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Which got me, and Grannygear, to thinking- so is this it? Are we at the end of innovations and introductions of anything truly "big" in the world of 29"ers?
Ya know, I think the answer is "yes".
The companies that do not make a 29"er- Used to be a big topic of discussion. Now it doesn't matter. When will "so-and-so" make a fork for 29"ers? That used to fire up reams of forum threads. Now who doesn't make a 29"er sus fork?
It used to be that we were waiting for "long travel" 29"ers to hit the scene. Well, the industry killed that off and went for 27.5"ers instead. That pretty much was the last "big" deal for 29"ers to cross over to, but it looks like it'll never happen now.
Does that bother me? No. Not really, but I have to say that I thought I might not see the day when 29"ers weren't waiting for some new innovation to push the boundaries a bit more. There used to be a lot of resistance to the big wheels. Now it looks like the edges have been reached.
Now it's all fat bike this and gravel bike that and 29"ers are.......well, just mountain bikes, these days. I always thought that would happen, and by golly, I think it pretty much is at that point now a days. That's cool. While it was all fun and exciting when all you could do was dream about a "real" suspension fork, and it is tempting to think that those were "the good ol' daze", I am thinking this is right where we wanted to be back then. I'm glad that we are. I plan on enjoying that for as long as I can.
The "good ol' daze"? Just over that hill up yonder. Keep pedaling, you'll get there.....
3 comments:
GTed the world just keeps moving faster and faster. Some days I wonder about been younger without all the interwebs and social media speeding up these changes and having to wait to the weekend to get to drive to a town that had a bike shop to see the new bikes out. Or wait tilL next months magazine. I wonder if people would cope if the plug was pulled? At least I would miss getting to read your blog... :)
@Roasta: Yeah.....certainly I wouldn't be writing as much, if at all.
There definitely was a technology component to the advance of the 29"er. It was a perfect storm when you think about it. The Tire comes along in '99, right about the same time a ton of folks are plugging into the Internet, and a couple of folks with foresight started web forums about 29"ers.
In fact, the way I write "29"er" was influenced by one of those folks, and was done so search engines wouldn't take you to yachting sites in the early days! That and if you think about it, that's really how it should be said- "twenty nine inchers".
I remember when a friend/bike builder of mine talked of these things we ride, 29'ers at Sea Otter one year. I think it was 2005. I kinda dismissed it at the time. Then within 2 years time, I ordered a Niner SIR9 when they had the "pre-order" of the SIR. Then after 2 years of riding and racing the SIR9, I had my friend build me a custom 29'er and raced it at SSWC '08. Yes, time has changed our take on what 29'ers were and what they have become. Even though 29'ers are the "mainstream", I enjoy reading about different takes on the bikes, i.e. DB Mason. I think that geometry changes will be an area that will continue to evolve in 29'ers which we are seeing now.
Your blog and TNI.com are part of my daily read no matter if there isn't anything ground breaking in 29'ers. I do agree with you GT, that Fat Bikes are "hot" now and maybe the 29+ Krampus will be a new way for 29'ers. I'm in for the ride!
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