29er?

about time! i've been waiting for a 29'er dh bike to come on the market. (not saying i'll buy one anytime soon). i bet the bash guard will prove unnecessary

lol imagine gliding through rock gardens on THAT!

i think its pretty cool

It would seem that it would roll more smoothly, not sure about tight turning though, but 29" for racing seems resonable, I doubt however it will catch on to the crowd who do nothing but huck big jumps and drops.

I also own a full rigid 29er xc bike, I tried a full rigid 26er xc bike, the 29er wheels do smooth out the terrain a bit (no, 29ers don't "mimick 2in of travel", it's not the same)

as the pros are already doing, DH is getting to the point that hardcore riders (with the cashflow or team support) will have different setups, or in this case, different bikes, depending on the course. obviosly 29" won't work well for all circumstances, otherwise, 29" would have been the standard long ago as the well-rounded (haha, round) option. the way i see it is 26" does't have to be the standard size for all disiplines. DH riding is highly focused around floating over bumps, and a larger wheel will help with that. also, jumps on DH courses are very mellow, so a larger whee should buck the rider in most cases, compared to a dj bike, where many riders prefer 24". things will find their place sooner or later, or never. i wish i had three different dh bikes/setups depending on what course i was riding. maybe at least three different wheelsets

Yeah it all depends on trail condition, I think that's what I was trying to say, but it came out differently but you explained it well.

ive been waiting for a 29er dh bike, cos the 29in wheels will sink into less bumps being bigger making it much smoother, only downside is it wont handle as well or accelerate as well but acceleration isnt much of a problem in dh, i wanna try one of these out

I love how everyones concentrating on the size of the wheels. what about the frame design?
its a single pivot with a tiny shock stroke. the ratio's probably higher than 3:1 and on a 9 inch bike that is terrible.
I dont care if the bigger wheels roll faster over rough stuff, that shock just isnt going to be able to cope.

yeah i see the point about the shock ^^ gonna have to have some fkin epic small bump sensitivity (high speed? im not sure)

what stops the tyre hitting the lower crown, when the fork is under compression as it surely will?

Manitou designed two different Dorados, one for 26in (carbon and aluminum versions) and one for 29in, the one above is designed for 29in dude. I know that the rear travel is 7in so the front might only have 7in stroke? (26in version obviously goes from 7-8in adjustable, not sure about 29er version)

no need to be a purist in this kind of thing. new products ideas should be opened with welcoming arms. it's more impartant to have more travel in the front because the rear end tends to follow the front wheel's initial impact, so bumps give less impact in the rear. less travel is necessary for 29'ers, so that could give the option for a somewhat more efficient rear suspension.

I think no matter what arguments are made, there will always be haters and lovers of 29" wheels on dh bikes, unfortunately most who make the arguments have no grounds on what to base their arguments on having never ridden one.
As of looks, i think that it will always be one of those 'marmite' things - you either hate it or love it.

dabomb666 is right... listen to him. Plus, they will eventually be able to make a 29 inch wheel near as strong as a 26 if 29s truely have worth while advantages. even if it means widening the hub some more... would not be surprised if someone tries.

I definitly agree with that. Bigger wheels will float on top of rough sections better.

probably alot tougher to maneuver tho

Definitely could be. Have to see how it does over this next season.

go cry in a hole... a hole with a 26" diameter

SeanTheSheep,
To correct you on what you said, yes actually, they have compensated for the 29'er wheel on both ends of the scale. The bottom bracket is not stupidly high, its actually roughly 14". As well, incase you missed it, Manitou recently launched the 29'er version of the Dorado, hints why this is utilizing such a high end fork. Seriously, you thought they would put a 29" wheel, in a 26" fork? of course its going to hit.

I would like to think when a company as small as Lenz sport makes such a unique bike like a 29'er DH bike they would put some time into the design, to ensure everything was functional, and on par with a 26" wheeled bike.

owned. good point well executed. respect!

....by nickf I hope you mean. Not often PB comments actually make me laugh.

Actually, on most 29ers you have a lower centre of gravity because the bottom bracket sits further below the wheel axle.

OK mad-matt even if the bb sits below the axle, the axles are still HIGHER. HIGHER by 1.5 inches, because that's the increase in the size of the radius of the wheel. Second of all, I know that manitou made a special 29er dorado, but my point earlier was that to allow 203 mm of travel AND a 29 inch wheel, the fork must be 1.5 inches taller. And thirdly, rims are much more likely to buckle under the stresses of downhill when they are 29 inches in diameter.

im pretty certain in a couple of years 29 inch wheels will be more than strong enough, and you are kind of missing the point with this bike as all ur going on about its its turning which could well be worse than some 26ers, but just remember that it will be a hell of a lot better when the going gets rough.. I would laugh so hard if you were 'bombing it' through a rock garden one day and you got overtaken by a beginner on one of these

both been done modified.

agreed

Wise one you are indeed. Let's toss those of the weak faith into the chasms of hell. Evolution or death!

so's your face

If you were 6'9" great
real world 5'11" bb to high center of gravity
jackalope

Why the hell not?

650B =

I agree is F*cking ugly as F*ck and the spec is crap on it aswell