I want to get a new bike, which may or may not happen in the near future and am looking into 29ers. I hear the frame geometry sucks for us *cough* vertically challenged people. What is the suggested minimum height to be for 29er owners? I am a whopping 5' 4.5" tall.
Suggested height
- Thread starter shorty13
- Start date
depends on the frame but a creative custom builder can probably get a 5' 0" person on a 29" wheeled MTB by having a lot of drop on the top tube
isn't that budget company Vassago building a special run of smaller frames at decent prices?
isn't that budget company Vassago building a special run of smaller frames at decent prices?
Have you thought about a 650b wheeled bike?? Might work out a little better.
If you are set on 29ers - try a 15" Redline Monocog Flite or a small Soma Juice, or a Small Q-Ball from Scott Quiring at www.qballbikes.com
If you are set on 29ers - try a 15" Redline Monocog Flite or a small Soma Juice, or a Small Q-Ball from Scott Quiring at www.qballbikes.com
None of those I mentioned are custom. They are all stock frames and can be built up for around a grand/maybe even less.
The Redlines are great value
Q-balls built right in good old Michigan!
I'm going to go agains the majority here and say stick with a 26" wheel bike.
I think you're making so many compromises on a 29er that small that the "benefits" of a 29er aren't worth it
I think you're making so many compromises on a 29er that small that the "benefits" of a 29er aren't worth it
There are no "benefits" to a 29er. There are just differences. Every supposed "benefit" of a 29er is offset by a detriment. But if the OP wants to try one, there's no reason why height should be a limit. The idea that 29ers are only for tall people is nonsense, it is a holdover from the very first few frames mass-produced for 29" wheels. Those first few frames didn't work out too well. By now most of the bugs are worked out. Plenty of people who are not tall are doing well on 29" wheels. Plenty.
I'm not saying 29" is the best choice for OP. I'm saying if he wants to try it, his height is not the limiting factor unless he's only about 4 feet tall.
I agree that we disagree... I'll be interested to see which he chooses (A 6 pack of PBR says it's a 26"
)To the O.P. You're going to need to find the smallest frame you can. What's your inseam?
We had a customer switch to a Fisher Paragon from a Trek Fuel. He's 5'3, average build for his height. He tried the smallest frame from Felt, I believe it was a 15", and then the smallest from Fisher. After 5 minutes of test riding, he chose the Fisher without a doubt, and has been pretty happy with it for about 2000 miles now. He's swapped out several parts of course, went to a carbon riser bar, tires, grips, seat. Mostly standard personalization with the exception of the bars. That's my only gripe with Fisher bikes, they put the odd sweep bars on them, and I run On One mary's on my bike.
Hope this helps, and hopefully I'll remember to stop by this thread again if you have a follow up question.
Hope this helps, and hopefully I'll remember to stop by this thread again if you have a follow up question.
Turner makes a small Sultan for riders 5' 3" - 5' 6". I ride a medium at 5' 7" and think the geometry perfect.
Hey Shorty13,
Did you ever get your bike? What did you get?
FWIW, I'm 5'4.5" also, and I bet my torso is shorter than yours (because I'm betting you're male). I ride a Spot 29er Longboard. I chose the Spot because it's steel and because it has a shorter effective toptube than a lot of other 29er's out there. It works well for me.
-Laura
Did you ever get your bike? What did you get?
FWIW, I'm 5'4.5" also, and I bet my torso is shorter than yours (because I'm betting you're male). I ride a Spot 29er Longboard. I chose the Spot because it's steel and because it has a shorter effective toptube than a lot of other 29er's out there. It works well for me.
-Laura
Same height here. I've looked into the small frames from a few builders and manufacturers and most seem to have pretty long tt's. About 3 to 4 cm longer than I like which will mean a stem correspondingly shorter. Any shorter means the possibility of your toes hitting the front wheel in a tighter turn. That's OK on a road or cross bike but not on a mtb. From talking to guys here in North Van that have ridden 29ers, they are not optimal for the trials we have. Our trails here are tight twisty steep and technical.
I had toe overlap until I changed the Reba from 80mm to 100mm.
It changed the angles just a bit, but it was enough. Slightly different handling, no toe overlap. And FWIW, I 'm not wearing Cinderella shoes. I wear 42's. Trails I ride can be pretty technical; I HATE toe overlap.