[spoke80]

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/hands-deck-christian-29er-faster.html

 

[N8 v2.0]

Hey Europe, welcome to 2003.

 

[mattmatt86]

take that over to the DH forum if you want some entertainment.

 

[syadasti]

Hey Europe, welcome to 2003.

29ers were invented in the UK 30 years ago:

http://clelandcycles.wordpress.com/history/

The Aventura prototype pictured below, built in 1981/2, featured amongst its many innovations 700c tyres. The reasons for having larger wheels back then are the same ones that are making 29ers popular today – a freer rolling, smoother ride over bumps and rough terrain, with improved traction in loose dirt and mud. Supply difficulties resulted in production models featuring 650b tyres, a slightly smaller rolling diameter tyre/rim size in which Nokian also made some suitably sturdy tyres. It’s worth recalling that back then there were almost no off-road bicycle tyres available in the 26″ format, or any other size, apart from 20″ format for BMX. As Geoff relates below, but for a better supply situation, mountain biking history may have been quite different

 

[Mike B.]

Mr Jones' comment got the twitter world going pretty good a couple weeks back
http://www.bikemag.com/news/news-of-the-tweet-29-tweets/

 

[jonKranked]

The reason 29'ers exist today:

US harmonized tariff schedule, chapter 87. Subheading 12.

 

[woodsguy]

I tried a GT 29er last year. I didn't really notice much (if any) improvement in the ability to roll over stuff or increased speed (maybe because I run 2.55 Weirwolfs) but I did notice that it felt tall and was more difficult to throw it around and carve turns. But if I were a xc racer fun/handling would take a backseat to any speed advantage I could get. But on my rides I'm in no hurry and prefer the tossability of a 26er.