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I've always fancied trying one, anyone done so?
Nope...just why?
What's wrong with a 29'er?
Where do you even get tyres for those??
Oh and the proportions just look wrong.
The GCN guys made one. It was a road bike but one of the GMBN guys rebuilt is as mountain bike. Didn't get a glowing review. Really hard to manoeuvre and the frame/forks/wheels were very flexy iirc
£7k and you'll be limited to one tyre type which the bike makers themselves say isn't the best, i'm out.
I'm interested in stuff like this - maybe a 32er instead of a 36er, but there's no way that the optimal wheel size for someone who's 5'2 riding an enduro bike is the same as the optimal wheelsize for someone who's 6'6 riding an xc bike. 29er just happens to be the same rim size as road wheels invented 90-odd years ago.
Its extremely unlikley that 36er is right for a whole bunch of use cases, and it does look wierd (so did the early fisher 29ers) - but I think it'd be dumb to imagine that its wrong for all usecases, and also wrong to imagine that the bike industry won't, at some point, all jump over to that band-wagon as a way to make people buy new frames, forks and wheels, all over again
a larger wheeled bike should roll better over terrain, making a bike faster and more comfortable for its rider. These differences were noticed when we all went from 26" to 29" wheels, and likely would be felt again with a larger wheel. A larger wheel is also heavier and more flexible (which could be better or worse) than a smaller one, and is more of a ballache to get into a car.
Be involved in introducing a new "standard"? Nope.
36er isn't a new thing, they've been trundling around in niche circles for years. Ridden a 36er and once you get over the initial, "wow it rolls over stuff" feeling, its just a bit klunky.
Black sheep 36er can look a bit better and I always had a soft spot for the keener cycleworks singlespeed back in 2012/13 with the huuge front hub and modified lefty fork
rubber wise, it's usually a case of borrowing from the unicycle world, but then that was also the case for monster 29er rims before it became a thing with stuff like nimbus and kris holm providing 40mm+ rims years before the mtb world caught up
nimbus niteriders are bit limited and the Vee T monster as least gives some vague mtb like grip.
Nope…just why?
+1
I rode one of these in the US, and thought ‘hmm, this must be what a 29er feels like for an average sized person’
Was a hoot. Heavy wheels though, oooft!
Here's Doddy's old GMBN video:
I’m very much in the ‘want to try, not buy’ camp.
I tried a Blacksheep 36er* years back when SSWC was in Ireland.
It didn't actually feel as bad as I thought it would but there's still no way I'd actually want one.
It's mainly party trick was being able to ride up and down stairs smoothly despite being rigid.
*Probably the same one that @tazzymtb tried.
I'd be more lillely to chip in if they were promising not to introduce another standard.
Standing at a towering 5'7 and a bit, I'm pretty sure that I dislike 29" wheels and find my 27.5 hardtail much more fun to ride.
I'd never consider going even bigger on the wheels. I'd never be able to stand over the TT!
Surely there's a limit on wheel size for current hub widths before it gets ungainly or structurally just not up to the abuse, it must get sketchy as hell after 32" the weight penalty alone can't be worth any advantages.
However many they originally produce as part of the crowdfunder will go to their respective homes, the makers will get theirs, after which orders will quickly dry up. Company shut a few months after, leaving people sticking 29er wheels on theirs.
Where do you even get tyres for those??
I think 36” was chosen because they were available for unicycles.
id like a 36er, especially a gravel bike. That said, I’d also love pretty much most other bikes, too.
Featured on bikepacking.com. let's hope it comes with pannier mounts as unless your 7' tall you are not going to be fitting much in the way of soft luggage except a mahoosive in-frame bag! I see they've managed to squeeze on a 3 litre pack under the saddle 🙂
@noeffsgiven Could you not use Super Boost or 170mm fat bike hubs?
It's £6000 + 25% VAT and Import fees! Holy fething sh**!
£8000 for a rigid Ti Gravel bike with no reviews and according to the comments are "still working with design and test engineers to get the loads right"
I'll keep my £8000 for something else.
Not with my little legs.