If a year ago today somebody said I would be a complete 29er convert, I would have laughed. In fact, that did happen several times. While I’ve run the 29 up front since the first proper 29er tire available, I never had wanted to sacrifice: 1: Chainstay length, 2: BB / rear axle height ratio, 3: Carve-ability for “just a little smoother in certain places”.
My central thought was this: 29 offers advantages of stability and smoothness, but I did not want too much of the first for the sake of the second.
I just returned from what I would have thought was a “worst case scenario” for 29ers: a TWISTY flatland race course: the Kenda Cup#4 in Davidson NC.
Boy did I have it confused.
I simply did not feel like I was slow in the corners. Not a bit. Not one single bit while steering with my shoulders through trees and roots and wiggling through one of the twisty-est courses I’ve ever raced on did I once wish for smaller wheels. Not one bit. However, I did have two revelations.
1: The twisty-est trails twist through trees. Trees have roots. Roots quickly separate the 29 from the 26. Even full suspension can’t smooth roots out how a big wheel just rolls over them. So believe it: when the trail gets twisty, the 29er gets ahead.
2: Stability is a good thing. A really good thing, and you want it. Today’s rims and tires are very light. My now dismantled 26” race bike was sketchy! Frightening and unsafe in retrospect, really. Be deliberate and the 29er does what you want it to do and nothing you don’t. Stability gives a confidence boost that I welcome when ripping a gnarly descent under any degree of fatigue.
All in all the race went just as planned and expected. I was injured all of April and sick for the month of May so podium or close to it was not on my mind. I was happy to nail the lap times I wanted and to employ the race strategy I had planned. I didn’t DFL racing SS in the Pro category. I was sad my nerd-meter battery conked out and I have no power data from the race, but I did learn that I’m going to have to practice the low rpm stuff if I’m going to be competitive on a single speed. A track racer’s spin is a wonderful gift, but a well rounded rider has the bottom end, too. Thanks to Will Black for showing me how it’s done!
Congratulations to Shanna Powell for slaying it on the SS Superfly all weekend…crushing boys in both the Marathon and the XC.
