Originally Posted by
Amt0571
I went from 26 to 29 last may.
The 29" is neither conclusively faster nor slower than the 26". And it's not an opinion. It's what my garmin over the same routes tells me.
Riding the 29er has a certain "I'm driving a dump truck" feeling though. It has a definite loss on agility, but it seems it's able to ride over anything. It's also heavier as everything is bigger.
In general, I feel like I'm slightly slower when climbing, and faster when descending.
What really made a difference for me is a dropper post. I love that thing. Places that were scary without it, are suddenly a piece of cake with it.
My experience going from 26 to 29 is completely different than this. The loss of agility was marginal--I did have to take slightly wider lines in tight switchbacks but that became second nature very quickly and I ride even tighter stuff nowadays. As far as speed goes, the 29er was/is faster--I was PR'ing my local segments each ride--I also immediately placed higher in local XC races. Weight-wise , it's lighter as the 26 was a steel bike with heavy tubed WTB Velociraptors and beefy Araya rims and that 29er ( I have a new one) was a carbon frame with light Stans tubeless wheels and XC treaded tires. I got a dropper and that was a game changer for me too.