Anyone ride a 69er/96er?

[mhaskell]

I am thinking about a carver or Trek 69er as a XC race bike/trail bike. I am wondering if anyone has ridden them on new england trails and has input? I am not sure about a hardtail or not but am leaning towards a full suspension.

My thinking is that the larger front wheel will help in tough rock gardens where I seem to have the most trouble, without adding too much weight.

[AA]

I bought the top fuel 69er a few months back and have been very happy. I did a short write up for the latest singletracks

[kmdmac]

I did a short ( two ride ) experiment with my Heckler by putting the fork and wheel from my 29er hardtail on.

the bike geo was pretty good, and the result was as expected, however I found myself missing the traction that the 29er rear end offers.

two seasons on the 29er now and I don't feel any disadvantage of wheel weight or "wind up" if you call it that.

if you build a reasonable light weight 29er wheel, and use a 600ish gram tire, I feel the only disadvantage there is, mechanically speaking, is the gear/inch difference of the bigger tire.

most of the current "mid priced" 29er off the shelf bikes tend to use a quite heavy wheel/tire combo.

with the traction advantage of the 29er tire, you won't need the aggressive knob that you may be used to seeing.

depending on your riding style, and in a large way, your size, I'd steel ya towards a full 29er.

just my opinion, though....

kmd

[mhaskell]

Thanks guys, I guess I just need to find a dealer who will let me demo one.

[onespd]

I don't race anymore, but really like the Carver on the tight and twisty here in central Maine. I'm not sized right for a full 29er. The roll over on the front wheel is noticable.
I recently removed the fork and wheel and added a 100m fork and 26in wheel. The bike still rides great. (Axel-to-crown measures close enough.)

[Evil Chocula]

I demoed a Trek 69er for a couple hours at Rays MTB Park over the winter, and really didn't dig it, expecially for the price tag. Other's mile may vary of course, just my personal take on it. I'd demo first, it might suit ya.

[Cycle Snack]

I have a Fetish Fixation that I converted to an SS Rigid 69er using a Surly 1x1 fork and it rocked!

[MtnBikerChk]

I rode the Trek 69er at KendaFest this year. It was a small so my perspective could be a little different too - but it was bizarre. The front rolled nicely but it was noticably heavier to lift over objects. And it felt like I was sitting IN the wheels.

just MO.

[pulsepro]

I just converted my '97 Klein hardtail into a rigid 69er. Have two long rides on it so far (including a 3 hour rip through Wendell SF). I really like it alot. The full rigid thing is almost like a new sport all together.....but the bike is super fun to ride and the front tire rolls over things alot better than my 26er FS bike. I say give it a try. And the coolest thing is you can run 20 psi in a 29" WTB 2.3 exiwolf tire and man does it stick to the ground and rail corners!