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9/13/2013
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PH
Edited Date/Time
6/10/2020 12:50am
"Business in front, party in the back!"
The UCI reversed its policy of banning mixed wheelsizes late last year for DH and Enduro. Within weeks, several teams experimented pairing a 29" front wheel with a 27.5" rear wheel, notably, Specialized, GT, and Polygon. Neko Mullaly tested a reverse mullet build on his Tues, 2 years after trying it out on his old Gambler "Frankenbike".
In recent times, there have been a few intrepid manufacturers who actually designed and released 97.5 gravity bikes, like Foes and Liteville. Reviews were generally positive but no discernible data has been released comparing it to bikes with same-sized wheels.
Is the 97.5 bike a true game-changer? Will it only fit specific riders and/or riding styles? Will a 97.5 bike ever win the World Cup overall or the EWS?
The UCI reversed its policy of banning mixed wheelsizes late last year for DH and Enduro. Within weeks, several teams experimented pairing a 29" front wheel with a 27.5" rear wheel, notably, Specialized, GT, and Polygon. Neko Mullaly tested a reverse mullet build on his Tues, 2 years after trying it out on his old Gambler "Frankenbike".
In recent times, there have been a few intrepid manufacturers who actually designed and released 97.5 gravity bikes, like Foes and Liteville. Reviews were generally positive but no discernible data has been released comparing it to bikes with same-sized wheels.
Is the 97.5 bike a true game-changer? Will it only fit specific riders and/or riding styles? Will a 97.5 bike ever win the World Cup overall or the EWS?
Poll
I believe that for a while there will be 97.5, but in the long run I find it difficult, much easier for the industry to make only 29 items available than the two models. I believe bikes 29 are complete and the difference of 97.5 is not relevant. We'll see.
I’d like to see theability to run a 27.5 rear if possible.
Personally I'm considering running the mismatched wheels on an enduro bike, but more for practical reasons: use a high end 29er wheel for longer rides and racing, but a lower end 27.5 wheel and DH tyre for shuttles and bike park. DH tyres and strong wheels have a pretty high weight penalty in 29.
Personally, I believe tire size has more to do with the person who rides its height and their bike skill than rotation or floating holes or if it carries speed better
The 27.5 GT Force LTS and the 29 GT Sensor LTS seem to share the same front triangle (probably why Maes is using a 97.5 Force this year).
Meanwhile, the 29 and 27.5 Kona Process 153's seem to have the same rear triangle. Truth be told, my next build is probably going to be a Process 29 with a 27.5 rear wheel.
Guerilla Gravity's recent modular design and manufacturing direction makes it possible to build a 97.5 enduro bike.
Other long travel 29ers with short chainstays and an average bb height would theoretically be good candidates also.
Other than that I don’t think there’s any reason it shouldn’t work. It just might not offer any benefits over conventional bikes.
From my own limited experience I thought 29ers grip a bit better in off cambers and obviously they’ll roll better than the 27.5, they get less hung up particularly during slower chunkier sections. So maybe the 97.5 bikes will do better in the Enduro than WCDH events? Personally though I still don’t really see the point but perhaps certain riders and styles will gel with the 97.5s just as we’ve kinda seen with 29ers?
Post a reply to: Is the 29 / 27.5 combo (97.5) bike here to stay?