MTB vs 36" Wheel Bike | Are Bigger Wheels The Future Of Mountain Biking?

Рет қаралды 243,894

Күн бұрын

Mountain bike wheels have been rapidly growing in size since the dawn of the sport. Not too long ago we were racing 26" wheels on downhill bikes and thought they were the fastest option. The argument now is 27.5" or 29" wheels or even a mix of both! Blake thought he'd throw another contender into the ring, a monster 36". Is this the future of mountain biking or a step too far?
⏱ Timestamps ⏱
00:00 - Intro
00:31 - The Bike
05:06 - Climbing On A 36" Wheeled Bike
06:56 - Car Park Tricks On A 36" Wheeled Bike
08:44 - Descending A Blue On A 36" Wheeled Bike
11:48 - Descending A Black On A 36" Wheeled Bike
13:39 - Cup Of Tea And A Chat
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Пікірлер: 691

@yages 7 ай бұрын

Blake looks like an 8 year old riding his dad's bike 😂

@andthefunkybunch1466 7 ай бұрын

It's comical when he is standing to pedal

@bikemike1118 7 ай бұрын

Just ridiculous ‼️

@dooleh84 7 ай бұрын

Exactly my thoughts.

@markdavis8430 7 ай бұрын

😂 👌

@rodmarker2071 7 ай бұрын

😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@ChampionGaming 7 ай бұрын

Poor Blake, you put your smallest rider on the biggest bike 😂 I bet he was praying not to hit his nuts on the frame 😅

@alinapopescu872 7 ай бұрын

He looks like a kid who's "borrowed" his father's bike 😉

@matt.3.14 7 ай бұрын

GCN put Hank on it at some point for a race, lol.

@snowman22ism 7 ай бұрын

I have to admit I was extremely impressed to see him wheelie a 36-in bike. I know he's a pro but come on, it's a 36-in bike and he's wheeling it like he does it every day. Well done sir.

@tanaychopra338 7 ай бұрын

he is doing better than hank from GCN

@adventurefj819 7 ай бұрын

I bought my first modern 26" MTB a couple months ago and I actually love it. Much more playful, maneuverable and poppy than my 27.5" and 29" wheeled bikes. All 3 sizes have a place in my riding now.

@blakeh9628 7 ай бұрын

You forgot 20in, for the most fun! (until middle age where the wrists can't do it anymore)

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

Nice, I just did a custom soft tail 27.5 front, 26er rear 170mm. It can do. 29er front with a 130mm fork

@kaisersoymilk6912 7 ай бұрын

Doesn't the size of the wheels depend on your height? This is what I was taught by bikers.

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

@@kaisersoymilk6912 nope, seat tube height, and reach.matter more. I'm 5ft 7 and can ride 29er, 26x4.0 27.5 etc

@kaisersoymilk6912 7 ай бұрын

@@user-yc6wx4sn5n You're right, I misremembered. BTW, I'm 1.75 and I remember my MTB wheels being 28.

@AshfordMTB 7 ай бұрын

It's ok Blake, you will grow into it.

@chrisfranklification 7 ай бұрын

Great fun Blake - thanks! Just one thing the physicist in me can't help but point out: when you talk about the difficulty of turning the wheel, you don't mean centrifugal force, you mean the gyroscopic effect. It happens due to conservation of angular momentum :)

@WKDPOWER 7 ай бұрын

The physicist in you should also know there's no such force 😉

@joneinarmattiasvisser6113 7 ай бұрын

Also, we lean the bike instead of turning the handlebars. If we wanna steer left, we steer uncontiously right first so the bike is leaning left

@chrisfranklification 7 ай бұрын

@@WKDPOWERWell, yes, once I would have taken more issue with that. However, I've mellowed a bit and these days I don't mind it being used in everyday speech as a shorthand way of explaining what people experience. No way I'd let my kids get away with it in their Physics homework though!

@siggyincr7447 7 ай бұрын

That and when he said that it was harder to keep momentum with the big wheels. If anything the bigger the wheel the more momentum it has. I think he was complaining about how much more work it was to get it up to speed which isn't keeping momentum but rather working against it.

