This bike is a different bike than most other bikes we ride. It has 29 inch wheels instead of 26 inch wheels. Bigger tires may have some advantages: a smoother, faster and more stable ride. In the past few years I have seen more of these kind of bikes in races especially for big guys. This week, I went on a ride with my boss, Chris and he has a 29er bike. I asked him about the big wheels, he said the bike fits him better(he is the same size as me) and it rolls over obstacles better. I thought about it and it sounds pretty reasonable to me. Also, Durke is getting a 29er but it will be a singlespeed(he can ride anything). I looked at Trek and Gary Fisher 29ers which Mad Dog Cycles deals, the Gary Fisher Paragon 69er interests me the most. It is cheap also, with very good components like Sram X.9 deraillers and shifters, Brontrager tubeless wheels, and Avid Juicy 5 hydraulic disc brakes which makes a real steal at $2,199.99 at regular price. A lot cheaper than most bikes I was looking at. I looked at the Trek 69er at the same price but it didn't have as good components. From Mad Dog Cycles, I can even get a better bargain by being on the Mad Dog Cycles Race Team by getting a 15% discount, also another 10% more off by giving them my old, old blue/purple Klein for some charity thing they are doing(giving them to kids). Then I will sell my previous red Klein for like $500 from ebay or something. So, I did the calculations and the whole price of the bike I will pay is $1149.99! Not bad, eh? I am not going to do this right away, I have to buy a car first. Then I will be able to buy a bike. It will be real sweet!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Gary Fisher Paragon 69er
This bike is a different bike than most other bikes we ride. It has 29 inch wheels instead of 26 inch wheels. Bigger tires may have some advantages: a smoother, faster and more stable ride. In the past few years I have seen more of these kind of bikes in races especially for big guys. This week, I went on a ride with my boss, Chris and he has a 29er bike. I asked him about the big wheels, he said the bike fits him better(he is the same size as me) and it rolls over obstacles better. I thought about it and it sounds pretty reasonable to me. Also, Durke is getting a 29er but it will be a singlespeed(he can ride anything). I looked at Trek and Gary Fisher 29ers which Mad Dog Cycles deals, the Gary Fisher Paragon 69er interests me the most. It is cheap also, with very good components like Sram X.9 deraillers and shifters, Brontrager tubeless wheels, and Avid Juicy 5 hydraulic disc brakes which makes a real steal at $2,199.99 at regular price. A lot cheaper than most bikes I was looking at. I looked at the Trek 69er at the same price but it didn't have as good components. From Mad Dog Cycles, I can even get a better bargain by being on the Mad Dog Cycles Race Team by getting a 15% discount, also another 10% more off by giving them my old, old blue/purple Klein for some charity thing they are doing(giving them to kids). Then I will sell my previous red Klein for like $500 from ebay or something. So, I did the calculations and the whole price of the bike I will pay is $1149.99! Not bad, eh? I am not going to do this right away, I have to buy a car first. Then I will be able to buy a bike. It will be real sweet!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
Cool bike. It should roll over obstacles easier and have better ground clearance too...it would need lower gears to obtain the same ratios and might create more stress on certain components. Virgil Ash use to run a 24" wheel in the rear on the slickrock sometimes for better climbing...who knows if it really worked, but it would give him a lower gear at least. My dirt bike actually has the option to run a SMALLER front wheel by lowering the forks in the triple clamps..it's the only year it had that option so apparently the slightly better cornering characteristics in certain cases didn't outweigh the disadvantages. I actually would like to run an 18" wheel in the rear as opposed to the 19"..with the same sized tire...more rubber = better off-road, but heavier and not as good for racing. The standard is 19" in the rear and 21" in the front...Whatev.
The Trek 69er has a 26 inch wheel in the back for speed and a 29 inch wheel in the front for handling. I guess it makes sense. I will have to look into that.
Hmmm..ok...interesting. Well it works on dirt bikes to have a larger wheel in front....
..Even with the option on mine to run a smaller front than stock, the front is still bigger than the rear.
I don't know man, I'll need to ask around. I'll ask a friend tomorrow. Maybe ask the guy at the bike shop later on.
Cool. I googled the trek single speed 69er..pretty sweet! It looks like a real fun bike. Does the Trek have the option of gears too?
Yes, they have the 3x9 bike(with gears), go to trekbikes.com to check it out. The one I want is in fisherbikes.com.
I talked to Durke during the week and asked if he likes his new 29 inch wheeled bike. He says that he likes it a lot better because it goes over stuff better and it's feels like a full suspension. His is a hardtail. He said they are harder to accelerate but once you get going on it, it is faster than a 26 inch wheeled bike. Today, at the race, I asked another guy that raced with me about his 29 inch wheeled bike. He said he likes it a lot better also.
I saw a '09 Gary Fisher Paragon 69er at the race today! It is nice.
Cool, I guess time will tell if it's just a fad or not..sounds like a good idea. Are they any heavier? I like the way they look.
...so do they have a special fork/frame for the bigger wheels? That back wheel comes really close to the frame..might pack mud up real easy, it's hard to ride a mtn. bike in the mud anyways though eh.
ONE of the problems with my old bike in the mud was the swingarm wasn't near as good. My new bike has like and inch more clearance on each side of the tire, then I run the tire out further on the swingarm for even more room plus better climbing. My old bike was shit in the mud...plus I sucked worse than I do now:)
First of all, I try to not ride in the mud. Doing so ruins the trail and is very dangerous. I don't know about the clearance but I am not worrying about that because I try to not ride in the mud as much as I can. It's not fun on a pedal bike but it can be on a motor bike. It is probably a little heavier but people now days are not worrying about weight as much as they used to be. All they care about is strength now. For example, my fork from my last bike was like a pound lighter than my new Fox fork but it felt weaker and couldn't handle as good. But my new 3 pound fork is a little heavy but I feel like I can go a lot faster on it because it handles like a million dollars, because of the strength. My new Klein is 26 pounds while my old Klein weighs 24 pounds but I feel a lot safer and faster on my new one. Yes for a 29 inch wheel, you need special forks but they are all over the catalogs and internet.
Sweet..riding in mud is dangerous???
I never liked riding in mud on a mtn. bike either...unless it's a real sandy soil that doesn't stick. I totally agree with the weight vs strength and feel thing.
..I don't like riding mud on my dirt bike either, but it's still better than not riding:) Actaully it depends I guess, I like anything and everything that challenges...thick sticky deep mud can get a little ridiculous though!
Good luck in getting the bike you want!
Post a Comment