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You turn it on when riding on smooth surfaces or going up hill to improve pedal efficiency. It's hard to know if you will need it in advance because without riding the bike you won't know how well the suspension design handles pedal bob (the energy lost by the bike suspension compressing under pedal forces), try and get a test ride.

Regarding road bikes, the 29" rim size is actually the same as standard 700c wheels used on road bikes -- only the tire is different (larger). One difference that I don't see mentioned often is that 29" vs 26" wheels change your effective gearing. If you have two bikes with the same gearing but one with 29" wheels and one with 26", the larger wheel will ...

With a mountain bike (26" or 29") you've got Suspension: basically, suspension lets you get into more trouble. There's terrain you'd need to bail on (or crash on) without it. Flat bars: Beneficial for two things (IMO)—maneuvering and lifting the front wheel to clear obstacles. Wider bars give more leverage, which may be useful on, say, a very rocky trail, ...

There are a few very good answers on here already, however, I feel that a few pointers have been overlooked. Height I am not sure whether 29-ers suit all riders. Height comes into it, a 29-er imposes a high handlebar and heavier wheels than a 26" MTB. IMHO you need to be 6" or taller for the big wheel to make sense. Standover height The distance between ...

Here in Belgium the Cyclocross is used a lot. The championship is a very popular winter sport, and is covered live on national television. It is specially suitable for the terrain here. Flat terrain with a lot of mud and sand. The cyclocross bike cuts through the mud, and rides on the solid undergrond of the mud, where the MTB floats on the mud. The brake ...

There is a lot of discussion about 29 inch wheels versus 26 inch wheels. I would summarize it as such: Major advantage of 29 inch wheels: ability to roll over obstacles easier. Major disadvantage: weight There are other advantages/disadvantages but I think those are the main ones. Considering that weight reduction is a major focus of road bikes, and ...

...just speaking up for the Local Bike Shop - if you are moving to Redmond permanently then it may make sense to have a bike with a warranty and the support of the LBS for when/if it goes wrong. Also consider the mudguards situation - I know they are unfashionable but they are handy for the commute. Since Specialized bikes are designed for sunny California ...

Yes. One 16 gram cartridge is enough to fill an average 29" tire. I just tested in my Schwalbe Rocket Ron 29x2.25, and from empty it gets to about 38 psi. I run tubeless, so normal pressure at my 110kg weight is around 35-38psi. With a tubed setup, 38psi might be a touch low, but plenty to get you back in off the trail.

I found this chart which lists tyre pressure for various sizes of tyres and cartridges. It doesn't list 29 inch tyres, but with a little bit of maths and physics (and a little bit of hand-waving) I calculate that the pressure in a 29 inch tyre is going to be about 10% lower than a 26 inch tyre. The chart says 40 psi for a 26 inch tyre, so you'd be looking ...

Since you have 700C/ISO-622 rims and you're doing pavement riding, I'd recommend one of the Conti "Gatorskin" tires. They go up to 32mm wide-- which is nearly optimal for urban street riding and nicely adequate for occasional trails w/o mud. These are very popular as training tires for roadies (in narrower widths) because they're very resistant to flats ...

A remote lockout might sound like a good idea in theory but in practice you will find it largely unnecessary for the type of bike you're considering getting. That's not to say that it wouldn't be nifty to have, but I think you'll find that you will use it so rarely that you might regret limiting your purchasing options based on that feature. Remote lockouts ...

First off many forks have a remote lock out as an add on. Fox and rock shox especially. If it has a lock out, a remote lock out is likely available. Secondly, a nice fork that is set up properly for your weight shouldn't need to be locked out all that often. I have had a variety of great fox and rock shox forks that i only lock on long, steep, grueling ...

I own a 29" MTB and a Cyclocross and while I use the CX for winter commuting, trips to the zoo and riding through the park, the 29er is basically for singletrails and mountains only. I rode most of the trails I ride on the 29er with my CX, too (pretty hard work though :) ), but I HATE riding the MTB on the road. So basically I would ask myself, do you want ...

I would say 29" in mountain bikes is a buzz word indeed. If this is your first mountain bike, do not make it 29". The selection of bikes, wheels, tires are quite limited comparing to 26". Decision MTB vs. CX is entirely up to you. All depends on what do you mean by off-road. Off-road can be country roads or Alps singletrack, or downhill trails. From my ...

