If you and I are anything alike, you probably want to argue over what wheel size is best about as much as you want to piss on an electric fence. I sure as hell don't want to piss on an electric fence again, but this is a wheel size discussion with a twist: we headed into the forest to watch Rocky Mountain's enduro specialist Remi Gauvin and going-really-f*cking-huge specialist Thomas Vanderham test 27.5'' and 29'' wheels to see which diameter is quicker for them.
Of course, we all know that those two are more skilled than the average Joe, so in came our own average, er, Ken. Enter Rocky Product Manager Ken Perras as the third player.
Vanderham and Gauvin may have different needs when it's go-time, but this day was all about finding out which bike can be ridden faster.
Rocky Mountain, and specifically Mr. Gauvin, were in the forest looking to find out which bike is faster and, equally as important, which one is
easier to ride fast: the
27.5'' wheeled Altitude (150mm of rear wheel travel) or the
29'' wheeled Instinct BC Edition (155 of rear wheel travel). Both machines have similar intentions, travel, suspension action, and close-ish geometry, but differ in wheel size, making this an interesting comparison.
If it were me, I'd chose big wheels all day, every day, but I'm not the guy racing Enduro World Series events for a living, whereas Remi is doing exactly that.
With similar angles and travel, choosing between the Altitude (left) and BC Edition Instinct (right) might come down to what wheel size you prefer.
And because Remi and Thomas were truly looking to find out which bike is faster and not just more fun to ride, some Freelap timing equipment was in order. No guessing here, then. Remember, this day of shuttle runs and timing equipment wasn't about which bike is more fun, or even which bike is better - "better" means different things to different people, after all - but simply which bike was faster under Remi, Thomas, and Ken.
MENTIONS: @RockyMountainBicycles
Only if it's your favourite game.
The real question is does pissing on an E-MTB actually give you a shock ???????
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FTFY
I know my home trails. If I rode one of them six times, three each on one bike, I would expect the times getting faster with each run on one bike (as I got used to that bike), but wouldn't expect that familiarization effect to make a difference (as I already know the trail).
We have bikes in different sizes for a reason. Everything scales, except for the wheel size. That's a bit like if we all rode skis in different sizes - but the sidecut and edge length were the exact same for everyone. Stupid, frankly.
A bigger rider, all other things being equal, will be less affected by the drawbacks of big wheels, and will thus be more able to enjoy the benefits. A smaller rider, all things being equal, will be less affected by the drawbacks of smaller wheels, and will thus be more able to enjoy the benefits. Why that is so hard to figure out and acknowledge I can't understand. That doesn't mean bigger riders should automatically gravitate to 29ers; a big rider looking for a super-responsive trail bike might be better off with a 5010 or Scout or such, and a smaller rider looking for speed in enduro on not-very-twisty tracks might be better of with a 29er. But one wheel size does not fit all riders equally well.
I've been racing windsurfers for ages; I can tell you that testing/tuning there can be remarkably methodical and productive, but not at all "scientific" in the sense of large n controlled trials. You have two or three riders who know each other well, and you line up to establish the baseline. One guy makes a change (in stance, technique, tune/trim, or in one component like a different fin. You line up again, see if that change bought him a bit of upwind angle, or a bit of speed. Rinse, repeat. Lots of dependencies (some gear requires different technique, and hence opens doors that were closed before). But in the end, lots of small incremental improvements. From what I can tell, mountain bike racers operate the same way.
m.pinkbike.com/news/shredmate-the-first-bike-computer-to-track-your-jumps-is-nearly-80-funded.html
Tom? More please. . .
As for Thomas Vanderham, I think he actually has been racing before he got into the freeride thing. Early this century freeride simply was "bigger" than racing so that's what he specialized in. But he never lost the racer style of pedaling and moving on a bike. Later on he indeed has been doing some WC races again, if I recall correctly. I think he was actually on a stormer but was held back by a slower rider in front of him.
Lets face it, the proof just isn't there for DH (admittedly over one season), and after 5 seasons of EWS where a 26, then 27.5 has won every season. Just remember, those under-developed DH 29ers were all touted as being consistently multiple seconds faster than the 27.5 equivalents before the season started...
We all know girls biking doesn’t count.
It’d be like a man having a baking show.
26in/27.5in/29in - What's The Fastest MTB Wheel Size? - Part 1: youtu.be/vhS1HfvBeYA
26in/27.5in/29in - What's The Fastest MTB Wheel Size? - Part 2: youtu.be/kxfrykeSNCE
that would be a 666B
if using the 650B metric
I plotted the data on an XY scatter and the riders followed a pretty consistent improvement path from run 1 to run 6.
The test was incomplete without verification that the 27.5 times were not improving due to knowledge of the track, conditions etc. They also did not complete enough runs to get any meaningful data, they only have type test data from a sample of n=3.
There was discernible no step change in the plot when moving from 27.5 to 29.
Bored at work.... sorry.... best get back to work before the next meeting
But here our 29er has 5mm more which is already a significant difference in this context. It's over 3%. And we're making a big deal about being 2 seconds faster over ~60 second tracks. Which happens to also be 3%.
Have a large, I mean really, really large sample of riders ride all the bikes for an entire day constantly and rather randomly switching out back and forth between the two frames.
There are an insane number of factors that can make one bike faster than the other. I just want them to stop raising the prices and changing the standards and...and...and....
I've given up.
This off-season, get ready for:
- 27.5plus vs 29 shootout
- "Narrow" rim vs "wide" rim shootout
- Carbon vs Aluminum shootout
- Tire width shootout
- Bike category 1 vs. Bike category 2 shootout
And much, much more!
Bottom line, both work well. I'm super glad I have my Patrol now. That thing is wicked fast on the descents and super fun to ride.
Although they’re usually about this close.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj0uBQ7j5c4&feature=share
If this were allowed in professional DH or Enduro racing, it would be pretty common i think.
- I am a professional legend
Marketing brings those who would never ride a bike aggressively into the market. Therefore designing bikes to make it easier on the rider. Basically not making to much work for the biker. We might as well open our phones up to a app or game and just say we all ride mountain bikes/motocross. Cheaper to. Lol
Everybody who owned/rode a 29" Enduro back then already knew what these guys are apparently just now finding out.
Given equal bikes(travel, geometry etc.), the one with 29" wheels is gonna roll faster, roll over bigger obstacles smoothly, and with its long travel is gonna suck up just as much as any other bike with 160mm travel, i.e. the bigger wheels make for a faster Enduro/AM bike
The 'new' 29" Enduro has 165mm travel
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj0uBQ7j5c4&feature=player_embedded
Was it not the limitation of the larger wheel skidding due to not enough force over a small enough area to dig in, then the larger gyroscopic action not wanting to turn in?
(I just ride, every now and then just now only unfortunately)
27.5 my choice . Maibe 26 + hardtail in the future
Plus since when did Ben Affleck ride mtbs haha
Both bikes are awesome. Considering there similarities in frame design/travel/HA they are both very easy to ride and adapt to but have very different characters.
The Instinct seems to have all the usual 29er benefits without any discernible drawbacks. The Altitude is more fun to ride but less forgiving.
The Instinct is an amazing bike but after three weeks I'd choose the Altitude if I could only have one.
Mtb is 80% rider 20% bike
If I want a weekend warriors opinion (such as myself) I need to look no further than the comment section.
*insert line about how not everyone is racing and FUN'!*
At long last someone who can summarise clearly in precise English.
Muhahaha!
Enduro rider = 27.5"
XC rider = 29"
I am a mountain biker, keeping it real.