Mountain Bike 29er or 26?

[anniegray]

Hi All,

I generally ride a road bike and have a very old rigid mountain bike but would like to buy new mountain bike. I visited a LBS and the salesman showed me a 29er, my budget is limited, I would not like to spend more than $1000.00. I envision doing some trail riding,for example, rail trails. I have not thought about a 29er before. Does anyone have any advice about 29ers?

Thanks
Anniegray

[trailgumby]

They're good. They are perhaps not as agile in twisty-turny singletrack stuff as 26ers, but they roll over bumps better. I want one.

[Nobody]

I envision doing some trail riding,for example, rail trails.

For what you want to do which sounds like open trails, a 29er sounds like a good choice. That's assuming you are tall enough to ride one. The effective top tubes can be fairly long on many models, for the small sizes.

Maybe do the MTB fit calculator to see:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CC ... ATOR_INTRO