A 29er question
 

Hi,

I want to replace my old MTB. I was going to go with a standard 26' but a friend suggested I check out 29'ers. I will use the bike for urban riding, light trail riding, short commuting, and most importantly riding in the snow as my road bike becomes useless in the winters here. All of the benefits a 29er grant seem to be in line with what I'll be using the bike for so I don't think there is a problem there.

I'm going to try and find a 29er to ride just to make sure I like the feel but my main questions are:
Does the 29' wheel create better traction on snow b/c of increased contact or is a 26' better?
Do 29ers tend to get more flats than 26ers?

Thanks so much

26" bikes are lighter I think. Get one of those 26 inch bikes with fatter wheels on them. For traction, the bigger and wider the tire, the better, not necessarily the diameter.

awesome thanks

The real cool bikes are 650b now FWIW. :)

The larger the wheel generally the larger the tire's contact patch and thus greater traction. The larger wheel will weigh more but will have more momentum once up to speed. The larger wheel will roll over trail features a little more easily. There is more choice among 26ers, but 29ers have been very popular now for a few years, so there's quite a bit of choice there as well. 650b is fairly unknown but starting to get a little traction (pun intended).