zerocool33

Well I have my Trek 6500 on consignment at my bike shop after purchasing a 09' Gary Fisher Presidio, and while I was enjoying my weekend I realized how much I miss my MTB. It is the first time in 15yrs of riding that I don't own a MTB. It has been very hard to adjust, but don't get me wrong, I love the Presidio, just not sure if I should of spent that kind of $ on a cyclocross/road bike right away. So when my bike is sold I will be left with about $550. I want a MTB again. I will be looking at Gary Fisher and Trek. I am in the dilemma on whether I am going to go with a 29er this time, or stay with the 26". Either or, i am on a limited budget, and the Fisher Mamba and Fisher Tassajara is what I am looking at. Not a fan of shimano too much (SRAM for life beotch ) and that's what the Mamba comes with. The Tassajara would fulfill all my needs, but I must say I am curious about 29ers, and the Mamba looks like something I could build up with SRAM and better components later on. Do I go with the Tassajara and be content right away, or are 29ers all they're cracked up to be and worth the little bit of hassle to upgrade later on? Just curious on everyone's opinions seeing as how I have only ridden 26". I would definitely not be able to spend more than $1000.

W&SOS

I have been testing a few of the new Fisher 29ers with the G2 geometry. I have noticed since the switch to the G2 that the bikes handle a lot better then they did in the past. On the right trail one can ride over just about anything and not worry about slowing down. The biggest down side is on steep slopes the 29er are much harder to ride. So all said if your just doing straight XC stuff the 29 is a good choice, any sort of tech stuff stick to the 26".

Nice thing about the Mamba is that it shares the same frame as the other 29er hardtails so you can take all the parts off and build up your own bike.

ed 

This makes no sense to me.

W&SOS

If you ever road a fisher 29er before they came out with the new G2 offset it was kind of slow handling bike never really liked them. Now that they use the G2 with the custom forks its handles so much better.

ed 

Yeah...that's not the part I'm confused about.

HTA on both bikes are within 0.10 degree of eachother.
BB height is the same.
ETT is the same.
29'er wheelbase is longer.

Are you talking steep climbs or descents?


Explain?

W&SOS

The fisher 29er excels on rolling hills, roots, rocks typical xc race stuff. If you try to do anything close to something that would be free ride such a super steep hills, drops, the bike preforms horribly almost scares me.

ed 

I get it.

I thought you were saying that a bike with the same geometry except a longer wheelbase would descend worse than the shorter wheelbase.

zerocool33

I would be pretty much doing strictly mtb trails, no mountain, freeride, hucking, or crazy stuff. Just general offroad trails.

green814

Depending on the condition and component level on your Trek, why not just keep that instead of turning the money into a new bike? You know the bike, it fits, what more could you want?

Just a thought!
Chris

ps: Or is it the "New bike bug"?

zerocool33

I probably should have mentioned that is the reason it is on consignment in the first place. It doesn't fit. Not sure whether it's just the geometry or if I bought a size too big, but it is the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden on. I am leaning towards the Gary Fisher Marlin. I figure if I am going to get disc brakes I want hydraulic and I can do that next year when I upgrade the components to SRAM. Just trying to keep the cost down for now. If I can swing the Gary Fisher Pirahana right away I might, seeing as how it has hydraulic brakes and sram (X.5 only, but still SRAM) from the get go. We'll see in the end, because it's going to come down to money. But the Mamba is still looking good too....LOL.

Cyclist01012

I can understand your delema of the entire 29 versus 26 wheel thing as I recently went through this myself. Let me start off by saing that i do work in a shop that sells Treks and Fishers. I had been thinging of an upgrade for about the last 4 years. I used to ride a Tassajara in 17 1/2 inch. I was woried that by having a short inseam that a 29 inch bike would be to big for me. The only difference in the new G2 bikes is 1/2 inch of stand over. So that cleared up that. I ended up buying a 2009 Paragon.

The first lap I did at Vultures Knob was 30 minutes faster tehn my fastest lap time on a 26 inch bike. Rode it for a couple of weeks then went to a Trek demo Days and got the chance to ride 29 and 26's back to back over the same trail. In allmost all cases I found the 29 to be much faster and handle just as quick in turning as a 26. My opininon go with a 29er!!

CCrew

If you see them that much you'da thunk the spelling of their name woulda stuck

Cyclist01012

Damn, thats what I get for trying to type in the morning............. ride to work 10 hours in the shop 2 1/2 hour fast paced club ride ride home. and way to many brown bottles..............maybe I should have had more coffee this morning

zerocool33

Yeah, it is pretty overwhelming. The only thing I do like is that the 26" are a bit cheaper and more of a selection in my price range. The Mamba is close to my price range but still a couple hundo more than I want to spend. Maybe I'll just wait till next year like I planned on, and buy a Paragon. Who knows what will happen.