 26er tubes in 29ers as well

You can use a 26,27 or 29 inch tube in a 29 inch tyre, so you can buy one anywhere really.

RobMac wrote:I have a question (don't think it's off topic really) you guys who ride 29'ers, say tomorrow morning you needed a inner tube or a tyre for your bike how easily could you pick one up locally? Lets exclude the guys who live next door to CRC, Evans, Wiggles and the likes.

Never a problem, today I had a valve rip out on my 29er+ and I fitted in a 26" 2.3" >3" inner tube without any problems.

I could drop by Halfords for a tube on my way home but I always carry a couple and buy them in packs of 5 from innertube shop.

Based on this year, my fat bike (although I want to shoot myself on road sections riding it!)

RobMac wrote:I have a question (don't think it's off topic really) you guys who ride 29'ers, say tomorrow morning you needed a inner tube or a tyre for your bike how easily could you pick one up locally? Lets exclude the guys who live next door to CRC, Evans, Wiggles and the likes.

LBS is fine for 650b and 29er tyres but not for 26 inch! Has zero stock of fat stuff but were kind enough to order the stock in for me

I use all my bikes for bike packing. Least surely DH horse-drawn sledge.
Then long legged trail bike.
Then it's quite a close call for the fat bike (winter only) and my 29er susser, which is the bike I ride the most (especially under the week).

I use latex tubes. All the same except for the fat bike that is.

Ray Young wrote:For interest and possible help to Dave.

Certainly very interesting and 29er's are looking pretty dominant with 30 of 43 being 29er of one form or another.

I'm surprised how popular rigid's are compared to anything else. I thought front suspension forks were reliable enough now to be more popular, or is it that the first 29er's were not available with suspension?

Hard tail 29er here. Yeti ARCc.
5 bike shops in town, every one carries 29er tubes and tires.

I'm surprised how popular rigid's are compared to anything else. I thought front suspension forks were reliable enough now to be more popular, or is it that the first 29er's were not available with suspension?

Added weight, complexity and cost. 29ers do lend themselves rather well to rigid, add a tyre with decent volume up front and 90% of the time you won't be at a disadvantage.

To add to that...clearance between your front harness and the top of the tyre - you can wear a hole in things during heavy compression (happened to me on a Superfly with Fox Evo CTD's).

Greetz

S.

Hardtail SS 29er.

GT Peace with custom dented top tube.

Dave42w wrote:I'm surprised how popular rigid's are compared to anything else. I thought front suspension forks were reliable enough now to be more popular, or is it that the first 29er's were not available with suspension?

I've x-fusion forks on mine, switching to a decent set of rigid forks saves 1.3Kg. I can lock out the forks which I usually do for road sections to avoid that pedalling bob motion but then I forget to "unlock" them when I get back on the trail. I usually only notice when halfway down some rocky section and wonder why I'm bouncing around more than normal. I've got a 2.3in tyre on the front running at 24psi and it soaks up a lot, there's enough clearance that I could probably put a 2.4in tyre on the front and run at a slightly lower pressure which would definitely make rigid forks attractive.

I've voted rigid 29er, although it does depend on whether you count most nights out (29er) or most trips (CX but only for 1 night at a time, so far)

s8tannorm wrote:

I'm surprised how popular rigid's are compared to anything else. I thought front suspension forks were reliable enough now to be more popular, or is it that the first 29er's were not available with suspension?

Added weight, complexity and cost. 29ers do lend themselves rather well to rigid, add a tyre with decent volume up front and 90% of the time you won't be at a disadvantage.

Plus I'm too tight to pay for fork servicing plus I don't have the hassle of sending them away.
My 29er+ (3" rubber) and Fat Bike (4.8" rubber) run at around 15psi and 8psi respectively, so there's some maintenance free suspension in there as well.

JohnClimber wrote:

s8tannorm wrote:

I'm surprised how popular rigid's are compared to anything else. I thought front suspension forks were reliable enough now to be more popular, or is it that the first 29er's were not available with suspension?

Added weight, complexity and cost. 29ers do lend themselves rather well to rigid, add a tyre with decent volume up front and 90% of the time you won't be at a disadvantage.

Plus I'm too tight to pay for fork servicing plus I don't have the hassle of sending them away.
My 29er+ (3" rubber) and Fat Bike (4.8" rubber) run at around 15psi and 8psi respectively, so there's some maintenance free suspension in there as well.

Interesting.

I'd have guessed the extra rotating mass of a bigger tyre and rolling resistance would have been more significant than the weight and maintenance of a suspension fork (especially on any smooth sections). Maybe I've just read too many unrealistic sales pitches for the speed gains of suspension (or maybe over estimating any speed potential for an old fart like me anyway)

Also I'm probably not taking into account enough the difference in reliability requirements for when in the middle of nowhere for several days.

By far the biggest surprise in this thread is that there are 52 forumites!

Rotating mass can be a benefit off road at times as it can help to stop the bike stalling.