Novice123

I'm trying to find a rigid 29er that would be good for winter commuting in Minneapolis. It would be great to find something with fender mounts, but it seems that unless I'm up for a 90's era used bike or something from QBP that's out of my price range for something that's going to eat a decent amount of salt I may be **** out of luck, in that regard. A one-by would be great to find, but again, may be wishful thinking. I'm considering picking up a 2022 Marin Muirwoods for non-winter riding, which satisfies all the above criteria, but $1000 is a lot to put down for a bike that will take somewhat of a beating. I've looked at some cyclo and gravel bikes, but those frames won't take anything over 40mm with fenders and I'd like something capable of handling wider tires. Maybe I'll just end up buying the Marin (when COVID supply disruption allows it) and trying to do what I can to prevent corrosion, but I'm not up for spending a chunk of time cleaning the drivetrain every time I ride it. Once a week I can handle, however. Is it that hard to find a simple rigid 29er, preferably single up front, for under $600? Apparently so . . . Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Pete

Novice123

I think I may just buy a front suspension Motobecane Fantom 29 Advent from Bikesdirect, lock out the fork, put my Nokian W240 tire on in front, some SKS Veloflexx 65 fenders, and call it good.

wolfchild

You're overthinking this too much...There are manufacturers such as Surly, Salsa, Soma , All City and few others who make rigid forked 29'er frames.

rumrunn6

I was really attracted to a Marin Muirwood for a while after seeing it with big tires in a store. I think it was $600

https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/frame/flat-bar

if you don't want a suspension fork then don't get one. it's just added weight you don't need

as far as cleaning, I think you'll find a way to do it easily. for example get a garden sprayer & rinse it after you get home. wipe it down & don't leave it outside to freeze overnight

how far is your commute?
what are you using now?
what size do you need?

I see several used hybrids on craigslist

wide tires are over rated for winter commuting. I did it one year w/ 35mm studded tires & they were just fine. I started w/ a straight bar hybrid but then put drop bars on it cuz it wasn't a short commute

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/r...366567370.html

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/w...366131171.html

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/d...les/search/bia

Novice123

You're overthinking this too much...There are manufacturers such as Surly, Salsa, Soma , All City and few others who make rigid forked 29'er frames.

Yeah, living in Mpls. I'm quite familiar with QBP, even applied for a job at their headquarters a couple years ago. I considered an Ogre, but one would cost me about twice what the cheapo Motobecane I'm looking at would. I have a nice Niner Hot Tamale with SRAM X0/X9 drivetrain and Avid Elixir CR hydraulic brakes that my bud who used to work at Colorado Cyclist built me for $400 (yeah). I currently commute on that when the salt won't gobble its drivetrain, steel frame, etc. Thanks for the response, though!

Novice123

I was really attracted to a Marin Muirwood for a while after seeing it with big tires in a store. I think it was $600

if you don't want a suspension fork then don't get one. it's just added weight you don't need

as far as cleaning, I think you'll find a way to do it easily. for example get a garden sprayer & rinse it after you get home. wipe it down & don't leave it outside to freeze overnight

how far is your commute?
what are you using now?
what size do you need?

I see several used hybrids on craigslist

wide tires are over rated for winter commuting. I did it one year w/ 35mm studded tires & they were just fine. I started w/ a straight bar hybrid but then put drop bars on it cuz it wasn't a short commute


The new 2022 Marin Muirwoods is $999. I winter commuted on a Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno with a Nokian W240 front tire for 5 years. I agree that wider tires are largely unnecessary, if not a burden for commuting. The appeal of a 29er is that I can run 40mm tires with full fenders, no problem, now that I found some SKS strap-on fenders that will allow that with a suspended fork without fender mounts. Thanks, though!

rumrunn6

post up pics after you get it set up. there's probably more than 1 winter junkie around here that would love to see it ... ;-)

by the way, my winter commuter was a cheapo suspension fork hybrid w/ the fork locked out ... ;-)