Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - 29er good or bad for a Clydesdale

Hello all. Pretty new around here. Lots of good info and motivation on here.

I have a K2 Zed 2.0 26er I bought a couple years ago. Have never really rode as I always seem to lack motivation. I'm 6' 5" and the frame says it would fit someone 6'1" - 6'4". Never the less, the frame seems really tall to me. I've read that I should be able to lift the bike 2" on a mountain bike, and can barely lift it an inch. :eek:

So I randomly stopped at a LBS (Trek store), and started drooling over the 29" Trek Wahoo. Want to look around some more, but are 29ers even a good fit for a 6'5" clydesdale? Or are they better suited for shorter/lighter riders?

29ers are VERY good for tall riders! I switched last year and absolutely LOVE the 29er. Plus you can put 700c skinny tires for the road - and I'm 6'8", 240...

Grohe:

So far, I'm the shortest at ~6'. I came from a 26" MTB and absolutely love my 29'er. I was ~232lbs when I started riding it. Take that Trek for a test spin. I bet you will buy it! :)

Hopefully no Holy Wars break out here. :)

Yes, 29ers are very good. I have 3 of 'em. :D

But be careful around cheap forks if you ride off road aggressively. They are perfectly serviceable, but tend to be pretty flexy. If I ever get a front suspension fork again, it'll probably have a larger "maxle" setup.

I'm considering switching now that tires are more available. The problem is some one decided a 27.2mm seat post was standard so most of the steel bikes use a 1 1/8 seat tube. Finite element analysis has found the seat tube bottom bracket joint is under the most stress. It has also been proven that a welded frame is less strong than a lugged frame. It seems rather stupid to increase the diameter of the other tubes but not the seat tube. Also I don't trust a fork with low rider rack holes drilled in the fork. With my fat ass I use 2 seat clamps.

29ers are VERY good for tall riders! I switched last year and absolutely LOVE the 29er. Plus you can put 700c skinny tires for the road - and I'm 6'8", 240...

What size frame do you have? I'm 6'5" 315 lbs., and the guy at the Trek store was suggesting the 21" frame. I couldn't pick up the bike 2" as I've read that is a good indicator of frame size on a mountain bike. I could barely pick it up 1".

Grohe:

So far, I'm the shortest at ~6'. I came from a 26" MTB and absolutely love my 29'er. I was ~232lbs when I started riding it. Take that Trek for a test spin. I bet you will buy it! :)

Hopefully no Holy Wars break out here. :)

The Trek Wahoo is very high on my list. The K2 Zed 2.0 I bought a couple years ago, I bought it from REI. I like that store, but for my next bike I wanted to buy it at an LBS, so I can build a good relationship with them. REI is an hour away, and is not convenient to drive that far for service. Plus it seems a couple spots on the bike were not put together properly. Fork still seems kind of wobbly.

I have one LBS I want to check out. It was a Schwinn I went to all childhood. They changed names, and no longer sell Schwinns. But I know a lot of people that still go to that shop that are very pleased with the service.

I ride an XL Stumpjumper. They call that a 23. Make sure it's long enough on the top tube for your comfort and absolutely make sure you've got room for the twig and berries when it comes to standover height - you'll want a little extra room for off-road dismount clearance...



What size frame do you have? I'm 6'5" 315 lbs., and the guy at the Trek store was suggesting the 21" frame. I couldn't pick up the bike 2" as I've read that is a good indicator of frame size on a mountain bike. I could barely pick it up 1".