Okay I've been wading through your linked threads and my eyeballs are starting to hurt from the 29er bashing/personal arguments/etc.. so I'm just gonna ask a few dumb questions right here! (BTW seems like a good resource). Would a 29er be better for mud and wet ground conditions, not so much climbs really not really asphalt either in this scenario, terrain=mud, wet wood chips, leaves general winter debris then say a 26" mountain bike? Does it really matter that a steel geared cheaper 29er weighs between 35-40 lbs? It's not like I plan on winning any races here. I just am looking for a good utility way to travel mud on the property without wasting gas.