Are FS 29er’s for big guys only?

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    • #89946

      Hi y’all- Absolute noob here and getting back into MTB after 20+ years- yea, I’m pushing 50 😏 My current weekly ride has FS ,12"x2 and about 35 HP 😼 , but I’m looking for come cross training fun now. My 25 year old Trek 800 rigid is not much fun anymore, and my Giant Sedona cushy ride is just plain scary at any kind of trail pace. My riding will be cross country, often very pine rooty , occasionally sandy, with very little elevation changes( at least until I decide to dabble in the quarry sections 😮 ).

      But anyways, it seems that it is the taller/larger riders in particular that are gravitating towards the 29ers.
      SO, are the advantages of 29 vs 26 lost on smaller/lighter riders?? In other words, is it a waste of money for smaller lighter riders to go to a FS 29er?

      I’m 5’6", 145# and am leaning towards a FS 29er for the smoother ride attributes of both wheel diameter and rear suspension. I’m considering maybe a GF Hifi plus or Rumblefish 1 @15.5" ( or 17.5"?) or Specialized Stumpy FSR comp or Epic 29 in MEDIUM( they don’t make smalls 😢 ) Opinions?
      Yea, I know I can save about 1K by forgoing the FS and just getting a hardtail 29er, but I’m listening to my arse on this one LOL.

      In lurking and searching here at singletracks there seems to be alot of knowledge to tap into here and any advice will certainly be appreciated! THX!

    • #89947
      SO, are the advantages of 29 vs 26 lost on smaller/lighter riders?? In other words, is it a waste of money for smaller lighter riders to go to a FS 29er?

      I’m not a small rider but I’m gonna go ahead and say that the answer to both of these is NO. I have a friend who is 5"7 and rides a hardtail 29er and loves it. He has it set up as a single speed and mostly rides it in the exact same conditions you mentioned you will be riding in. When things get a bit more gnarly and on 20+ mile rides he usually even makes a comment about wishing his 29er had full suspension to save his body from the pounding.

      29ers are about momentum. It takes a bit to get them up to speed but they seem to maintain it better than their 26" counterparts as well. This won’t matter if you are a big guy or not. Bike manufacturers have figured out the geometry required to make 29ers fit for smaller frames/shorter riders as well as the larger riders. Test ride a few different brands to see which one feels the best for you.

    • #89948

      My buddy just picked up a 23" HiFi Deluxe and he is 6′ 10".

      That is really the only bike that fits him but that really has no relevance to your question,haha.All the guys I see on the 29’ers just fly up the rooty uphills where I seem to struggle on a 26.Those 3 extra inches really do seem to help the wheels roll over roots and carry momentum better and I think no matter what size frame you choose,you’ll reap all the benefits of the 29" wheels.

      That HiFi Deluxe is just an insanely nice bike man and you will love the Fox suspension on it,very adjustable.

    • #89949

      Thanks GG! By any chance do you know what size and brand your 5’7" friend rides? I’m trying also to get a feel for what size frame is most likely to be for me @5’6". Except for finding a demo day, real world testing ( ie not a parking lot) might be hard to come by and I might just have to make an educated guess and pull the trigger.

      And thanks Galaxy- yea that was the last unit I looked at today, drooling. And yes, I’ve heard thet Fox has it going on…

    • #89950

      Oh, and as a bit of a twist to my bike selection, I’m sure a fair amount of the time this bike will be "urban blitzing" whilst jumping on/off/over curbs, medians and dealing with road irregularities etc. Any particullar considerations there?? ( other than the obvious 😮 )
      Are FS and/or 29ers significantly harder to loft the front wheel?

    • #89951

      He rides a Rig Single Speed Gary Fisher in Medium. You may actually fit better on the small depending on your arm length. Make sure to at least sit on both sizes and see what feels better. Not sure if a full manual is as eaasy on a 29er but you can definitely loft your front wheel to get over objects. Just a little different body english.

      Not sure where you are located but here in Atlanta, there are a number of GF demo days from the local bike shops. Find a dealer in your area and contact them to see when they are having one.

      As far as urban commuting goes (this may be obvious) get some slick tires to cut down on rolling resistance.

    • #89952

      If I (5’11", 197lbs) was in the market for a new mtb right now, I would be looking REAL hard at the GF Rumblefish 1. Recently, my LBS built one up and put it on display; it seems like a pretty sweet ride with decent components. I’m intrigued with 29ers and would love to spend a day demo-ing one…

    • #89953
      "nanook" wrote

      If I (5’11", 197lbs) was in the market for a new mtb right now, I would be looking REAL hard at the GF Rumblefish 1. Recently, my LBS built one up and put it on display; it seems like a pretty sweet ride with decent components. I’m intrigued with 29ers and would love to spend a day demo-ing one…

      Nanook- what would swing you towards the Rumble vs say a Specialized Stumpjumper comp 29 with similar suspension travel? I see that you are in Colorado, so I’m guessing it is travel thing that steers you from a GF Hifi…

    • #89954
      "XCFW315" wrote

      Nanook- what would swing you towards the Rumble vs say a Specialized Stumpjumper comp 29 with similar suspension travel? I see that you are in Colorado, so I’m guessing it is travel thing that steers you from a GF Hifi…

      I’ve got nothing against Specialized, I’m sure it is a great bike. I’ve just had really good experiences with fit, comfort, and performance with other brands. Plus, no new bike (including a Rumblefish) is going to get me off my current Fuel EX8 in the foreseeable future. I guess my curiosity in the Rumblefish lies in the ABP (which I really like on my EX8), it’s a 29er, and I am intrigued with the new G2 geometry. Actually, in a couple weeks, I will be renting a GF Roscoe 1 for a full day of riding on a trip to visit my sister out in Cali. It should be a good compare and contrast (rear suspension system and geometry) with my EX8.

