advice on small 29er (toe overlap)

[jimcav]

I've been hoping to get my son more into MTB. He is in HS now, and the local trails happen to be behind his school, so I thought it be a great opportunity for him to go "rushmore" and start a MTB club. I so far haven't had great luck as the trails are not beginner friendly. But, he is stronger and more willing now. This summer we went home to Indiana and stopped to ride in NM and OK. Somehow his rear went flat on the drive to OK, so he used my wife's small gary fisher superfly hardtail 29er (forum purchase :) he and my wife are now the same 5'3"-5'4" height, and he loved the ride, but he had a lot of trouble with toe overlap. I tried a search here, but didn't see much about brands/models with less toe overlap in the small sizes. I personally have come to love 29er since switching about 8-9 yeas ago, and am hoping eventually to get all our bikes compatible. My youngest is still on a 26er though, so just wanted opinion on finding a 29er, versus staying at 26. I do hesitate to go 650b as i didn't want a bike that can't be swapped with anyone else wrt wheels etc.

[David Kirk]

Do you know how much overlap there is?

dave

[sandyrs]

There are some very long and slack hardtail 29ers out there these days. The Kona Honzo comes to mind as one that pioneered this geometry trend but is no longer considered ridiculously slack like some of the smaller brands. I'm not sure if the small is small enough but in general a longer TT and slacker HTA will yield less toe overlap and 29er geometry has evolved a lot over the past few years in this direction.

http://www.konaworld.com/platform_honzo.cfm

[jimcav]

Do you know how much overlap there is?

dave

my wife is a 7.5-8 in womens and my son is already 10-10.5 mens. she just clears and he hits, i'd guess 1.5-2 inches. they both ride flat pedals. The trails at lake stanley in OK were super fun and the issue was the tight switchback style turns. he was good in flowy stuff
jim

[stien]

I thought the general consensus was that shorter riders should avoid 29ers?

[sandyrs]

I thought the general consensus was that shorter riders should avoid 29ers?

"general consensus" and anything regarding mountain bikes do not belong in the same sentence :)

[stien]

"general consensus" and anything regarding mountain bikes do not belong in the same sentence :)

Fair enough. I like 26" better so what do I know?

[jimcav]

There are some very long and slack hardtail 29ers out there these days. The Kona Honzo comes to mind as one that pioneered this geometry trend but is no longer considered ridiculously slack like some of the smaller brands. I'm not sure if the small is small enough but in general a longer TT and slacker HTA will yield less toe overlap and 29er geometry has evolved a lot over the past few years in this direction.

http://www.konaworld.com/platform_honzo.cfm

I'll be on lookout for a shop with kona. I assume the HT vs FS won't matter so may look at FS given the nature of the trails near the school

[David Kirk]

my wife is a 7.5-8 in womens and my son is already 10-10.5 mens. she just clears and he hits, i'd guess 1.5-2 inches. they both ride flat pedals. The trails at lake stanley in OK were super fun and the issue was the tight switchback style turns. he was good in flowy stuff
jim

That's a tough one.

Let's say the current bike fits him well but that he needs 1.5" (38mm) more front center to keep the toes out of the tire......there are only a few ways the get that -

- steeper seat angle to push the entire front forward (messes with fit and handling)
- longer top tube/shorter stem (pulling nearly 4 cm of the stem would be tough and could mess with handling)
- more slack head angle (would have to change it a lot to get the number you need - not a a viable option)
- more fork rake (depends hat is offered but will probably give a max of 5-7 mm of the nearly 40 you need)

Or.......smaller wheels. If it were my son or client I'd be looking at 27.5's and see what can be done there.

dave

[seanile]

large wheels benefit large people and work best with large frames. just like how frames smaller than 50cm work best with 650c. look to 650b/27.5

[jimcav]

That's a tough one.

Let's say the current bike fits him well but that he needs 1.5" (38mm) more front center to keep the toes out of the tire......there are only a few ways the get that -

- steeper seat angle to push the entire front forward (messes with fit and handling)
- longer top tube/shorter stem (pulling nearly 4 cm of the stem would be tough and could mess with handling)
- more slack head angle (would have to change it a lot to get the number you need - not a a viable option)
- more fork rake (depends hat is offered but will probably give a max of 5-7 mm of the nearly 40 you need)

Or.......smaller wheels. If it were my son or client I'd be looking at 27.5's and see what can be done there.

dave
If he gets more into MTB I'll get 650 but I don't feel the buy it and he'll ride more applies to him. More the converse