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I'm considering giving a hardtail 29er a go, but would it be better for me to buy a whole bike or would a frame/forks/wheel set with the existing 26 er running gear be a better option? your thoughts please?
I think you would be better attending the 29er day advertised on the home page of STW - if you convert, you'll likely want new chainrings and cassette, bars and seatpost eventually, so it'd be better to buy the whole bike IMO
buy a whole bike or would a frame/forks/wheel set with the existing 26 er running gear be a better option?
pros and cons to both. i bought the frame wheels etc. ended up replacing bar stem as well. saved some money, and sold the 26" parts.
what would you do with the 26" bike/ parts.
I had a similar dilemma a few weeks back and ended up getting a complete 2011 bike in a sale. It all depends on how much cash you want to drop on a frame/forks/wheels, obviously an On-One frame is perhaps the best budget option. Personally I demo'd and [i]really[/i] liked the Pace RC129, but my budget just couldn't stretch to one in the end (looking at about £1850 in the build I wanted).
I ended up getting a 2011 Giant XTC29er for just about £1250, and I'm over the moon with it - not just a good 29er, but an extremely good bike full stop.
p.s. oh, FWIW, I can really recommend the Hope hubs/Crest 29er wheelset - replaced the OE wheels on my XTC with 'em and they've noticeably perked up the bikes acceleration and handling.
I did exactly that. I got the frame, wheels and fork and then used everything from my ti456 and built up my 29er Scandal and never looked back. I then sold the ti and rev's.