Here's my new SS. 15" frame and 29" wheels. My inseam is 27". I look like a midget standing beside it - like it's my dad's bike or something. It is an awesome ride and I've been railing around Paradise Canyon on it which is my little 45 minute back yard loop of slickrock and sand.
It's one of the best thought out bikes I've had and has lots of nice features which many small bikes are missing. A big one for me is the water bottle mounts are low down enough in the main triangle I can get a large bottle in there. That's nice for SSing as it sucks to have anything on your back when you are standing up cranking. No toe overlap either. I checked this one out first. I once had a bike with toe overlap and it sent me down a few times.
I wanted to get a 29er and a SS so why not do it all at once. It's a Gary Fisher Rig. Actually it is a pig (not a rig) at 26 lbs but still darn fun. I'll take it down to Old Pueblo and might do a few laps on it. I've been having fun night riding on it. Without gears that's one less think to think about in the dark.
Here's a few random thoughts about my new experience on a SS and a 29er:
- I feel high up off the ground.
- It's a hard tail - haven't ridden one of those in a while
- It railed the corners. I can carve stuff I slide sideways in on my FS - maybe the beefier tires or the 29" wheels.
- The big wheels stick far out in front. It's a funky feeling like the front wheel is poking further into my peripheral vision than it should be.
- I need more air in the Reba than I would on a gearie 'cause of all the standing up and cranking on the SS.
- I think I can run a less plush front shock as the 29er wheels rolled over the drop offs smoothly (yeah I didn't jump off any).
- The ledges felt smaller on the 29er - really
- No bar ends - too much standing up, they'd just get in the way
I'm still messing around with the fit. I flipped the stem over yesterday and put a new saddle on - it feels better.
24-hours in the Old Pueblo is approaching fast - six days away now. I'm just getting my legs moving again after a big rest week. They needed that after my mega 1336 TSS ride week with Dave the week before. It took a couple of intervals to get the sluggishness out of them but now they're back and moving pretty good. I'm happy. Our support crew is coming together too. The guys at Green Valley Bike and Hike are wrenching and we've got lots of other folks to cheer, feed and help with all the details. I'm very happy :-) Things are feelin' lined up for this one.