# Do I want a HT 29'er?



## Romaxy (Jul 5, 2016)

Long story short. My wife is a runner but cross trains on her road bike. She only rides around 200 miles per year. A few months ago a guy stopped me when I was on my road bike and offered me more than I paid for it so I sold it. Thought I would just ride my FS bike with the wife but now I'm wearing my tires out, LOL. I found a good deal on a 29'er and I'm thinking I could put road tires on it and maybe get a wider 27.5 wheel set and ride it on my chill ride days. Why don't I just get another wheelset for my FS bike you ask? Because I am a contractor and I take it to work with me in my enclosed trailer and get in my rides at random as time allows and just don't want to take up more space and time to change wheels over. Plus ya can't just have one mountain bike! 
I don't want another road bike and I looked at a hybrid but I'm pretty sure I would get more use out of the 29'er. What do you guys think?


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## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

Romaxy said:


> ..I found a good deal on a 29'er and I'm thinking I could put road tires on it and maybe get a wider 27.5 wheel set and ride it on my chill ride days...


Once I started riding fatbikes my 29ers started gathering dust, then I did exactly what you're suggesting. I was finding narrow road tyres were beating me up too much on our rough roads here, plus I tend to venture up any likely trail I come across regardless of what bike I'm on.

So I repurposed a 29er as a road bike, and put Schwalbe Big Apple 2.35" tyres on. The result was amazing. It barely affected my top speed, not that that is a concern, it was a darn sight more comfortable especially once I learned to use lower pressures than I thought necessary, and on fast downhill corners, they allow great lean angles with perfect confidence.

The big bonus was offroad. Apart from loose ball bearing gravel on hard surfaces or slime, they grip very well. It's led me to revise my opinion on tyre grip - I now think it's a lot more to do with conformation to the surface (remember low pressures).

And if you're worried that they may be a bit draggy, here's a couple of pics of rides I have done.

Mixed ride 90 miles - about 50 miles offroad (not much of it as good as this  ) and 40 miles onroad.



Pure road ride, 140 miles day cruise over 4 small mountain ranges. The bike was a singlespeed, so if the tyre was sluggish or draggy I would never have managed it.



I have also ridden the bike around the local xc course with those tyres and apart from having to be more careful in some spots, didn't really find it a problem.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

So many solutions. . . . the only way for you to know what is going to work for you is to ride some different bikes and get what you like. Several different styles that could all meet your needs from what you describe in your OP. Hybrids run the gamut from upright comfort cruisers to damn-near mountain bikes to damn near road bikes and everything in between. 

Whatever it is that you would primarily use the bike for, is probably the type of bike you'd be happiest with. If you're going to ride with your wife and she rides a road bike, maybe another road bike would suit you. Maybe a drop bar bike that could take wider tires would give you some flexibility, or a hybrid-ish flat bar bike that has MTB leanings so you could ride it on rides where the FS bike is overkill.

If I were going to ride mostly streets/paths, I don't think I would get an actual 29er HT for that.


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## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

It makes sense here because I don't enjoy road bikes these days and we sold our commuter to aid getting a 2nd fat bike. We have a steel Honzo that's a quite loved bike all over and in this house. With not too knobby tires in back it's what we use for basic commuting and now we see it's the first choice with our teen boys who don't go off road except gravel paths.

Of course you don't need a Honzo but why not go for a bike that makes everything fun????

It looks like you're trying hard to solve what many call first world problems. Good luck.


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Of course you do!


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## EJ (Aug 29, 2005)

Velobike said:


> Once I started riding fatbikes my 29ers started gathering dust, then I did exactly what you're suggesting. I was finding narrow road tyres were beating me up too much on our rough roads here, plus I tend to venture up any likely trail I come across regardless of what bike I'm on.
> 
> So I repurposed a 29er as a road bike...


This ^ exactly the same for me!
I converted my GT Peace 9r to a neighborhood cruiser. Put the rigid fork back on, added some bar ends and got a set of these GEAX tires:
https://www.amazon.com/Geax-1123VV2348111TG-Evolution-II-Tire/dp/B007FWN29C?th=1&psc=1

I found them at Nashbar for like $10 ea, so it was a no brainer. They roll really well at 45psi. I thought I'd be undergeared, but I average around 12mph on my suburban neighborhood streets. I'm more comfortable on a MTB vs a road bike so it's worked out well for me with minimal investment.


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## Romaxy (Jul 5, 2016)

Thanks for the replies guys!! I think I'm going to go for it!


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## Romaxy (Jul 5, 2016)

I went ahead and got the 29'er. Haven't done any mods to it yet, just getting a feel for the old girl. I actually believe I bought more bike than I need for this purpose but it was only $400.00


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## Scott In MD (Sep 28, 2008)

I love my hardtail 29er. I have a lot of bikes ... one of everything. But when I cruise the golf course after dark or ride to work or make a coffee run to say hi to the roadies in Saturday morning, I'm usually on the hard tail 29er.



















Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

2 answers 
- tires many choices
- tire pressure 
most bikes are great when we get these 2 correct for our weight and were we ride but terrible when incorrect,, 
when we have storage space i like many used bikes so no need to switch wheels or tire just pick a bike


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## ddoh (Jan 11, 2017)

Off subject a little, but i'm confused about the wife's cross training. 200 miles is a decent week on on a road bike. Per year, that averages less than 4 miles/week.


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## DiRt DeViL (Dec 24, 2003)

You can make any hardtail 29er a road bike wanna be by installing drop bars, changing the gearing and tires; if that works for you go for it.

In my case the 29er started to collect dust and spider webs right after going fat so I sold it.

Things like this are called monstercross bikes, rigid or suspended.


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## Romaxy (Jul 5, 2016)

ddoh said:


> Off subject a little, but i'm confused about the wife's cross training. 200 miles is a decent week on on a road bike. Per year, that averages less than 4 miles/week.


Whoops it's about 200miles per month. I would guess she also RUNS close to that per month.


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## Romaxy (Jul 5, 2016)

DiRt DeViL said:


> You can make any hardtail 29er a road bike wanna be by installing drop bars, changing the gearing and tires; if that works for you go for it.
> 
> In my case the 29er started to collect dust and spider webs right after going fat so I sold it.
> 
> ...


That's pretty cool but I don't really do drop bars anymore. I posted the bike I got a few post up. I'm reallly liking it. It is a serious workout chasing my wife on her road bike! LOL


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## trmn8er (Jun 9, 2011)

Love my HT. I have a FS as well, but hard to beat the HT for doing a little road, lots of fire road climbs, and the occasional XC race with a lot of climbing. If I'm looking to climb 3,000-5,000 feet in one ride, I grab the HT every time. 21.1 lbs with pedals and climbs very well. There's nothing like being able to stand on the climbs and get ALL the power to the ground with little waste. BTW I'm 55 going on 40


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## Romaxy (Jul 5, 2016)

That's awesome. I'm "only" 51. LOL


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