@carlholland3819 7 ай бұрын

did your inner physicist also pick up on his claim that larger wheels have more traction? more ground contact reduces psi causing less traction in many situations common to trails

@agg25gga 7 ай бұрын

29" to 36" is a huge jump. I could see a lot more potential in something like a 32" wheel for xc

@timtuckercom 7 ай бұрын

29x3.25" is pretty close -- not many choices available, but the outer diameter is ~31.5-31.75" Have them and wouldn't mind trying bigger.

@SnowShackboy 7 ай бұрын

@@timtuckercom seems like that width would create a lot more rolling resistance though. Probably not too great for XC use. 29+ seems great for trail riding and bike packing though.

@n.y.npache2646 6 ай бұрын

i don't even like going from 26 to 27.5 in my practice so ... 36 ... lol why not 50 or 70 or 120 ? what is the limit ?

@timtuckercom 6 ай бұрын

@@n.y.npache2646 36 is the biggest that anyone is making pneumatic tires for at the moment. My understanding is that even that size requires different molds / hardware to produce that's not all that common. Beyond 36" you get to penny farthing sized wheels in the 40-60" range, but those are usually based on solid rubber tires instead of pneumatic tires, since it's easier to just extrude rubber, cut to length, & fuse the seam. In terms of geometry, 36" is starting to push the limits of being able to have a handlebar above the front wheel in a position where it makes sense -- at least one company has tried a design with handlebars that extend to the sides off the fork to somewhat address that. Going beyond 36 you're likely to need to get even more creative -- potentially needing to try something like a hubless wheel with the handlebars suspended within the wheel.

@ExplosiveNotes 7 ай бұрын

I'm on 27.5 and have no intention to go bigger

@MikeTheYokel 7 ай бұрын

Same. But then i am 5’6”. Only recently gone from a 26” wheeled bike

@repairdrive 7 ай бұрын

As someone who grew up and raced 26 this is how I still feel on 29s

@brandonclark435 7 ай бұрын

I got two bikes. An old Cannondale M700 and a Kona Lava Dome. The Kona feels like a truck, the Cannondale feels like a VW Bug.

@andrewince8824 7 ай бұрын

I'm on 26, might go mullet one day with a 27 up front but I'm quite happy on my swiss-army bike, 26 does everything

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

If it's not modern geometry, it'll just become a wheelie machine Better to get a modern geo 27.5 /29er bike and swap on a 26er rear wheel. Or go custom frame Marino(steel) or Titan (Titanium) Marino will be a ywjere from 400-700 pending options..but you could make it same drop out size and literally swap never thing from currently bike to modern custom frame

@andrewince8824 7 ай бұрын

@@user-yc6wx4sn5n or I can just chuck in a set of 650bs since the DMR Bolt also fits them due to replaceable dropouts. I'm already running the +8 dropouts to increase the wheelbase and improve mud clearance. If I go mullet though, I'll just stick to a 650b front end and reduce the travel. With a Continental Der Kaiser 559-60 up front the front wheel is about the same diameter as a 650b running a 52-54mm tyre anyway. Geometrywise, the Bolt is pretty modern. Fairly slack head tube when running a 130mm fork and quite slack with a 160mm (and it's built to take it). Nice and long in the front, short in the rear for the technical descents. Tapered headtube (IS 42/28.6, IS 52/40), 73mm BSA threaded BB. The only signs of an older design are the 27.2mm seatpost, IS rear brake mount and external routing, none of which are an issue. Seriously dope frame and genuinely capable.

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

@@andrewince8824 good deal,.I just assumed it was something mid 2000s or older XC geo Not that many slack 26ers out there I'll check out the bolt

@andrewince8824 7 ай бұрын

@@user-yc6wx4sn5n DMR designed it as a slopestyle frame but used their Swopout system and sold it with the 9mm vertical dropouts. Riders quickly found that the frame was sick almost everywhere so didn't really fit the horizontal 9mm dropouts. DMR caught on to this and released a 12x135 dropout then 12x142 to keep up with changing standards. Kinesis used the same Swopouts on their frames including the 12x142 +8 which pushes the axle back 8mm for improved clearance. DMR figured it'd be a great improvement to their frame so updated the Bolt frame to the MK2 with a few tweaks to the RT and the option for a short or long reach which made it 650b compatible.

