EVERYTHING has changed.

- New wheels sizes, 29 & 27.5, and a 27.5 Plus which allows really wide tires. 29 seems to be a good standard with some positive aspects. They rollover objects better and once up to speed stay there.
- Disc brakes. A good thing
- Tubeless tires and they are wide. You can run lower pressures and not pinch flat. With internal sealant that don’t flat much on you. The lower pressure means more rubber contact, thus better climbing and turning. No tubes means lighter as well.
- Wider rims allow wider tires, stronger too.
- 1X gearing, occasionally 2X front. Really wide cassette ranges mean no front shifting, so no need to plan ahead on the front shift, which was never as refined as the rear, to get up a hill.
- Really wide h-bars and short stems, that provide really good control. Sometimes an issue in ST with tight trees, so plan on that.
- Hydraulic dropper seatposts, remote from the h-bar, gets the seat out of the way on descents. It’s one of the things a lot of people comment on how much an improvement it can be. I’m skeptical only as I’ll learned how to get my butt off the rear on a 26.
- Long top tubes and short stems, so YOU REALLY NEED TO TRY A FEW BIKES !. Really, really important. The geometry of 29” wheels means a longer wheel base, steeper seatbtube angles, slacker heat tube angles and it all means the bikes handle completely different than 20-30 years ago.

Do the research, try a few.

FS is plush, better then 20 years ago but still heavier unless you go carbon and spend $2500 or so, you pay to get under 30 lbs. HT’s are cheaper and lighter and lots to be found in aluminum that are light and fast. You can easily get a 26 lbs Ht for $1600. I’m done with my 32 lbs Stumpjumper FS from ‘04, so am moving to an HT. I’m 63 and been riding 30 years but don’t ride much in rocks or on difficult terrain. Just ordered a Specialized Chisel Comp X1,

Thats a nice KHS Stormsedge ordered but ‘ya gotta know what will work before ordering mail order.

Went to a couple shops today and actually test rode a stumpjumper 29er - holy crap I felt like i was flying an airplane or something! That thing is HUGE and I just felt like i was “along for the ride”. It was a size M and I’m only 5’6” so perhaps a size S would be better for me, but the guy there said it looked like the right size for me as he watched me ride it.

The wheelbase seemed so ridiculous. I suppose i could get used to anything, but I feel like 27.5 might be a better fit for me, a smaller frame too. I like to throw my bike around and tell it where to go...

i left feeling like the stumpjumper was way to much suspension for me. Im thinking maybe the epic with brain 2.0 would be a better fit. Anyhow the search has begun!