They do roll over objects easier, if you google angle of incidence it will explain why. They also tend to keep momentum better, since the weight is farther from the axle. That same distance is why they will accelerate slower. Think of a tennis ball on a string. short string easy to get going and stop. Longer, harder to get going but will keep moving ...

Here is a YouTube video explaining advantage of having bigger wheels. This is only part of the answer, most important reasons were explained by darkcanuck:

When you're riding on roads you, generally, have close to no need of suspension, but because you've got it you'll be wasting lots of energy which will be going into the shocks and not into the pedals and cranks. If you don't need the suspension, it's going to be much more efficient to be able to disable it. If you know that you're never (or close to ...

Yes, there are tires out there that are smooth and will fit that rim. Your rim diameter is 622mm. Same as most road bikes, most cyclocross bikes, many touring bikes, many hybrids, and some cruisers. Figure out your rim width in millimeters. It might be printed on the wheel somewhere, it might be in the specs for your bike, and you might have to borrow some ...

Comparing a 29'er and CX is like comparing apples to oranges. The 29'er is a special variation of the Mt. Bike. The CX is a completely different beast. Extending what Traimax said, I think you may have narrowed this down the the wrong choice ( a "false choice".) (And I have ridden a CX bike (my first bike out of college, 18 years ago) and currently have a ...

Police patrol bikes are essentially mountain bikes with street tires. I have almost 30 of them that I maintain... For years, I've been using the Continental "town & country" tire on our bikes. They have proven to be durable, have low rolling resistance, and also considerable flat resistance. One thing to avoid is any tread design with tiny cuts or ...

Of course. 29 inches is the same rim size as 700c, so there are plenty of tires out there. For maximum speed, you want the narrowest tire that you can safely get on there. Take off your tire and measure the inner rim width. Refer to the chart at the bottom of this page to see which tire widths would be suitable.

Lockout gives the rider blow-off valve adjustment options (how loose or stiff the compression force is on bike) not only helps pedaling efficiency while climbing/flat trail mode, but also gives the rider options to unlock when riding DH. High end forks have abilities to lock out/adjust blow off, also adjust travel on the fly while riding, like a swiss army ...

I disagree with all this talk of "wasting a lot of energy". When I am riding with constant pedal force, the suspension compresses very little, if any. The severe loss of efficiency occurs when power peaks to the pedals occur - sprinting or hill climbing. IMO the effect is very roughly up to 30% when sprinting. With climbing it depends on the terrain and your ...

As suggested by @WTHarper - its a straight forward to spread a steel frame from 130 to 135mm. Heres How..... DO NOT try this on aluminum or Carbon. It is also possible to fit the 135mm wheel into the 130 dropouts, but its a pain so you dn't want to be doing all the time. If you go fro a 130mm hub, A) Can you get 130mm with Disc mounts on the hub?, B) ...

I've respaced a steel road frame from 130mm to 120mm for a track hub. It's super easy, although Mr. Brown recommends not doing this for a change as small as 5mm. I'd try a 135mm mountain disk hub with a 700c cross rim, this gives you the most correct breaking surface on both setups. The advantage here is that when you come to put the 130mm road wheel in ...

I have a cyclocross as my commuter, and a 26" MTB bike. I rode a loaned 29er for a mtb race this year, and while trying it out in the city, I noticed that I could hit the square curbs in the neighborhood and flow over them, much better than the 26" bike. No need to hop the front wheel. If this will be your only bike, go with the CX. They are usually ...

CX bikes are really intended as special purpose bikes (Cyclocross racing), however plenty of people do use them on the road. I would bet very few people use them where mountain bikes typically go. As someone else said, comparing a CX to a MTB is like comparing apples and oranges. If you could shed some light on where you plan to do most of your riding then ...

If you are road racing then yes, get the skinniest, lightest tyres you can find. However, if you are riding in traffic to get to work and back then you need a bit of comfort, some puncture proofing and good wear characteristics. I have had a few Continental tyres in my time but I cannot vouch for all of them. What I do know is that they are guaranteed - get ...

Looks should pretty much take a back seat (no pun intended) to how it feels. Some folks like certain manufacturers or frame types because of the geometry of the frame (yes, I know there's a standard within the industry, but lots of manufacturers tweak that for aesthetics, their preferred geometry, the alignment of the stars, etc.). That being said, go to ...