@winklertribe5268 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the fun video Blake! After riding on 26” wheels, then getting a 29” wheel bike, I wouldn’t consider a larger wheel- the 29” wheel is already too unwieldy for my taste!

@kb5638 7 ай бұрын

Came here to say this. I have 26 aand 29. Bikes are too expensive to buy for just want, but I hope my 29 breaks in a few years so I can get the 27.5

@gabrielserrano5054 7 ай бұрын

I wish new improved efficiency in crank shaft and gears would happen. That's the real mechanism for the bikes efficiency

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

@@kb5638 just buy 27.5 wheel set for it...or 26er. Worse case you'll have to go with shorter cranks set like 150mm

@WesMacaulay 6 ай бұрын

@@gabrielserrano5054bikes with gears are already about 93% in energy delivery to the wheels. You can’t improve on that, which is why chain drive hasn’t been replaced

@piggymito 7 ай бұрын

I'm still rocking 26" on my 2004 ragley blue pig 😆

@YouFearMe 7 ай бұрын

My 26" was made 3 months ago.

@E.T_rode_bikes_As_well 7 ай бұрын

Looks like everything a modern mtb should not be.😅

@stevenr5149 7 ай бұрын

He is right. It does all comes down to racing. Buying speed has driven road and gravel riding to unimaginable sales levels. When the best sponsored racers start being paid to ride these and win on these(because they would win on most anything), the customers will come. It will drive a load of new frame, fork, tire, and tube sales. Smart move by the bike industry.

@blakeh9628 7 ай бұрын

@@iwearLingerie The argument could be made you already got tricked into buying 29in lol, so what makes you think it won't happen again?

@carlholland3819 7 ай бұрын

@@blakeh9628 people buy new bikes to show off to their bike fairy friends. thats what the spandex is for too. its all a small dlck competition

@toniedvardsen8169 7 ай бұрын

As a lover of technical climbs and singletrack. I prefer 27.5". Much more nimble and playful. And I have 29, 29+ and fatbike with 27,5. So I have tried it all. Bigger is NOT better, I think 🙃😉

@bohnito 7 ай бұрын

What Blake is refering to as centrifugal forces is actually called the gyroscopic effect. Other than that nice Video!

@matt.3.14 7 ай бұрын

Probably worth mentioning that in the original build videos on GCN, the talk about wheels and tires. 36" is a unicycle size, so the rims and tires are much heavier than even basic traditional bike components. They need to carry the entire weight of a person+unicycle. I think it'd be much different if it went to current bike configuration (carbon wheels, thinner tires, etc.). Also, I'd bet you'd use at least superboost if not fatbike hubs to get spoke angles that make the wheel a lot stronger. I'm interested just because I'm a fairly big rider. Not "I can't find bikes that fit" big, but "I'd be interesting to be less 'on' the bike and more 'in' the bike".

@philipoconnell6413 7 ай бұрын

Would love to actually see a 36” mtb with suspension that fits the rider. When I went from a 26” to 29” I felt I was deeper into the saddle

@LaurentiusTriarius 7 ай бұрын

Exactly, this 👆 I'm thinking about switching my 10 yrs old DH bike from 27.5/26 to a full 29 after riding dh trails faster on my 29 150mm travel trailbike... It didn't make sense at first but it's all about control and confidence...

@matt.3.14 7 ай бұрын

Really, the fit is what might be the difference. I'm pretty big (185cm / 110kg), and I'd be interesting to ride a bike that felt like what a smaller rider on a smaller 29" bike feels; I'm way more "on top" of the bike than someone more average size.

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

@@matt.3.14 fit and geo I still ride faster than my local group which consists of 29er FS..meanwhile I'm on an XC geo bike and 26ers...still faster even when I'm on a 26x4.0 XCish fat bike. I'm about to finish a modern build(27.5/26r). I'll probably be slower or a couple rides still I adjust and become faster

@duroxkilo 7 ай бұрын

@@user-yc6wx4sn5n it's you that's faster, not the bike.. if two bikes fit you properly, when it comes to going over "bumps" the bike w/ larger diameter wheels will maintain a faster rolling speed and be more stable at high speed.

