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And was the result instadeath?
I have an Orbea Oiz for local riding in the Dales, and an Occam 27.5 for stuff with a bit more rocks. Been riding the 'big' bike locally a bit recently, and surprised to notice how much easier it feels to get up to speed, despite being heavier with heftier tyres, and while the 29er is a seriously quick bike, it always feels like harder work on hilly rides.
Got the measuring tape out today and replacing 29 wheels with 27.5 (with a slightly bigger tyre) lowers the BB by about 1cm. There seems to be clearance for a 2.4/5 tyre if I wanted.
Anyone gone down this route with a 29er frame, or am I likely to get sick of pedal strikes and hate the way it feels?
I ran my Smuggler for a bit with a 27.5 rear wheel, have since put it on the Ripley but not ridden on trails yet. It’s a 2.6 Rock Razor, but am running 165 cranks
If you put a smaller chainring will that do what you want? Are the wheels heavy?
I'm hoping to buy a new occam, but at 5.9 I'm on the boarder of whether 27.5 is better. Although that limits my choices.
Ran my wife's 29er spark with 27.5x2.6 rubber.
Had 165mm cranks though and it still suffered pedal strikes fairly frequently.
Spark is already low on the BB front, so other bikes would probably fair better.
Her current 29/27.5+ genius has the 27.5x2.6 tyres and in high BB mode it's just fine.
If you put a smaller chainring will that do what you want? Are the wheels heavy?
No, they're fine. It's more that, like for like in terms of gearing, I can notice the difference in acceleration with the smaller wheel, which makes winching up steeper stuff a bit easier. I don't notice the advantage of the 29er (keeping momentum) quite so much.
I put a 26" on my wife's 29". She is unlikely to ride anything more challenging than a fire road, she might ride the blue at Sherwood pines.
The BB is super low now.
The biggest difference was the lighter wheel and being able to raise the seat post and still touch the ground, getting better leg extension.
I have a 27'5 Frame with 26" wheels and I had to go lose the triple at the front due to catching the big ring repeatedly when riding anywhere with rocks. The final straw was riding Snowdon.
The scale has a lower bb than that.
Why not try it and report back? Can you just swap the wheels and drive chain and give it ago?