    • #89955

      I ride a Specialized FSR Stumpy 29er. While I happen to be one of those "Big guys" at 6’5 I ride with a guy who is about 5’9 or so, We went out about 6 months ago and he was riding a really cool Carbon frame no name he built up by himself, I wanted to give it a try so we jacked the seat up and I rode it down the trail a piece. Of course he wanted to try the 29er. So we dropped my seat and he took off down the trail too. I thought he was never going to come back. He comes back about 30 min later and appologiozed. He said he was having a blast and didn;t want to stop.

      The point being is that the "smaller guys" love them just as much as us bigger guys do. He said it was unbeleivebale how stable he felt cause he was in the bike.

      My advice…. Go FS Go 29! As far as popping he wheel over a curb? Just ride over it. Cause you can!

    • #89956

      Thanks Eric- great to hear that your freind and your bike got along very well, despite too big a frame size for him, I guess. That is my big concern with that bike (Spec FRS 29)- no small frame size is available, as opposed to a GF hifi or rumble.
      But jeeze, I’ve yet to hear a reason not to get a newer generation FS 29er 😃 Well, other than $$$..
      Wheelie off a curb, na, just a moto habit of not dropping the front into where I’d rather not if I can avoid it. Or just to show off now and again 😆

    • #89957

      I’m rebuilding a GF Cobia 29er for my girlfriend who is 5′ 1" and 110 lbs. She loves it.

    • #89958

      OK then, after a few hours in the saddle of my smells-new Rumblefish 17.5" I’m finding it to be just fine ergonomically, and this thing is just too easy- point and shoot/slam 😃

      But there is something I don’t really comprehend related to geometry/sizing in general, and this may be dumb….
      After casual observation of spec sheets it seems that almost all bikes come with 175mm crank arms, except the smallest frames offered with 170mm. But intuition says that they should vary more, considering huge leg length differences between someone 5’3" and 6’6"+, and frame sizes 16 to 21+?
      So why only 5mm difference between these cranksets and only shorter?? No 180, 185, nor 165 etc.
      Seems to me that they would be a range proportional to frames/peoples frames :?:

    • #89959
      "XCFW315" wrote

      OK then, after a few hours in the saddle of my smells-new Rumblefish 17.5" I’m finding it to be just fine ergonomically, and this thing is just too easy- point and shoot/slam 😃

      But there is something I don’t really comprehend related to geometry/sizing in general, and this may be dumb….
      After casual observation of spec sheets it seems that almost all bikes come with 175mm crank arms, except the smallest frames offered with 170mm. But intuition says that they should vary more, considering huge leg length differences between someone 5’3" and 6’6"+, and frame sizes 16 to 21+?
      So why only 5mm difference between these cranksets and only shorter?? No 180, 185, nor 165 etc.
      Seems to me that they would be a range proportional to frames/peoples frames :?:

      glad to hear that your enjoying your new bike

      but to answer your question about the crank arm length, your right about the fact that most bikes come with either a 170mm or 175mm crank arm, but the most common sizes in mtn biking are 165mm, 170mm, and 175mm, the bike companys expect you to do the rest of the adjustment with your seatpost to make up for the difference in peoples leg lengths, as for the 5mm increments in the size diference, not all cranks come in only a 5mm increment, thier are also cranks with more than a 175mm crank arm, for example a Shimano XTR crankset comes in a 165mm, 170mm, 172.5mm, 175mm, 177.5mm, and 180mm, so as you can see thier are actually a bunch of different size crank arms available, but the bike companys like to use just the 170mm and 175mm crank arms as their generic sizes as they fit the most amount of people out thier.

    • #89960

      Welcome to the 29er crowd. Glad you like your ride. I second trailriders commenst about Crank Lenght. Being 6’5 with a 36" Inseem I really need much longer than the stock 175, But You can only get thename brands up to a point. SRAM is up to a 177.5 which I ride but I really need something like a 185- 187 based on what I read on the internet around sizing. But unless you are a really hard core race you will have a hard time realizing the difference. (In my Humble opinion)

    • #89961
      "XCFW315" wrote

      After casual observation of spec sheets it seems that almost all bikes come with 175mm crank arms, except the smallest frames offered with 170mm. But intuition says that they should vary more, considering huge leg length differences between someone 5’3" and 6’6"+, and frame sizes 16 to 21+?
      So why only 5mm difference between these cranksets and only shorter?? No 180, 185, nor 165 etc.
      Seems to me that they would be a range proportional to frames/peoples frames :?:

      I’m 5’8" and my hardtail has the stock 175mm crank arms, while the Giant Trance that I assembled has 170mm. I find each of them equally comfortable to ride, but I went with the shorter arms on the Giant due to it having an already low center of gravity and not wanting to whack them on things while pedaling. You should’nt have that issue with any 29’er, so I would go with the 175’s.

      As for height concerns in the 29’er world, the issue is mostly about toe clearance. Making a 29’er frame small enough for a shorter rider can make it so the the toe of the leading foot will contact the back of the front tire while turning. Most of the big name brands have conquered this issue through creative geometry.

      A couple years ago I was on a group ride and a local frame builder was along with some of his team riders. I asked him that very question, and he called over a girl who is 5’4" and who was riding one of his 29’er full suspension frames, he cranked up the seat and sent me for a spin on it. It was awesome, and toe clearance was not an issue.

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