@marvinator79 7 ай бұрын

Did anyone see the flex on those forks at 9:37 yikes 😬

@tri-seeker2753 7 ай бұрын

Being 2meter monster myself, I kinda like idea of 36" wheels since I first saw this rig on GCN. But oh my god that fork flex is terrifying! in case I ever pay somebody to build me such thing, double crown for is a must...

@luukrutten1295 7 ай бұрын

Build it in steel!

@tomsing98 7 ай бұрын

@@luukrutten1295even half that flex would be scary, though.

@s.nelson256 7 ай бұрын

I must say I really enjoyed this video. It was fun and funny and well done. I liked how he took the bike seriously and gave genuine feedback. As some other comments have mentioned, I would be curious about a full suspension bike (a 36er, or maybe a 32er?) with a rider that fits the bike better.

@ronrubble 7 ай бұрын

Blake thanks for the work you do. Your videos helped inspire me to get out to my local trail centre on my hardtail (Marin bobcat) and I love it. Have been back half a dozen times and have today ordered my first full-sus (specialised status 140). Keep the content coming!

@gmbn 7 ай бұрын

Amazing, good choice! Let us know how the new bike feels! 🤘

@rouxenophobe 7 ай бұрын

correction, most people who are not being paid by the industry are riding 27.5

@nickwooden2103 7 ай бұрын

I would like to try a 32 on the front. 36 is surely too much

@Dowper 7 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same.

@YouFearMe 7 ай бұрын

32 is too much. 29 is too much

@danwebber9494 7 ай бұрын

32’s are only 64mm bigger than a 29, rather than the 165mm bigger of the 36. I think it could be the sweet spot.

@AutiSam1974 7 ай бұрын

@@YouFearMe 32 isnt too much, a fatbike with 5" tyres is 32", works great

@YouFearMe 7 ай бұрын

@@AutiSam1974 no it doesn't

@paulbernard2397 7 ай бұрын

Nice to see Teds work getting some much deserved praise. The guy is an amazing welder and designer. I think modern designed 26 inch frames would find a place on the market if people could actually make something sensible rather than following trends to make more and more extreme bikes. 29ers and 27.5 are okay for certain things but for having fun and exercising bike control a 26 is much more ridable.

@augmented2nd666 7 ай бұрын

What the actual F, Blake just proceeds to wheely and then manual a 36 wheel bike. I'm a 25+ year BMX veteran and I struggle to manual my 29er because I'm so new to mountain bikes, and I could easily manual 100+ feet on bmx. Blake is the bicycle whisperer.

@R1eger25 7 ай бұрын

I have to say the choice of music while Blake is sending it down is epic! hats off editor you're the real MVP

@damarapoledna3636 7 ай бұрын

Would be interesting to see Seth test this rig🤔

@mrvwbug4423 7 ай бұрын

I don't think Seth could ride it at all. Blake is 5'8" and barely fits on it with the saddle slammed all the way down, Seth is 5'4", I don't even think he could pedal it at all.

@BlackFlag94 7 ай бұрын

I've been saying 32/29 mixed wheel is coming for 2 years... I'm excited 🎉

@bikegoon 7 ай бұрын

That thing is nuts haha! That fork scares me

@MrMagoo-hf8yk 7 ай бұрын

09:34 LOOK AT THAT WOBBLE!!.. Those Forks FLEX like CRAZY!!...COOOOOOL.😂

@RobDuggan 7 ай бұрын

Honesty I feel a 36" wheel is just far too big.... but, I could see a 32" wheel making the market for things like X country racing. It would make DH bikes more interesting.....

@WindDispatcher 3 ай бұрын

That's what I was thinking. There's a lot of room between 29 and 36.

@FirestormAA 7 ай бұрын

Blake look like having hell lots of fun on this monster! Lol Great video mate!

@escapenguin 7 ай бұрын

29 already feels like almost too much. The mass is a lot to get used to if you are used to 26. But I appreciate the benefits so I'm sticking with them for a while.

