My Raliegh, John Tomac Signature MT700 (front triangle Aluminum and rear end Tange prestige, not the Ti/carbon fiber one) got stolen. I bought it new in '94 and now it is gone.

I am getting about $2K in insurance money and would like help picking out a new ride. I do mostly road riding but when I ride off road it is cross country racing type riding ( I used to race a little but not too much anymore). I have not been into mtb's lately and I need help.

The guys at two of the LBS showed me the GF 29" bikes. I am 6'5", and they said it would be a great fit for me. I am not that hot on GF, but the 29" makes sense to me. I tested one off road but it was so different I could not tell if I liked it or not. I also forgot to bring my riding shoes, so that did not help either.

What would you get???

IMO, if youre doing a lot of road riding, this would be a waist. the 29ers are way more on the 100% off road end of the spectrum, basically the entire reason for the 29" tires. if you are going to do mostly street and/or fire road type riding, just get a normal 26" tired bike and save yourself about $500 or something close. the 29 is more for hardcore, techinacal riding

Sorry,

I have a road and a fixed gear road bike already. This would be my off road bike.

To me, the 29er makes sense for taller people as yourself. There are some disadvantages to the 29er, (slower acceleration, weaker wheels), however I think the proportionality and the benefits outweight the negatives for taller people.

Gary Fisher makes some good bikes, I personally don't like their geometries for my style of riding, but they are good bikes.

My only concern with a Niche bike like the 29er is finding parts over time. Fork selection is limited, Marzoochi and White Bros. are the two "quality" fork manuf. making 29er forks. Tires would also be more limited.

I'd say "Go For it!"

L8R

Pay no attention to naysayers who have not ridden one. The fact that they will offer their opinion about something they know nothing about tells you something. Here are some links for you...

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...5&pagenumber=1

https://forums13.consumerreview.com/c...40888@.efc22cb

https://www.dirtragmag.com/articles/a...egory=features

https://www.cyclecambridge.com/29er's.html

Thanks for the info.

I am still waiting on the insurance, but I think i am going to test ride the 29" again.

I definately would. For your height, the bigger wheels make sense.

Which model are you going to look at? I know GF is adding more 29" bikes to their line-up for this year. I think they're going to make the Sugar in 29 as well.

L8R

I am a hardtail person and the sugar is full suspension.

The top of the line hardtail 29"is the Supercal, I believe. This is the one I am checking out. Anyone who has riden this I would love to hear some feed back.

We had one in our shop. The SuperCal is a sweet bike it comes with a Marzocchi fork and is "Race-Ready". No need to swap anything off that bike!

I tried it out during one of our demo days, but I couldn't get used to the feel. I am however, very short legged and long torsoed, so the bike was too tall for me in the frame to not be too cramped. It just wasn't for me, but then again, I don't like the geometries of most Gary Fisher bikes.

I've got a friend who is 6'6" and I keep wanting him to test ride this bike, but for whatever reason, he's got a stigma about it!

L8R

There are also plenty of custom frame builders out there, and you owe it to yourself to at least check that option out, especially since you prefer a hardtail. If you get 2k from the insurance company, that would get you a frame and components, and 250 or 300 gets you a wheelset.

One of the bike shops showed me independant fab bikes.

I could get a 853 steel, hardtail built up like for 29" for about $3300(US). That is a bit steep for me. I do like steel though.

What is the best deal for a 29"???

I got mine on ebay with a Rohloff hub for $1400.00. I think I got the deal of the century. One of the links I gave you was for a 29"er discussion forum. Do a search, not too long ago there was a list of fabricators posted there. Quite a few of the guys on that board ride custom bikes also, and might be able to give you some more info...

I test rode one of the 29'ers a while back. I thought it was a really nifty idea, my problem is the lack of support from other fork names. I never have been a huge Marzocchi fan but the 29" fork on that bike felt like crap. The 29" wheels were fun to ride though. Rolled over small obstacles and whatnot easier.

I have a 26 inch wheel Fisher Tassajara, and just bought the 29 inch Fisher Cobia for $750.
It is so much more of a bike, both in comfort and in speed. Heavier even than the Tassajara, but that is no drawback for me.
Being basically a roadie, I have always felt the cockpit of mtbs to be too short. The Cobia medium 17.5 inch fits my 5'6'' frame perfectly. It is nonsense that these 29ers are just for big guys, and it is nonsense that they are no good on the road, or that they are just for technical stunts.
There is so much inertia to the bike because of its weight, that it flies on the flats, roars downhill, and maintains momentum uphill. I fell in with 5 guys who were on carbon road bikes. We did several miles on the flat, then took a famous local hill which is a gut wrencher. I led on the flat and was second up the hill. Those guys were in their 30's, and I am 61. I could never have done that on my Tassajara.
It is the most fun I have had biking, even more fun than my road bicycle, which I love. I don't feel beat up afterward, and the workout is first rate.
I tried a fancy-schmancy $2800 light steel 29er (can't even remember the name), and it had nothing on the Fisher 29er.
Get one!

Warning: Dead thread resurrected.

i'm sorry, but you are an idiot. if someone wanted just one bike for on and off road ( which the OP isn't looking for ) the 29er would be perfect... want to know why? 29ers use 700c rims... which means you can easily convert it to a hybrid of sorts and have wayyyy better gearing that your tradintion 26" offerings


back to the original post question: i rode gary fisher excalibur all last season.. it was the 07 model. i had made some changes to it. i took off the reba fork (this year has a Fox !!!) and replaced it with a carbon pace riging fork. i also removed the BB5's in exchange for BB7's (i liek the adjustablility on the BB&'s better. and i ran WTB exiwolf 2.3 int he front with a bontrager jones 2.1 in the back. bike rode very well... the only problem i had was the back end flexed a lot on steep climbs (the tire would rub the front derailleur when i was really torquing it) but i believe that had been fixed... i say go for it. they make awesome completes. my 26" is a GF and i love it.. no problems

Dude, It's a five year old thread.

yea i realized that after i posted.. oh well

It's all good! I used the observation of the omnipotent Junkyard to steer me in the right direction.

Omnipotent. That is a new one. I dig. I dig.

6'5" is probably pushing the height range of a Gary Fisher despite their wonderfully long top tubes.

Specialized makes production 29ers in XXL. Regardless of what some people think about "SpecialzEd", they are the only game in town for tree people wanting reasonably priced 29ers.

Guess what...you're five years late.

Five years late to convince Gary Fisher to produce XXL bikes?

Gary Fisher is here?