Being that I am newly unemployed I had lots of time on my hands today! I got lots of chores completed at the house. Greg texted me....3pm Buffalo? I text back 2pm? He texts back ok! I have a super secret test planned for this ride though... Change out the rear wheel on my 29er for a standard 26" MTB wheel. 69er or 96er if you will. I was trying to see if I could get the best of both worlds. The ease of rolling over stuff with the 29er and the acceleration of a 26" wheel. Here's what I discovered:
1: You pedal more revolutions with the same gearing ratio as a 29er, doesn't seem any faster.
2: The bike accelerates quicker for sure
3: Thought it would affect the handling\steering, didn't seem bad to me..I liked it
4: When I rode over technical sections (rocks\roots) it took a little more effort pedaling
5: On the quick downhill sections it went where I pointed it.
6: It lowered the BB height to where I was hitting small rocks at the bottom of the pedal stroke with the crank arms
7: The frame took the changeover with no problems as long as disc brakes are used
8: I prefer the 29" wheel in the rear overall
9: The bigger wheels seem to roll faster than the smaller ones
I know that my frame geometry is all wrong for the 96er format, but I still enjoyed trying this. I flatted on the climb up and we had to go back to the trucks to get a tube. I had a 29 with me but having that small hoop in the back wouldn't you guess which one I would flat?? yep the 26" and I had no tube for that with me. Greg had one for me back in the truck. After we fixed the flat we progressed up the mountain to find most of the fire tower forest service roads covered in ice. Not a fun way to climb. We managed though and made it to the top where we got the GoPro cameras fired up to shoot some video.
Later G.......................................
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