@ItsDaJax 7 ай бұрын

They're just 700c, it's not really that bad.

@WesMacaulay 7 ай бұрын

@@ItsDaJax I believe 700C is equivalent to the 27.5” wheel, no?

@ItsDaJax 7 ай бұрын

@@WesMacaulay 27.5 is 650b(584mm), which is between 700c(622mm) and 26"(559mm)

@iTeachMyToast 4 ай бұрын

A company local to me, Black Sheep, makes 36’ers. Super cool. I have one of their 29er klunker frames and it’s awesome. Couldn’t imagine it with 7 more inches of wheel

@scherzo0o 7 ай бұрын

Blake must have lost a bet or something... Now, let's get serious: while a 36" is far-fetched, a 31"-32" wheel might make sense for those above 6.3 (above 1.90m). Nowadays carbon rims are light enough to counterbalance the weight of big rims & big tires.

@davidmiller4758 7 ай бұрын

I actually really genuinely enjoyed this video and the host/rider. The dude surprised me woth his legitimate skills he had on that thing the first ride down the first trail he just straight up committed himself to comin out on top lol throwing the bike way up into the corners of the turn pumps. But then he came back with real excitement as he had moments testing each trail and he noticed the bike allowed for certain conviniences in tricky spots yellin as he did it lol then had some cons too and he explained himself well. Well put together you guys you and your team need to keep it up

@EndoplasmicReticulum7 7 ай бұрын

To improve handling on trails, you should have installed a dropper post on the 36“ bike 😂😂.

@heathr2072 7 ай бұрын

The first time I have ever seen Blake ride like I do. Everything looked sketchy. I loved this video.

@717pixels9 7 ай бұрын

I am surprised the frame is not made by Giant.

@gobindakc5888 7 ай бұрын

Wow awesome explained. ❤❤

@zogzoogler 7 ай бұрын

Isn’t this just how we talked about 29ers (or at least 69ers) 20 years ago? Love it

@M3PH11 7 ай бұрын

9:36 the flex on those head tube and fork is extreme. those welds are going to crack

@alfonshasel1995 7 ай бұрын

5:40 the nutcracker

@H457ur 5 ай бұрын

Just remember that those are *unicycle* wheels. I have a friend that builds unicycle wheels and I’ve seen how crazy strong they need to be. When Connor did his video on the 36-er bike build, they talked about this issue. Those wheels heavy and designed for extreme low speed applications. Also, look at the number of spokes - this adds to the weight. If you could get lightweight wheels at that size (which may or may not even exist), then the experience would be very different. You would still see the angular momentum issues (not centrifugal force, for what it’s worth), but they would be substantially less on any wheel that was designed for a bicycle.

@Dumbo3.1428 7 ай бұрын

Yes I'd like to try bigger wheels than 29ers maybe not all that big but around 32 inches I recon would work nice with a revised geometry

@user-cz1lv4bz5f 7 ай бұрын

I am very excited for the 100 inch update

@better.better 7 ай бұрын

I would choose it, I love my big fat Dummy, and I see this is sort of similar but in a different direction. The frame design just has to compensate for the additional leverage arm length of the bigger forks. and to be fair, I think that design change would benefit my Big Fat Dummy as well. the steering tube needs to be longer so that there's more distance between the headset top and bottom bearings, to give it more leverage. you can see in the footage that that's where the front fork is pivoting, it's not that the fork itself is flexing that much. they can use the trick that fat bike wheels use to reduce the rotating mass, lattice on the spoke-side of the rim, with a nylon(or PU, DCF, whatever it is) bed-liner which not only would make the wheels lighter, but also improve handling. either way, even if you got it in a 5 inch Fat tire version, I think it would STILL be lighter overall then my Big Fat Dummy is without it's rear rack, so it doesn't sound as ridiculous to me as it probably does to a lot of other people. and by the way you do acclimate to the wider turning radius, I don't even notice it on my Big Fat Dummy anymore

@Ronnymikkonen2686 7 ай бұрын

It has to be stronger overall, .

