# New commuter 29er: (warning, potentially dirt-related material)



## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

So here's my new mountain bike/winter commuter. 

It's a Q-ball steel 29er with a Salsa fork. The wheels are XT hubs and the brakes are Avid BB7 mechanicals discs. The drivetrain is 1x9, which simplifies shifting and doesn't give up hardly anything in the way of usable gearing for mountain biking and commuting. I went with a 29er over a 'cross bike becasue I probably will never race cross and I can ride more trails on this guy. 

The position and ride on the road is similar to my road bike and track bike while adding a lot more security while riding over ice in the dark of winter. Sadly, no trails have yet been pounded.

And, yes, that's an old Steve Steadham sticker as the headtube.


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## FrontRanger (May 19, 2004)

Perfect bike for out here IMO. Was thinking of building up a Karate Monkey to accomplish the same thing.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Sweet rig. I have a 29'er but more for trail duty than a commuter (I work from home). I love mine on pavement as I rarely drive to the trailhead.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Hmmmmm, my old GT is just about dead and this looks nice.

How much did you put into it?


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

MB1 said:


> Hmmmmm, my old GT is just about dead and this looks nice.
> 
> How much did you put into it?


By the way, I love 29ers. It’s perfect for roadie-ish cyclists wanting to ride bumpy trails. 

The Qball frame retails for about $450 (I think). It’s American made steel. I got the frame, fork (Salsa), King headset, and seatpost holder slightly used from a wanted ad on mtbr.com for $450. I got the wheels, disc brakes, levers, and WTB Nanoraptor tires slightly used from a wanted ad on mtbr.com for about $220. I had the cranks, derailleur, chain, handlebar, grips, shifter, stem, seatpost, and seat lying around or taken off my old mountain bike. My local shop built it up and added any other necessary parts for about $300. So, it came in under $1,000, but without having to pay for a lot of parts. Knowing me, I'll upgrade parts later on.


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## Henry Chinaski (Feb 3, 2004)

Sweet!


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

If you have not been on any trails yet, then maybe a CX bike would have been a more efficient option?


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

the_rydster said:


> If you have not been on any trails yet, then maybe a CX bike would have been a more efficient option?


Rydster, your ability to act as though you know more about the situations of others, without any factual basis for such an assumption, in this thread and others is astounding. I mulled over the cross v. 29er decision for months. I only respond to demonstrate to you that you should not be so quick to make your baseless suppositions. No trails yet? I’ve had the bike for a week and a half. I went on a snowboard trip two weekends ago and had company last weekend. It’s been a historically snowy December and early January and the trails are in snow-drifted or muddy and easily to be damaged conditions. I can ride wider (2.0+) tires and cross tires on my 29er. This helps crushing snow and ice better than a cross bike in my personal opinion. I could go on, but I’m sure you know more than me already.


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

Pablo said:


> Rydster, your ability to act as though you know more about the situations of others, without any factual basis for such an assumption, in this thread and others is astounding. I mulled over the cross v. 29er decision for months. I only respond to demonstrate to you that you should not be so quick to make your baseless suppositions. No trails yet? I’ve had the bike for a week and a half. I went on a snowboard trip two weekends ago and had company last weekend. It’s been a historically snowy December and early January and the trails are in snow-drifted or muddy and easily to be damaged conditions. I can ride wider (2.0+) tires and cross tires on my 29er. This helps crushing snow and ice better than a cross bike in my personal opinion. I could go on, but I’m sure you know more than me already.


That is a bit cereal?  

Your are right I do not know particulars, I just find my CX adept for the non-technical trails in my areas (the old train tack for example), and great as a winter trainer and commuter. I can put 700cx35c Nokian studded tires on it if I want for snow/ice, or 25mm slicks for commuting in dry summer. 

I gives me the same position as my main road bike, and I much prefer its nimble, lighter feel, over a flat bar MTB.

The position and versatility of a CX bike is important for me...but that is just my opinion. 

/plus I do not like flat bars :wink:


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

the_rydster said:


> That is a bit cereal?
> 
> Your are right I do not know particulars, I just find my CX adept for the non-technical trails in my areas (the old train tack for example), and great as a winter trainer and commuter. I can put 700cx35c Nokian studded tires on it if I want for snow/ice, or 25mm slicks for commuting in dry summer.
> 
> ...


Well, here in Colorado, we have non-tech and very technical trails. I didn't see any point having another bike where I can ride non-tech trails or fire roads, which i can do on my road bike with 28cc, that I can't use on singletrack with rocks. 

