Is it harder to pull wheelies and manuals on a 29er?

[Parvo]

I look like a spaz out there trying and time was I could ride a wheelie all day.

[RegCT]

Never ridden a 29'er but it makes sense that it would be a bit different. Probably have to get waaaay back to get over the rear axle.

[toast2266]

Yeah, it's way harder. I think it's mostly due to the longer chainstays. It's one of the reasons I don't really like my 29'r - every time I go to loft my front wheel over something in the trail I just end up smacking into it.

[Lone_Summit]

I think its harder due to the longer wheelbase for sure. My niner spends much more time with the wheels on the ground than my 26er. Instead of bunny hopping or pulling wheelies I just find myself weighting and unweighting the wheels for obstacles instead.

[Parvo]

Figured it was the bike and not me.

I only try to pull a wheelie cruising through an intersection or riding past some girls cuz I hear that impresses them. What doesn't impress them is some spaz straining to pull up the front tire even a few inches.

[Dickeymotto]

Mine doesn't wheelie worth a shit, but that doesn't bother me at all because I suck at them anyway.

[BushwackerinPA]

my SS is pretty good at lofting the front end. I can only 'ride" a wheelie on DJ style bike anyways.

Its got pretty short chainstays. and 80mm stem on it. I can do short manuals and get over some really big logs with it pretty easily. I thin most people run to long of stems or to large of bike to do this stuff.

[scrublover]

It's one of the reasons I aborted my 29er experiment/trial early. Really disliked that.

Trails around here require doing that quite often.

Either that or you ride like a bowling ball and just try to plow over stuff. Come to think of it, that is how I've seen most 29er folks around here riding.

[hitek79]

I think it's very hard, but one of my friends has no issues on his 29er.

[Feldybikes]

As everyone else has said, the answer is yes. And it therefore makes it harder to bunnyhop, too. It's the one thing I really think is worse about a 29er.

However, I don't think it's the chainstays (which in some cases could be the same length or even shorter than *some* 26" bikes); I think it's the bottom bracket drop. You're sitting 1.5" lower relative to the hubs for the same BB height as a 26" wheel. When I made a bike with a higher BB (12.5") picking up the front wheel became a lot easier and riding got to be more fun.

[frorider]

the answer is No. Canfield, Banshee, and later this year Kona all have short chainstay HT 29ers (think 16.9 inches or less) that manual ridiculously well. The Canfield Yelli Screamy, for example, with 2.4 Ardents, would simply slay the trails scrublover rides.

The generalizations about 29ers are understandable, if misguided. Sorta like the 'all japanese cars are small and get good gas mileage' generalizations.

There are plenty of shitty 29ers out there with long CS and steep HA that are mostly useless, in my opinion. But the short CS / slack HA 29ers are an entirely different beast.

[RegCT]

What doesn't impress them is some spaz straining to pull up the front tire even a few inches.

Which leads to the perpetual failed wheelie bar hump. Hilarity ensues.

the answer is No. Canfield, Banshee, and later this year Kona all have short chainstay HT 29ers (think 16.9 inches or less) that manual ridiculously well.

I'd like to see follow up video or pictures from Parvo and Frorider. A nice 29'er manual would be worth the watch and time lapse bar hump would be priceless.

[Dickeymotto]

There are plenty of shitty 29ers out there with long CS and steep HA that are mostly useless, in my opinion. But the short CS / slack HA 29ers are an entirely different beast.

I wouldn't characterize them as shitty, just different. I have a 29er HT with long chainstays and steep HTA and I absolutely love it. My other bike is a Cannondale Prophet, which sports a 67 HTA (67.5 stock, but I have a large bottom headset cup) and a 16.5 chainstay length. Having such different bikes really makes riding the same trails a completely different experience, plus the 29er is a far, far better climber and that makes up about 75% of my daily rides around here. I love the plow through everything, roll up and over style of the 29er AND the jump around, flickable style of the Prophet equally. It just depends on what mood I'm in and how I feel like riding.

[kidwoo]

It's harder to do everything on a 29er except roll straight and don't do anything. For that they're actually really good.

[creaky fossil]

I think it's more a function of rider skill mixed with chainstay length. The longer the CS the more skill it takes to lever the front wheel upward and even more to hold it there.

