Mountain Biking - Big wheels keep on rollin

I posted up a while back with details about my 29er, seems not many had heard of them. With the recent UCI ruling on the 29er's eligibility to race, and now a first Nat'l victory on one in Europe, I'm sure we will all be hearing more about them. The second article has the details...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2004/news/may13

Wohoo...29ers are allowed to compete against 26ers. XC races are already close to road races on dirt. I was really hoping they would improve the courses to be much more technical. Now more roadies are gonna play to make cash. Terrific.

I doubt that courses will be redesigned. 29ers are capable of technical xc stuff. Doubt anyone would want to ride northshore with one though. I ride xc, and don't hack on northshore stuff even if it's not for me... I guess it just boils down to you ride the trails you have, and buy a bike based on what you ride, right?

PS: 29ers were born on the Colorado front range, pretty dumbed down terrain there, no?

I doubt that courses will be redesigned. 29ers are capable of technical xc stuff. Doubt anyone would want to ride northshore with one though. I ride xc, and don't hack on northshore stuff even if it's not for me... I guess it just boils down to you ride the trails you have, and buy a bike based on what you ride, right?

PS: 29ers were born on the Colorado front range, pretty dumbed down terrain there, no?

Definately..I wasn't dissing 29ers...and by technical I don't really mean hard...colorado is hard just not the same kind of hard I like. Most xc races on tV now are long, lots of uphill but nothing I would consider tech. 29ers are gonna smoke just about all those races. Just not my thing, I would rather see tight and technical instead.

I would never put north shore stuff on a xc race..;) (even though I love north shore stuff)

And I dont expect courses to be redesigned. I just wish they would be (I am sure it would get people watching which would mean more money in the industry). Xc races today aren't fun to watch. I found a vid of an old school vid and wow was I impressed. Much more interesting and exciting. Jumps, log hops everything I would want on a xc trails was in a race...

Western Cup has some races that are pretty nuts. I just heard about a race in Moab where one competitor died (only reason I even know they race there). Anyhow, if you've ever ridden in Moab, you may have done Amasa Back and Jacob's Ladder (the Jacob's Ladder portion is a hike-a-bike up three or four hundred feet of elevation thats more like a rock climbing event than a trail), and I doubt anyone would find a race there to be boring. I wonder where OLN was for that event? Maybe XC races are boring due to the choices the people who are in charge of programming make.

If you check out the article, click on the pic of the bike to expand it. Look at the fork. This guy won a national MTB series on a fully rigid. Cool! (One of the benefits of 29ers is the ability of the big tires to run at much lower psi's without flatting, giving you a pretty cush ride.)