help

[indieboy]

i'm kinda on the fence between buying a 29er and a 26er
can someone help me out and tell me kinda what the actual benefits are

[Westy]

Just see if you can test ride one on your typical trails. There are differing opinions on them and I suspect a the differences come down to how and where you ride.

My experience is limited but it here are my observations.

Pros:
Rolls bumpy stuff well
Feels a lot harder to go OTB
More tire surface area provides a little more traction

Cons to me but some say they are pros:
Slower but more stable handling. For me it felt like mid corner traction was better but getting the bike to turn in was difficult

Bigger wheels have more inertia. It takes more effort to accelerate but they will carry more speed into a climb. An even trade off until you hit the brakes.

[jncarpenter]

Keep in mind the "slower" handling is essentially sue to utilizing the fork offset of the 26" standard. This is also on it's way out, as most manufacturers are now leaning towards 44+mm of offset for suspension forks. I never realized how drastically this affected the handling until I had a custom frame designed around a 56mm offset rigid fork. The handling is a tad quicker than any 26" bike I have personally ridden. Maybe even too quick ;)

[Westy]

Keep in mind the "slower" handling is essentially sue to utilizing the fork offset of the 26" standard. This is also on it's way out, as most manufacturers are now leaning towards 44+mm of offset for suspension forks. I never realized how drastically this affected the handling until I had a custom frame designed around a 56mm offset rigid fork. The handling is a tad quicker than any 26" bike I have personally ridden. Maybe even too quick ;)

Interesting. It always felt the slower handling came from the gyro effect of the larger wheels. I'll have to keep my eye out for a bike with more offset to check out.

[MMcG]

Westy - try to find someone with an On One INbred or a REdline Monocog Flight.

[indieboy]

i've gotten to the point though i like to drift through corners even in the woods. basically i make lots of moto sounds and use my grip shift like a throttle
oh man i can't decide

[SuspectDevice]

Have you considered 36" wheels?

[MMcG]

Simple for you - get an Indy Fab 29er.