Comments on: The Future Of 29″ers: 2009 Report Card

By: Brad

Brad — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:26:56 +0000

Carbon “Fork” Print

You failed to mention the new Shimano produced PRO line of parts that offers a carbon 29er fork. I had the switchblade and IMO this looks much nicer and is the same style and another offering to the 29er world.

Any chance On One will ever run their forks again

By: Thunderlump

Thunderlump — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:16:54 +0000

I would like to see a carbon 29er Epic but I don’t think its in the works. Or at least not in the near future. I think GF is going to make a killing with the Superfly 100, id like to test one out thats Fo Sho!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:44:07 +0000

Hi gt talk to aaron at blackspire and they are making a batch of 28 tooth chainring along with there 38 tooth chairing would make a nice 2×9 set up. Great that big companies are focusing on 29 specific gearing . keep up the great work.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:18:36 +0000

As for Trek keeping the 29″er stuff on the Fisher side, they have done that plan since 2002 and believe me, the Trek dealers are not too happy about it, especially in the Mid-West. My thinking is that dealer pressure has made Trek re-think the plan.

Keep in mind these facts as well: Fisher sells more 29″ers than 26″ers in the mtb category. Fisher and Trek both sell 26″ers, so selling 29″ers on the Trek side doesn’t necessarily mean that Fisher will be cannibalized in terms of 29′er sales. Also, technical manufacturing techniques are already shared across both brands in numerous areas. In fact ABP is on the 26″er Roscoe, so saying that Trek will not do a 29″er based on technical details already on Fishers isn’t really logical.

The shop I work at is a Trek dealer, and the owner was stoked at the possibility that Trek may have a 29″er. His hope was for Trek to cover the low end, sub-grand 29′er with maybe a $600.00 geared 29″er. Hopefully, that would be possible with Trek’s clout with parts suppliers and manufacturers.

I have said for several years that Trek was foolish not to do 29″ers, and every year that they wait is money lost to other 29″er providers which now include Giant and Specialized, two of the biggest competitors to Trek in the U.S.A.

Finally- As for Cannondale, it is well known that 29″er Scalpels have been tested in the field for at least two years now. Whether Dorel, the parent company of Cannondale, sees 29″er numbers to justify moving forward with the project or not is not known at this time. I can report that in the past the answer was that dealer pressure to bring it to market and Cannondale’s own sales figures did not justify the project. I don’t see a lot of marketing going on with Cannondale’s 29″er line up as it is. My feeling is that it will not be seeing the light of day anytime soon. Hopefully I am wrong about that.

By: Toddre

Toddre — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:16:06 +0000

Well we know about the Specialized Epic and I “think” Trek would keep the 29ers seperate with Fisher (And I think they do with putting a ABP on the new Superfly).
My guess would be fullies from Cannondale and Giant with Giant offering a “longer travel” bike in the 5 inch range. Cannondale’s will be a “Scalpel-esque” type set up.

By: t0m

t0m — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:48:56 +0000

Kona is one middleweight company I expect to see a FS 29er from soon. Giant’s Maestro platform is sweet and I’d be surprised if Spesh and Trek got into the 29er FS ranks without an answer from the world’s biggest maker.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:32:03 +0000

Thanks for the kind words and compliments. I will try to get news out as soon as it is available to give and will continue to work hard on getting all the big wheeled reviews and product overviews out that I can.

By: Davidcopperfield

Davidcopperfield — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:48:01 +0000

What about Ibis Mojo 29er? Iron Horse 29ers?

By: Oderus

Oderus — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:55:17 +0000

As an industry insider like GT, I often find myself with information that I can’t share as well. GT, thank you for all of your efforts and the fantastic platform with which you share your information in what I know to be a timely manner. Thank you and keep up the good work.

By: cg

cg — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:31:52 +0000

I want to chime in with the others congratualting GT for his work. What good will it do us readers to have breaking news once and only old news ever after. It is only too easy to fall for “secret news” once and spoil long built good relations.
As an insider GT has to respect his sources and he does good doing so – it is the only way to do his job professionally.
Being European myself I must defend the euro site for most also try to bring the 29er movement on its way, some maybe not in the most politically correct way but there is a plentytude to choose from to your liking. Breaking news in 29er in the majority come from the US but there are some things surfacing here first and it is only too correct that they get communicated first in Euro sites if that´s where the connections are.

I also am stongly into Ti 29ers but am curious to see what is coming up in all the different categories be it XC or AM fully, carbon racer or 29er specific componentry.
Many good things happening at the moment – just keep your eyes open for them.