Do standard racks fit 29er bikes? Or do I need to find special 29er racks? I know it might be a stupid question, but I'm considering building up a 29er with IGH for a winter bike for next year and am trying to gather info.
(before anyone asks, it would probably be based on one of the Marin's, or the Motobecane Outcast as the base.)

Yes. Any Rack that works for 700C should work for a 29er.

Cool. Thanks.

By the way, am I the only one who digs the idea of a 29er set up with trekking bar, front rack, rear rack, fenders, and an 8speed IGH?

do you have disc brakes? if so, you'll need to get a rack that clears the brake caliper. I use an Old Man Mountain on my bike. it's pretty solid.

Thought of that. I leaning away from disc brakes for cost reasons, but it is still an intriguing thought. As I said, this is just an idea for a build for the coming year. It's just in the seminal stages. But we'll see. Perhaps it'll turn into something.

+1 on the Old Man Mountain rack. I recently installed one on my Specialized Stumpjumper. Once I got the correct size p-clips, installation was a piece-o-cake.

What 29er are you looking at? I like Specialized, but there is nothing to mount my rack to.

No.

By the way, am I the only one who digs the idea of a 29er set up with trekking bar, front rack, rear rack, fenders, and an 8speed IGH?

No. I have this exact setup. KM with trekking bar, front and rear rack when touring, and Alfine 8 speed IGH. Check my blog for details, I also have a complete build.

Joey French

Joey, that bike is really nice.
How's the Alfine working out for you? I still need to make my way through the alfine vs. nexus threads.

Where is a good place to get IGH's? Nashbar, PBK, BikeIsland, Blue Sky don't have them.

How is a 29"er different from any other 700c hybrid? Is it the amount of tyre clearance?
If you are buying a bike for commuting you may as well get one that works well without hack solutions such a P clips.
Look for an ISO disc mount on the chainstay not the seatstay. This will free up the standard rack eyelet for a standard rack. Some Scott and Trek bikes have this.
Make sure the bike has proper rack/fender eyelets.
Do you need a suspension fork? It is hard to integrate a good fender with most sus forks.

Why 29er? So that I can fit the narrower tires when I want a fast ride, but since this would be n IGH bike, and it would have the option for super wide tires, I could use it for wintertime commuting very easily. Besides, it's more of a "because I can" bike than anything else. Which is why it's nowhere near the beginning stages of becoming a reality.

I would use a rigid frame, no suspension fork. Yes indeed with the rack/fender eyelelets. I'm not using P-clamps on a nice build up like this.

I have given some thought to getting a Surly Karate Monkey and trying an Internal Gear Hub on it....seen one on flickr that got me thinking it might make a nice setup. Just bought a Redline Monocog 29er frame and fork to build up over the winter and play around with. Check out Singular Cycles https://www.singularcycles.com The Peregrine model they have looks pretty sweet actually all their bikes seem pretty well thought out.

You've gotta go with disc brakes if you want the winter dream bike! My Muirwoods 29er has seatstay mounted disc tabs, but it also has a braze-on just above that on the seat stays, which makes for a nice rack/fender mount point. Unfortunately it has vertical dropout, and its near twin, the Hamilton, doesn't have disc tabs.

One thing to ponder, if you're planning to switch between skinny tires and fat tires, there's going to be a limit in your range on a single wheel. The rims you get with a 29er are likely going to be too wide to take a really skinny tire (not less than 32, to make a guess), and I would guess that a rim that will take a 25 wouldn't take Big Apples.

Ha!!! When I mentioned a skinnier tire, I was thinking 700x35 minimum. I have my road bikes if I want to ride anything narrower than that!!!!
Right now my transend rides on 32's and I love em. But I didn't figure a 29 rim would take anything smaller than 35's.

Thank you for all the suggestions everyone. And Allen, I love that bamboo bike.

Specialized came pretty close to your idea with the Globe Comp. Mine is an 07 with a Delta Sherpa rack - 60 lbs. rating.

I love it, hasn't given me a bit of trouble. I got the Nexus grease with it when I purchased the IGH from Harris Cyclery. I have done maintenance on it once this year at about 5,000 miles, and it is still smooth like butter. A friend of mine rode it one time, and went out the next day and got one for himself.

Joey French

The Thule T2 rack with with tires upto 29" and 3" wide...

Depends on what type of 29er. I have one, but mine is a dedicated mountain bike. No way I would think of putting commuting gear on it. It's a Orbea Lanza. Those bikes like ther Merwood are sweet though. If I didn't have a Trek 520, this would be very tempting.

Depends on the tire size I have big apples in 2.3 and all the standard racks I've tried rub without modification

The Surly 'Nice Rack's will fit anything and they're crazy solid. A little pricey and heavy, but very strong and versatile.

If you're going for a winter build, you have to go discs in my opinion. The Avid BB7's are top notch mechanicals at a decent price.

Search for "Darth Pugsley" in Bike Forums and you can see a write up of my Alfine Pugsley build.

I've commented on that thread. I love the Dearth Pugsley. It's one of the things that inspired me to want to do a build like this actually.

Here's mine. No trekking bars, but I use the flared drops, and an eight speed setup. No IGH though I would like one. Just bought a sherpa rack for the front.