Plus, 29ers ride completely differently than a 26er.


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## Potential Roadkill (Jan 27, 2005)

*Voodoo commuter*

Here in Miami I commute on a Voodoo Dambala SS 29er. I find it's perfect for the mixture of road, MUT, sidewalks etc that I have to ride to get to work. It's amazing how rough some of the road is near the shoulders here, almost seems in a few places like cement trucks dumped their excess loads on the edge of the road. I think skinny tires would have a bit more difficulty with it. 
I went with a mountain bike as a commuter also because I figured it's a bit easier to ride a mountain bike on the road than it is to ride a road bike on the technical trails that we have here in the mountain bike parks. Overall I think a 29er is a pretty sweet commuter set up.


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## Hollywood (Jan 16, 2003)

Rad!

nice build up. How far's the commute?

I dig my 29er although its a singlespeed so it doesn't see any commuting action. But its great for quick urban errands as well as smoothing out the dirt trails. Big difference between a rigid 26er and rigid 29er off-road, comfort-wise.

enjoy it ~


//fenders?


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## ChuckUni (Jan 2, 2003)

Pablo said:


> Plus, 29ers ride completely differently than a 26er.


Plus 29ers are 700c after all so you could mount up about any 700c tire you wanted, including crossers, spiked or otherwise. Or maybe some Schwalbe big apples. 

And while it isn't road geo....you could put some dirt drops and road levers on it if you wanted.

Sweet bike.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Hollywood said:


> Rad!
> 
> nice build up. How far's the commute?
> 
> ...


It's about 15 miles each way. I'll be moving in a few months, but the new commute (whatever it is) will probably be about the same. 

I really thought about a 1x1, but a few gears are nice for the commute and the steep trails where I live.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Pablo said:


> Plus, 29ers ride completely differently than a 26er.


How so?


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

treebound said:


> How so?


It probably varies based on the bike's gemoetry etc. You can read all about it on the 29er forum at mtbr.com. 

From my own experience, these are my impressions: the bike is generally bigger, with bigger wheels and a longer wheelbase, and you sit up higher. It seems to not be quite as quick (responsive) as my 26er, but more stable and better at rolling and carrying momentum. This could affect the lines you take on a trail and its impact depends on what kind of riding you do. The bigger wheeels feel like they carry momentum better but that might be offset by slower acceleration. Whether there's a benefit or not by some objective measure is a hotly debated topic. I like the 29er becasue of these reasons (plus the ones I talk about eariler in this thread) and because it tends to feel and ride a bit more like a road bike, which makes the transition form one bike to another easier.


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## Doggity (Mar 10, 2006)

Schweet! I'm a using a SS 26'er for my winter bike; maybe I'll turn it to a 69'er. There's room up front.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

schweet...but why didn't you go singlespeed you wuss.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> schweet...but why didn't you go singlespeed you wuss.


I know, I know. I have the option for later. 

I really amazed at how much differnt (better and solid) the bike feel swithout the extra rings up front.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Pablo said:


> I know, I know. I have the option for later.
> 
> I really amazed at how much differnt (better and solid) the bike feel swithout the extra rings up front.


I really want to build up a 29er SS--that's gotta be a bombproof bike. There is something about the simplicity of that kinda setup that really appeals to me. I'd probably do discs like you did though. V-brakes suck in the wet.


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## ChuckUni (Jan 2, 2003)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> I really want to build up a 29er SS--that's gotta be a bombproof bike. There is something about the simplicity of that kinda setup that really appeals to me. I'd probably do discs like you did though. V-brakes suck in the wet.



Do it, they are really fun. Disc's...YES! It sounds weird but go with fluid discs if you can. Decent ones should be problem free, adjust themselves....no cables to go bad or adjust. ..IMO.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> I really want to build up a 29er SS--that's gotta be a bombproof bike. There is something about the simplicity of that kinda setup that really appeals to me. I'd probably do discs like you did though. V-brakes suck in the wet.


I'm totally with you. I decided for some gears becasue I'll probably ride steep trails on the Front Range and I don't like walking my bike.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

Pablo said:


> I'm totally with you. I decided for some gears becasue I'll probably ride steep trails on the Front Range and I don't like walking my bike.


Yeah I've got a GF Sugar (non-29er) I use for that and I still have to walk sometimes so I figure a little more walking won't hurt me all that much.


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