@saml8119 7 ай бұрын

I’m always scrubbing my butt on a 29”. That 36” looks perfect for perfectly smooth ground just like it was built for. That front fork flex is terrifying!

@michaelpegasiou4531 7 ай бұрын

This is why I’m happy on 26 inch wheels,if I measure the diameter including tyres it’s exactly the same as my 700c road bike.

@byrondot 7 ай бұрын

With any 26"er you can feel the control all time. 29'ers compensate the momentum of the front wheel with wider handlebars to create confidence. I know that 29'ers roll better on rough terrain, but 26'ers are more challenging at technical level to the rider. I tryed a 29" bike (bought a Specialized Stumpjumper Expert and many months after I sell it), and the conclusion is that I'll keep riding 26" all the time that I can.

@radiocontrolled9181 7 ай бұрын

@@byrondotI'm 5'8 and chose 27.5'. I found it's a good size for me, but even 26' would do, like my old 90's days. 29ers - nope!

@SiXiam 7 ай бұрын

My 26 inch bike came with 2.35 inch width tires. I can go to about 2.4, but not much bigger. A 29/700c bike should be able to fit much wider tires. 2.25 is a joke on 36 inch wheels.

@ItsDaJax 7 ай бұрын

How are they the same? 26 is 559mm and 700c is 622mm.

@SiXiam 7 ай бұрын

@@ItsDaJaxThey actually meant width.

@mead813 7 ай бұрын

20" for life! Blake should try the We the People Swamp Monster.

@JourneyToJacked 7 ай бұрын

“It’s not mine, I don’t want to break it” immediately hucks it to flat! 😂😂

@alf3071 7 ай бұрын

I think 40" is the future

@jacek1765 7 ай бұрын

Make it rather 52😂😂😂

@ItsDaJax 7 ай бұрын

Just get a high wheeler 😂😂

@bigmandrel 7 ай бұрын

Hey, Bro, I love your frank assessment. Makes me want to ride right now even though I've finished my day's riding. I'm on 27.5's and am happy as a clam, but would love to try the larger wheels/tires. I find your experience with the front wheel gyroscopic effect intriguing. Want to do it.

@elizabethpoley6882 7 ай бұрын

3' off the ground is really gonna hurt a whole lot more, when you fall. Bigger ouchies!!

@davidfitzwater1022 7 ай бұрын

For me 29" is an absolute upper limit. I have a 29" bike that I enjoy riding, but I prefer 27.5" for most riding conditions. The smaller wheels corner better and accelerate better. I had a mullet years ago that was 27.5" up front and 26" in back. Haven't tried 29/27.5", but I have a feeling that it might be a winner.

@JPspinFPV 7 ай бұрын

That fork flex is hilarious 😂

@PaulFlude 7 ай бұрын

I feel like that fork flex and dragging on the frame is an old sense memory from riding riding rigid MTBs hard as a kid.

@ahobimo732 7 ай бұрын

It was really damned impressive how well you handled a bike that's so ridiculously oversized. I was kinda shocked actually. 👍👍👍

@justanotherbob1621 7 ай бұрын

I'm more of a XC guy and I would totally go for like 31-32"ish wheels

@philjoyce7939 6 ай бұрын

Rather you than me. Watching those forks flex as much as they did was scary. "How long would they last before fatigue cracking?" was my main thought.

@Mith420420 7 ай бұрын

This was a fun watch, this bike is enormously too huge for Blake to control comfortably.

@DoroteoVilla 7 ай бұрын

The image of that 36” reminds me of gentlemen in the 19th Century riding absurdly large wheeled bicycles, wearing full tweed suits and derby hats.

@joesun2331 7 ай бұрын

Looks like a mtb from the early 90s. It would be interesting to see those big wheels in a proper fs bike with modern geometry

@S1MediaHQ 7 ай бұрын

Yeah thought that but I honestly don't think you could package everything and still get the stiffness you'd need from the frame if both ends had movement.. Even with 100mm travel forks you'd need a minimum of 100mm between the crown and the tyre which would make the front end ridiculously high, same for the rear.. the frame tubes would have to designed in a way which accommodate for the massive 36" wheel moving, can you imagine the state of it 😂

@X41N3 7 ай бұрын

26" ain't dead boys, whenever I ride my homie's 29er I'm like jesus F these wheels are so big. But I guess I like smaller bikes

@RyanAlexanderBloom 7 ай бұрын

I figured that manufacturers would go for 31.5 first, then 33… skipping to 36 is crazy. But that’s the trend. Bigger wheels every generation.

