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Why 29" Wheels?We are big fans of 29er MTBs, especially for fast rolling trails or those with more than their fair share of rough riding...so most trails then! In fact, we would choose them over pretty much every type of terrain. In their earliest incarnations 29ers were a fringe product that didn't get the R&D they needed to address initial concerns over stiffness, weight, component choice and nimbleness of handling - but those days are long gone, with major manufacturers pushing the boundaries of the 29er to the forefront of MTB design. It can be hard to sum up why they roll and gain traction better than 26" wheeled bikes, so we are grateful to Cannondale for the text below as it captures it pretty well we think...
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Big wheels keep on rollin’. It’s true: they do!Because even if 29’er riders aren’t able to articulate it, they know one thing for certain: 29’ers have the laws of physics on their side. There are several reasons for this: ROTATIONAL MOMENTUMDie-hard 29’er aficionados are right when they say that the design inherently conserves rider energy. 29’er wheels have slightly more mass than 26-inch wheels, due to longer spokes, larger tyres and bigger rim circumference, and once those wheels are in motion, momentum from rotational mass can carry riders through tough sections that would stop a 26-inch wheeled bike. Net effect? Riders conserve energy and ride faster. While it does take slightly more energy to spool up larger wheels, once they are at speed it takes a lot more to slow them down, too. The bottom line is that many riders use smaller energy inputs to keep that 29’er rolling like a freight train. At the end of the trail, at the end of the ride, you’ll feel the difference.
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