baldilocks

Has anyone rode a 29er plus? They have 3" wide tires. I believe you can put regular 29 inch tires on the rims. The cheap bike I'm looking at has lugs on the solid front fork, which is part of the attraction. Occasionally I ride a fairly technical trail, eventually I'd like to tour/bike-pack, but my primary use is commuting. I currently have a Schwinn Mesa. Really want a new bike, but there are too many bikes and too little funds.

johnread

Baldilocks, I'm mostly a commuter/tourer and have recently acquired a Surly ECR which is a 29+ with 3" tires on 50mm rims. Absolutely love it! It's slow compared to my street bikes, but I don't even look at potholes anymore - the bike just glides over them. Although these 29+ bikes seem to be used mostly for bikepacking, I find mine to be a great commuter. It's been 25 years since I have ridden a mountain bike, and my off-road skills are largely undeveloped, but I've been pleasantly surprised at how quickly those off-road skills are developing with each foray into the dirt. I bought mine mostly for birdwatching on sandy Florida wildlife refuges and I already know that it will be a tremendous joy on those doubletrack dirt roads. Highly recommended!

Mumonkan

my only mtb is a SS ecr with 3" knards on 50mm rabbit hole rims

it is a "touring" bike, and that is my intended use for it, but for the past 4 months ive just been tearing up fairly technical local singletrack on it and its loads of fun.
i dont find it to be any slower than my road bike, and as mentioned it just steamrolls over everything and has stupid amounts of traction. i can run <10psi with the tires set up tubeless, no need for suspension.

a krampus with a fox float would probably be absolutely invincible and 90% as capable in a touring capacity

osco53

Scott bikes went with 27.5 plus and 2.8" wide tires,, 27.5+ diameter is like a regular 29er hoop.

2.8" wide per Scott R&D was said to have 21% more contact area, 8% less pinch flat potential at a relative psi and best of all
only a 1% rolling resistance increase compaird to 2.35" wide tires.
They also found that 3" wide tires had a bit too much of that tractor traction that made turning slow.


Go to the site and look it over

baldilocks

Do any of you know if you can get fenders for them?

bikiola

John I am looking at the ECR for my new "bad season" city commuting (so rain, snow, grit & dirt in NYC) and some light mountain. I almost always have panniers, loads and weight on it. Do you still find it a good commuter and not too slow? Is it super heavy or "OK" for its bulk?

Do you have any pix of the bike? I always love to see them!

Mumonkan

the only thing that makes my ECR "slow" is the fact that it is limited by a single gear, this thing tears ass through anything. picking it up it isnt light, but its very maneuverable and i can pop either or both wheel off the ground no problem.

i just posted a pic in the post your rigs thread

fwiw im in "nyc" also. the quotations are there because im in staten island, im sure you understand @bikiola

ps: ive heard that the ECR is being discontinued in '16 so if you want one grab it while theyre still around

bikiola

Hi from brooklyn Mumonkan - and thanks for the pic - it looks ****** awesome. Where'd you here about the '16 discontinuation?

I got a LHT right now and want something that tears through Brooklyn and all the bridges - and that I can bring up to my second floor apt on my shoulders!

Any other insight on it before I bite the bullet and drop the $$? How do you feel about the ECR vs the Ogre, which I was also considering? I'd probably run 29" on it tbh - so I can find fenders.. Thx buddy.

Mumonkan

i read it on MTBR in the ECR thread:

LHT is no dainty little race bike, that thing is a tank too and you can fit some good size tires on it. ive done a couple winters on 28c slicks and i lived, see how big of a tire you can fit on the LHT, get some studded tires that size and youre golden.

the ogre is also a great machine, one of my work buddies has rocked one for a few years now and has done the GDMBR twice on it as well as year round commuting. its pretty much the same bike just with regular size mtb tires and some subtle geometry differences

all that being said, i wouldnt hesitate to get the any of these 3 bikes for fun or for winter commuting in the city

bikiola

LOVE my LHT - but I want something builkier and beefier - not sure about the Ogre or ECR or some other bike. But I don't do a ton of mountain biking, so I dont need hardcore - I do more touring than anything.

Incidentally @Mumonkan, are the cops in SI as anti-biker as the ones in BK or MH? They just hate us so much, ticket us, wonder if they leave u alone over on the Island

Mumonkan

ive never had any issue with 5-0 here, but the drivers are a different story. ive been buzzed plenty of times, had **** thrown at me, thankfully a greenway was made that is almost my entire commute so i dont have to deal with too much of that anymore