@zevcohen7456 7 ай бұрын

my dad rides an 36 inch mountin unicycle and often overtakes bikers both on the rode and on mellower trails

@awfully.average 7 ай бұрын

I'm a 5'10" asian dude , I tried 26 27.5 and 29 , I settled on the 27.5 , overall I love it the best . The 29er is superior for climbing and getting over stuff , but it just feels really big for me .

@Rose_Butterfly98 7 ай бұрын

I'm 5'6", Asian as well butI prefer 29 though. The bikes aren't really bigger are they? I strangely need an m size instead of an s size for some of the new 29 MTBs. But I'm guessing it's just different designs. I thought 29ers are worse at climbing lol. I use 27.5 because my favourite bike was built around 27.5 there's no space for larger wheels. I would use 29 if I could. Kinda why I do want a Polygon Xquareone or if they could make a carbon version of the new Collosus N9.

@awfully.average 7 ай бұрын

@@Rose_Butterfly98 there is this short but steep rock climb that I regularly slay on my 29er ,but I just can't do it with my 27.5 I know it's technique but the grip and rollover-bility helps so damn much I just find it over all heavier and cumbersome

@Rose_Butterfly98 7 ай бұрын

@@awfully.average there could be another reason, how different were the bikes? I have 2 MTBs, 1 is a full sus XC with 120mm travel and the other is a full sus trail bike with 140mm travel. The trail bike climbs much better because of the linkage design it has. Like even up paved roads, there's a steep slope I used to go up to my friend's house, my xc bike needs to do it in 6th gear on the big chainring, it's a 2x10. The trail bike will do it in gear 10, it's 1x11 The chain rings are different but 36 and 32 tooth should make that much of a difference. On trail it's a much larger difference.

@awfully.average 7 ай бұрын

@@Rose_Butterfly98 the 29er was a pipedream moxie hardcore hardtail . Then I changed to another hardtail with a 27.5 and I can't do it anymore , the wheel gets stuck in ruts , or the rear keeps spinning out . With my current Santa Cruz nomad same issue

@Rose_Butterfly98 7 ай бұрын

@@awfully.average that does make sense but isn't that also an issue of how muddy the trail is?

@peterbachman5965 6 ай бұрын

I built 26" single-speed "bmx" bikes recently; my wife said she'll never ride a bike with multiple gears again. I can only imagine what a 36er feels like, but ultimately, no thanks- especially with titanium forks up front. Lower the triangle, increase rake a little, let me have cromo forks up front, and I think it becomes a different machine. Pros and cons, definitely. For racing this may be a hot ticket for storks. For average-height Joes, this would be "little guy in a bro-dozer" No wait a sec... what if!!!!!! Suppose ya build a 32" wheel up front and a 29'er out back- combine with a slightly relaxed geometry. This would make for a potent hardtail (swap in a 29er suspension fork for technical ride, switch back to 32/rigid cromo fork for high speed cruising. No matter what, I don't like noodle forks, and with so much spinning mass up front, that's what you get. Still, wild and impressive design/engineering/build, so it is still a winner.

@jarchewa85 7 ай бұрын

The flex of the fork is scary 😮

@ensnipe2000 7 ай бұрын

I worked on 2 drydocks in Norfolk VA. Sustain and Resolute and while on Yorktown CG48 we had 3 drydockings for SRA's

@whirving 7 ай бұрын

First rides on my 29+ wheeled bike felt a bit of that centrifugal pull to the outside. That was with 29 x 3 tires and tubeless. I bet dialing the geometry would go a long way to make that more ridable, 29" wheel bike design took a while before it was good to go.

@maximiliano8540 7 ай бұрын

This reminds me of how I learned riding a bicycle when I was a kid (taking a grown-up bike and riding under the top tube :)).