My 26" HT has 16.75" CS, my 26" FS has 16.9" CS and my 29" HT has 17.2" CS and I find they manual equally. I'm not a master of manuals either, I can't pull one and coast on it for long, but I can manual just fine to clear trail obstacles. I'd say that's from lack of practice at coasting manuals. In any case I think I could coast on a manual as easily on my 29" bike as on my 26" bikes.

When I had a Vassago Jabberwocky frame I rode it for only 3 rides because of the 17.8" CS length, which was annoying to me. Tough to manual, barge-like slowness of the rear half. Great for seated climbing on fire roads, though... if that's your fun. Anyone who tried to manual a Jabberwocky and found it tougher than their 16.75" CS 26" bike, I'll bet it's down to the CS length in relative terms. Try manualing a 26" bike with 17.5" CS!

Also - a lot of 29ers come stock with a low-hands position to counter the generally taller front end. The low-hands position can make manualing tough. The higher your hands the more leverage you have.

29ers loop out more slowly so if you have the patience you can probably dial a manual easier on a 29er. Or you could start on a BMX bike, which loops out faster than an eye-blink.

[LeeLau]

What Creaky Fossil and Frorider said. I found the longer wheel base 29ers (RM Altitude) didnt manual/wheelie so well. The shorter wheelbase 29ers - Tallboy, Element wheelied/manualed just fine. Having said that they demand a different style of riding for just about everything so it makes sense that it's slightly more torque/effort to get them to manual/wheelie

[Dickeymotto]

It's harder to do everything on a 29er except roll straight and don't do anything. For that they're actually really good.

Which is really all I do on a XC spec'd HT. I bought it as a workhorse, "ride to the trailhead and take a quick XC loop on my way to class" bike. Most of my rides are on the Bonneville Shoreline and if you look at it in terms of time, 75%+ of the time is spent climbing anyway. The road sections were killing the soft rubber tires on my Prophet (not to mention that its a slug on the road) and I didn't want to lock up my nice bike at school. The 29er has been absolutely perfect for what I bought it for.

[BushwackerinPA]

yeah just measued my CS 17.3 inches the bike is not hard to loft the front end at all really. If I had more skill I am sure riding a wheelie or a manual would be doable.

[kidwoo]

75%+ of the time is spent climbing anyway

Which I'm sure is exactly the reason that your only backcountry setups are 60mm rando skis, centerline 30mm wide skins, super pinner dynafits with no din setting and only partly plastic boots that weigh 200 grams each.

I did the continental divide ride one summer, towing a bob trailer all over the place. If I had to do today, I'd seriously consider doing it on a 29er. Ironically that's the first time I rode a 29er as well. A kid that worked at absolute bikes in salida had one of the first gen gary fishers. God that thing sucked. I'm glad to see them coming into their own for guys squatch's size.

[tonyaccurso]

I've seen guys wheelie and manual them for blocks. Scrubby might know Steve Conroy, rides a Kona fully 29er with a single speed rear and double chainring up front. He wheelies the thing for miles. Also bunny hops it onto picnic tables.

[Dickeymotto]

Which I'm sure is exactly the reason that your only backcountry setups are 60mm rando skis, centerline 30mm wide skins, super pinner dynafits with no din setting and only partly plastic boots that weigh 200 grams each.

Nah, winter is lazy time. A time to sit on a chair lift, drink whiskey, and get my gut back.

[frorider]

Rider skill trumps everything. He'll I've seen vid of long manuals on one of those ridiculous 36er bikes.


My main point is these days, generalization statements about how 29er HTs handle are meaningless. Sorta like saying all FS bikes have the same pedaling characteristics.

[kidwoo]

Rider skill trumps everything. He'll I've seen vid of long manuals on one of those ridiculous 36er bikes.


My main point is these days, generalization statements about how 29er HTs handle are meaningless.

Seriously? How do you feel about the following statement?

20" bikes accelerate faster than 26" bikes on transitions.

[rideit]

Swing-Bo 29-ers are the future, bitches.

You know, to address the shitty cornering on tight switchbacks.

[creaky fossil]

Which I'm sure is exactly the reason that your only backcountry setups are 60mm rando skis, centerline 30mm wide skins, super pinner dynafits with no din setting and only partly plastic boots that weigh 200 grams each.

Anyone know a podiatrist surgeon who can install Dynafit toe sockets and heel piece on a human foot?

(wonh wonh wonh)

Hey rideit, that swingbike isn't long, low and slack enough to be trendy for the DH-wannabes, and isn't fixie for the hipster wannabes. It won't sell!