Hi,

I had a rather spectacular failure on my front tyre on Sunday. Just riding the side walk in my street at about 5kmh, sort of tried to ride off the edge of the kerb. To then wake up on the floor with a cracked helmet, few cuts and a bruised hip.

I am entering my first mountain bike event, the half fling and have a couple of simple questions.

I generally do a lot of road riding so my fitness is about right, and I ride trails, approximately once a month. So I certainly wont be the most technical out there, but should have decent fitness to carry me through.

With this being my first event, I'll be riding an aluminium, hard-tail 29er.

Taken from Sheldon Browns great website! So much useful info. I believe that he passed away a few years ago - so never got to see the rise of a new wheel size.

Twenty Niner
The so-called "29 inch" tire size is not actually a new size, it is just a new marketing term for 622 mm (700C) wheels with fat tires.
This size is probably a good option for taller riders for off-road use, compared with 559 mm (26 inch decimal) wheels. Larger-diameter wheels don't sink as far into holes, so they give a better ride in rough conditions.

Hi All
I am sold on 29ers being a fast way to cover ground & am convinced of their speed advantage especially on reasonably sucky ground (eg, a field, sand etc), however as an allround fun trail bike how do they compare?

I see the yanks are crossing up and getting some serious air on the new generation of 120 - 140mm 29er bikes from the likes of Santa Cruz & Pivot etc but is this just for the marketing men to show that they can do it or are trail riders buying these $5000- $10,000 bikes and giving them a serious thrashing?