@ItsDaJax 7 ай бұрын

I got a video of a 5'2 woman riding my 64cm SS, that's hilarious.

@MrMeheheh 7 ай бұрын

Angular momentum seems very high. I'm still happy with 27.5r 29f. I like mixed wheels myself. Maybe 32f 29r would be a thing.

@gfxman14 7 ай бұрын

great content 😂

@Rebelscum985 7 ай бұрын

Lol Blake. You beautiful human. Sippin on that coffee 😂

@user-zw1xf6jy9z 7 ай бұрын

Thank you😅...i laughed so hard😂

@DanRC69 7 ай бұрын

9:35 That fork flex looks TERRIFYING.

@Thomas-dn8dr 7 ай бұрын

Man! That bike is rad. I'd like to see lil Anna have a go on that bike :)

@simonrook5743 7 ай бұрын

Bold statements, a friend built a 36er in about 2009 and I have ridden it. Amazing rollover but just too big to be effective as an MTB, massive inertia, noticeable gyroscopic effect and of course much heavier. His had a much stiffer fork as we used some triple clamps and dropouts from a cheap ‘big box store’ bike with aluminium tube in place of the suspension units.

@user-yc6wx4sn5n 7 ай бұрын

I'd have to do a 36/32 mullet lol I really wouldn't consider one till someone makes a legit suspension fork for it.

@2nd3rd1st 7 ай бұрын

10:30 Looks like Connor broke off his snow covered peak on the top branches of those trees 😅

@iwearLingerie 7 ай бұрын

You guys keeping passing around that 36er like a pack of sweets

@isitafox 7 ай бұрын

Got to put some of that fork flex down to them being titanium, I reckon a specific MTB geometry would have worked better. Maybe a 36/29 mullet? Who wants to make that!

@artkopyshev9966 7 ай бұрын

Hi! Where was this video shot? Nice trails!

@ItsDaJax 7 ай бұрын

That bike looks like it could use a triple tree style fork with at least 26cm diameter fork tubes. That flex is wild and makes a steel roadbike fork look stiff. while we're at it, 60mm deep rims and higher than normal flange hubs for stronger wheels.

@xenaretos 6 ай бұрын

From what I remember about El Alto, I don't think it ever had skinny tires. They only make them in this size, it looks like, the other ones were just not knobby.

@user-np5dh8cu9p 7 ай бұрын

Fun watching everybody on El Alto - Conor looks "normal", everybody else tiny! 😅

@j7c4n 6 ай бұрын

On my 29 when i stop and stand flatfooted theres one ⚾ hanging on each side of the top tube. And even with my feet as far back on the pedals as i can stand comfortably i still occasionally toe bump the front tire if im not consciously thinking about it. I love the way it mounts obstacles,the extra clearance at the bottom bracket, its a rocket when I want it to be but nimble she isnt.twistys and jumps she can do but she does them ugly. But she's what i have right now and she gets the job done with brute force and rolling mass.

@redzudsbke5082 7 ай бұрын

36" that the size of Tire used on rock crawler truggy of King of Hammer. what a size!

@bryankeenersmith3375 7 ай бұрын

Nice bit of video, I would like point out that I have a 36er with a 5.5" travel front fork and better brakes that was built to fit a 6 foot tall person. I would love to see the gent in the video give it a go and reevaluate his thoughts. Looking at the video I believe that if he flipped the handle bars and looked at lowering the tire pressure he would have a better time.

@elononoras1902 7 ай бұрын

Hilarious spectacle.

@samebert4344 7 ай бұрын

I’ve been riding 29ers for at least 10 or 12 years now and I just changed mine to a mullet with a 27.5 rear wheel. I love the feeling from that but I do miss the roll over on the rear when I’m really trying to power up something with a lot of bumps or roots in the way. Just like 29 works best if you’re taller, I could see 32s for the exceptionally tall who already ride XL bikes, maybe Ls too, and I would love to experience a 32/29 mullet personally. Given how long 29s have been around, I have been wondering when the next size up will catch on… maybe 32s are closer than we think? 🤔