News Season: Part 9- 29+

Surly will make this 29+ too.

29+, the moniker for the 700c X 3inch wide tire format that Surly came up with, has been a very intriguing format. The thing, (like anything related to bicycle wheels), is that choice has held back the idea from going much farther than the Krampus and a few conversions and custom bike ideas. Well, that should begin to change.

The new Surly catalog is available for download and in it you will see that a 700c X 3" Dirt Wizard tire is coming at some point. This is the tire that should be on the Krampus, (in my opinion), and it also should pop open the dam a bit with regard to 29+ ideas from custom bike makers and maybe another brand or two. Well, I should say that this has already happened a bit. Check the following out...

Sam over at Singular Cycles has been toying with the 29+ idea by testing the tires and rims on a couple of his models.  It sure looks as if he's headed down the path of making something work with 29+ wheels and tires. My bet is that the news of a 29+ Dirt Wizard tire will push him off the edge and that it will happen. Stay tuned on that front....

You'll also note that Singular is getting closer to releasing the fat bike Puffin model. I've seen the prototype and it is amazing. The 100mm eccentric bottom bracket is cool, and the steel construction Singular is noted for should make this bike a nice ride for trails. Yes....the Puffin is optimized for fat tired single tracking. Much like On One's take on fat biking, Singular focused more on trail riding feel and performance instead of snow, sand, and mud, but it isn't like the Puffin won't be able to do that as well. It just means that the Puffin will be a four season fat bike, good at everything, and it should prove to be capable when the weather goes sour. Stay tuned on that front as well.....