Choosing Winter Bike
 

I have 2 bikes sitting around not being used . One of them is a Felt 3 niner a nice hardtail but super stiff. It's a very hard ride and that is why it is sitting. The other bike is a 18 year old Titus Racer X. The Racer X was a great bike and I had many great times on it but the time of the 26 inch wheel is over. The Titus is super lose and the rear get all out shape but its a soft ride and comfortable . My new question is for Winter riding is stiff better than soft or does it matter at all. A 29er hardtail vs a 26 inch full suspension bike . Any suggestions?

The 26 inch wheel is just unfashionable. It still works well. You can readily find rims to build 26" wheels as well as purchasing premade 26" wheels. Frankly, 29ers are about as dumb as a box of hammers. Yea, they roll a little bit better but they are higher geared, weigh more and flex a whole lot more than 26". The advent of the 27.5er (they really need to come up with a better name:rolleyes:) is a tacit admission that the 29er wasn't the best idea. I suspect that soon we'll have a new bike designation that will use the 26" wheel with a whole new marketing campaign to convince us how superior it is. Perhaps they will call it the 559er.

That said, rebuild the rear end of your Titus. It sounds like the bearings (or bushings) are worn. That should be a fairly easy fix.

And then use it for winter riding. I use 1998 Moots YBB for my snow and ice bike as well as an off-road touring bike. It's old enough that it doesn't even have a disc on the rear wheel. But it's much easier to ride in ice and snow than my hardtail Dean. It's a lot easier to ride than a rigid bike. The same things that rear suspension does for you on the trail...i.e. putting more traction to the rear wheel when the suspension squats...are advantageous on snow and ice. Add in front suspension as well as studs and the bike goes like the clappers in bad conditions.

Winter ready Moots

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...0e77ae05_k.jpg
image by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Winter ready Dean

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4559/...1c5b675c_k.jpg
DSCN0635 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Both 559ers

My experience riding both a 700c and a 26" in the winter with studded tires was that the 700c was much better at rolling over the constant small bumps in winter riding. It cut through snow mix to the surface better, it was faster, it was a more comfortable ride.

My suggestion would be to sell the 700c and buy a new more comfortable 700c bike.

That being said a super stiff winter bike rather sucks for winter riding. If I **had** to choose I might still go with the 26" because the drawbacks are worth the improvement in ride quality. But...like I said the choice I actually made is getting rid of the overly stiff bike and buying something new that isn't overly stiff to replace it.

First I want to apologize to everyone for taking up your time. Thank you all for your replies. I took out my Felt 3 niner off road after a year and now remember why I stopped riding it. It rode like a tank even with a Thudbuster ST seatpost Maxxis 2.5 Minions up from and 2.35 Icons in back. I dropped the pressures down to 15 lbs on the tires and started bobbing around . I'm going with my late great Titus Racer X for winter riding . There seems like a better choice of tires in 559mm rims anyway . Why that is I'm not sure. I was going to order snow tires from Modern Bike but if anyone knows of a better place to order snow tires let me know . I've bought from them before and have been satisfied.

No need to apologize. You haven't taken up any time that we haven't been willing to give.

I'm not sure why the Felt rides like you describe. I ride hard, soft and dual suspension and, frankly, can't tell the difference. I suspect your problem may be more related to how you ride than what you ride. Mountain bikes in general, and hardtails specifically, require a lot more dynamic riding style than most people realized. It sounds like you are riding too heavy in the saddle. Try to hover more over the saddle and let your arms and legs take the hits rather than the sensitive dangly bits that are in contact with the saddle.

When I ride...off- or on-road, rigid or dually...I barely touch the saddle at all times. I'm not standing but I'm also not "sitting" on the saddle. The saddle provides support but it isn't a "seat". That will take a lot of the harshness out of the ride.

My Ice on the ground bike is an old MTB with Finnish studded tires.