A couple of months ago I wrote this piece on the history of the modern 29″er. Through comments I was given a list of questions and asked to comment on a couple of things that readers are curious about. This post is then the followup to those comments where I will give my thoughts on those subjects that you, the readers of Twenty Nine Inches have brought up.

MINUTE 29

Our first subject is brought up courtesy of “Willie” and he writes: “…please talk about how “standard” 29?r geometry has changed in the last 4 years and the effect 29?r specific forks have had.”

Well, it can be argued that 29″er geometry changed because of the change in fork offset for 29″ers. Previous to the move to longer offsets, builders and manufacturers were trying steeper head angles and were limited in their ability to make a bike without severe toe overlap issues in smaller sizes while using those head angles. The longer offset forks, (44-46mm), and especially Gary Fisher’s G2 forks, (51mm offset), opened up the geometry to a point where much more was possible. Bikes handle better, smaller sizes are no problem, and the suspension forks actually work better due to this change.

This is big. The change in offset for 29″er suspension forks was foreshadowed in the rigid fork arena with On One’s 47mm offset fork which showed that designers need not fear a radical change in front end geometry for a 29 inch wheel. The stability of the wheel itself helping to make the geometry work where a smaller wheel would not behave as well. This in turn helped point the way for a longer offset in suspension forks, which Gary Fisher Bikes helped make happen in 2007. Has this lead to a “standard” geometry for 29″ers? I wouldn’t go that far……..yet. But we’re getting closer every day.

Our next question from the Historical Perspective article comes from “John B” who writes: “If you were being hired by a bicycle museum to do an exhibit on 29ers, what models would you want to display as the “Top 3? for importance and impact on the movement? And of the models currently being sold, which do you think best represents the direction that 29ers are heading?”

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Well, I wouldn’t put a bike in as my #1 pick, I would put in a tire! The WTB Nanoraptor. Without this tire being made back in 1999, we wouldn’t have the modern 29″er and none of this would matter. Yes folks, there were “big wheeled”, or more correctly, “700c mountain bikes” previous to the Nanoraptor. However; none of these bikes had a tire larger than 45mm and none of these bikes were very good beyond purely XC trail use. (If that) The WTB Nanoraptor blew the doors wide open for real 700c mountain biking, and because the nominal diameter worked out to be about 29 inches, the moniker Wes Williams dubbed the tire size with has stuck. It all begins with “The Tire” and that should be at the center of “the museum”, if ever a thing is built someday.

Beyond this major point I would nominate one of Gary Fisher’s personal prototypes which eventually led to the line of 29″ers being introduced by Gary Fisher Bikes in 2001. The first production mountain bikes with 29″er wheels widely available in North America. (Honorable mention goes to Nishiki’s “Big Foot”, which appeared about the same time as Fisher’s bikes.)

Number three would definitely have to be one of Wes Williams early Willits “29er” rigs that he made in Crested Butte in 1999. As I have alluded to already, Wes gave the wheelsize its name, and Wes was a huge proponent of big wheeled mountain biking long before the Nanoraptor. He along with several other key figures pushed WTB’s Mark Slate to design and make a two inch wide, 700c bead tire to make big wheeled mountain biking work like it should. Based on Wes’ early efforts alone, one of his bikes deserves top billing for sure. But factor in that he was making 29″ers from the get-go, and gave the wheelsize its name, then you have no choice, I believe, but to have a Willits in the group.

Finally, to answer the last part of the question is really difficult. 29″ers are headed in several different directions. Let me lay out a few current models that I believe are pointing, or have pointed, the way to where things are headed now.

In terms of XC racing, you have to acknowledge that Gary Fisher’s Superfly hardtail has really been at the forefront of a movement towards changing the attitudes of Pro racing towards big wheels. In terms of full suspension bikes, we have to break it down now into short travel/XC, Trail, and AM/FR bikes. On the short end, Titus did the Racer X, and now with Gary Fisher’s Superfly 100, I feel we will start to see even more of this sort of XC bred FS machine. On the Trail side, Niner really set the standard with the R.I.P. 9. Finally, in terms of long travel, AM/FR type rigs, Devin Lenz is single handedly dragging everyone else into the long travel 29″er ranks with his outstanding Behemoth, Lunchbox, and now with the PBJ models. Finally, I have to credit Giant with really setting the sub-grand 29″er category straight with their excellent 2011 line up which will be bringing more riders a chance to check out big wheels.

There are other worthy candidates, but there are my thoughts on that question without writing a book on it!

Our final question comes from reader “jimmythefly” who writes: “Hmm. Where does the Panaracer Smoke, Diamondback Overdrive, and Bianchi Project bikes fit in here? Ritchey MT. Cross (30/44 double…now where have I seen that recently..?) Wasn’t it Bruce Gordon who advocated for fat 700c off-road very early on?”

These bikes are what I referred to earlier with the “700c mtb” comments. There definitely was a movement towards using a larger diameter wheel to go off roading with. Bruce Gordon believed so strongly in this that he had his own tires made! However; the movement, largely centered in the early 90′s, sputtered out due to a couple of reasons. First of all, suspension forks for 26 inch wheels became widely available at that time. Trying to convince a rider that the latest, greatest thing was to ride a rigid fork in 1993 was a tough sell. Somehow it became to be that a “real” mountain bike was a 26″er and that the 700c based off road machines were “hybrid bikes”. That was the nail in the coffin for the wheel size then. The other problem was that no one brought a truly big, fat tire for the wheel size. 45mm tires just were not big enough to ward off pinch flats and get enough traction in dirt and rocks. Without a real mountain bike worthy tire and the “modern” suspension fork of the era, 700c mtb just never really caught on with the public.

It wouldn’t happen for another five years or so, and then when it did, it grew in a very grassroots sort of way. Not marketed as “the next best thing” by bike companies, but largely ignored in the beginning, 29″er mountain bikes were truly a “ground up” sort of bike idea. Helped along at key moments by bigger companies, yes, but really a bit different deal than most mountain bike changes I’ve witnessed over the past 22 years.

Thanks for the questions and for reading Twenty Nine Inches.