They are not only becoming increasingly popular among ambitious amateur riders, but the favourite team Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm also took part in the toughest mountain bike race in the world on brand new 29-inch bikes. The advance praise for twentyniners has been huge since the 29er wave swept across the United States and into Europe. But can the fabulous characteristics that the giant bikes are said to have be substantiated with objective measurements? We wanted to find out for sure.
We entered the Craft BIKE Transalp, the toughest stage race in the world, with the same yet different weapons: Scott Scale 899 in 26 inch and 949 in 29 inch - that means: identical equipment (SRAM XX), standard tyres and Powertap power measurement. The one-kilo heavier Scale 949 had to fend off its little brother, the Scale 899, over almost 600 kilometres and almost 20,000 metres of altitude.
For the first four days, I was allowed to climb the mountains on the 29er, then my test partner Andreas was to get on the big wheel. The eight days of testing included steep, long climbs such as the Idjoch near Ischgl, technically demanding trails such as at Lake Garda and tarmac flat sections. And everywhere: the hub that never lies, but measures performance.
SO TESTET BIKE - Practical test
Each of the two test riders rode one bike for four days, then the other. The identical bikes were equipped identically and fitted with a Powertap rear hub to measure performance. The test route was the Transalp route from Füssen to Riva del Garda, covering 598 kilometres and 19685 metres in altitude. After each of the eight stages, the daily performance was read out on the computer and additional riding impressions were noted and compared.
In the test we had a lighter fork (Rock Shox Reba XX) fitted, so the weight difference was only 1000 grams.
