My name is Henry and I ride a couple times a week and on weekends I like to ride for several hours at a time. I prefer single track, cross country riding. I also ride a Fuji cycle-cross bike for road rides, dirt roads, horse trails and for long endurance rides. In the past, I worked at a bike shop (Storm Endurance Sports) so I have ridden many kinds of bikes. For the past several years, I have ridden a Tomac Taos hard-tail. This past summer I purchased a Santa Cruz Blur LT. The change was tremendous.  I had ridden full suspensions in the past but the Blur out performed them all. My lap times at the local single track (6.5 miles) went from the high 40’s to 42 minutes. I was able to ride longer and faster. Boy was I happy.

One evening at Governors Creeks MTB, not long after buying the Blur, I ran into FatBob who was setting up several 29ers for test riding. I had seen 29ers around but never ridden one. FatBob asked if I would like to try out a Rip 9 (Ride in Peace 9) from Niner Bikes. Not wanting to overdo it, I rode it for just a mile or so.

When I got back to the parking lot Don O was there. We decided to test the 29ers a full lap around. My riding buddy was on his Trek Carbon Fuel (26er) and is typically faster than I am. Don was testing a Specialized Stumpjumer FSR 29 and FatBob setup a Pivot Mach 429 for me. Another friend was testing out the Rip 9. The first thing I notice was how well the Mach 429 rolled over everything. I had always assumed the larger wheels would require more effort to get rolling. But even climbing seemed faster and required less effort.

My buddy on the Trek seemed to be falling back. Don was having a little trouble getting use to the Stumpjumper 29. Even so, he was pretty fast. I was able to stay with Don fairly easily (which I never do). My Trek buddy was way back. For the first time all year, I had to stop and wait on him. Man I was loving this.

FatBob had ridden out ahead of us to take some pictures and shoot some video. At some point, we rode past FatBob and I yelled “Man this is like driving a sports car for the first time”. Log crossing, rock sections, switch backs, the Pivot was out performing the Blur. I could not believe it. What was I going to do? After all  I had just purchased the last mountain bike I was ever going to buy!

After the ride, FatBob explained the suspension systems of the Pivot and the Niner. I thought the Niner was a softer plusher ride having 110mm of rear travel and 120mm front. The Pivot has 100mm of travel and much firmer making it a little quicker handling and giving it a racier feel. He explained that the large diameter wheels roll on top of obstacles instead of into them. I also noticed that the front tire seemed to bite in better during fast, high speed turns. It was better than I had ever felt. The 29ers just simple climbs better, descends better, corners and accelerates better than any 26 inch wheeled bike I have ridden. Hands Down!

Back to my dilemma. What was going to do about my brand new Blur LT. How was I going to explain to my wife that I was getting rid of my new bike and getting a newer one. It took me a few weeks but I decided to sell my Blur and buy a Rip 9. I chose the Rip9 because of the plusher feel and the 120mm of travel. Niner is also a company that builds and sells only 29ers. They believe in 29ers and development of what they call “The Big Revolution”. When I talked to Charlie (Storm Endurance Sports) about buying a Niner, he said they had a special deal that included a Fox RL with a frame purchase. He said Niner often offered incentives to customers. Well that was it. I’d strip down my Blur, sell the frame, fork and wheelset and buy the Rip9. If only Niner came in lime green so my wife wouldn’t notice I had a new bike.

Since I have been without a bike between the Blur and the Rip9, FatBob was nice enough to let me ride one of his test bikes, a WFO 9 (Wide Full Open) also from Niner. It is a 140mm travel bike (same as the Blur LT) that looks like a beast. My first impression was this bike is going to be “a tank”. FatBob has the bike set up pretty heavy with X9 shifters and derailleurs , SLX Brakes and SLX cranks (great cranks and even better brakes) a Crank Brothers Joplin seatpost. Most of the weight being in the tires. The wheels are Stans ZTR Flow rims with a 15mm front axle , 12mm rear and 14/15 gauge DT Swiss spokes. They are great wheels but the build combined with the Panaracer Rampage 29 tires added weight to the bomber yet heavy wheelset.

The first thing I noticed was the speed on the downhills. The WFO just rode on top of the terrain. The suspension soaked up ever root, rock and washout. I could just steer the bike where I wanted. After a while I was looking for rough parts of the trail just to see if I could feel anything.

I was sure that the climbs would be a different story. Once I found a climb that the WFO’s momentum hadn’t carried me halfway up, I could not believe it. It was climbing every bit as good as the Blur. Once again, the 29 inch wheels covered more ground so climbing was easier.

The only time the bike seemed a little heavy was on long flat sections of the trail. However, the WFO 9 is classified as an All mountain, Enduro bike so feeling a little heavy is normal. This ride just reassured me that I had made the right decision in buying a Niner.

As of now, I do not have my RIP 9 ready to ride. I am waiting on a few parts to finish the build and I will be off. After my Blur sold, I did tell my wife about my new bike. Like so many times before, she said that was great and she hoped I will Love my new bike. When she saw the Rip 9 frame, she even said it was the “Prettiest” bike I have ever owned. And I agree. It is Beautiful. Thanks again to FatBob for expanding my world to 29ers and “The Big Revolution”. FatBob has also quietly made riding more enjoyable around here by spending countless hours doing trail work and  course design that no one knows about. To that I am all so very grateful. Go out and test ride a 29er. You’ll be happy you did.

HD

EDIT: Since this has been written, Henry has been riding his RIP9. He has been raving about it! One more convert.

First let me introduce myself as the web guy. I'm the guy that set up the site, fixes problems with the site, helps add any new features etc.

Because I contribute this, I also get to ride some pretty sweet mountain bikes despite my beginner status.

To clarify how beginner I am:

I've been told that I'm not lacking in technique and would probably be more of an intermediate rider if I was physically in shape but unfortunately I'm more inclined to mess around on the computer than do most other activities.

However, lately I've been riding a bit more and my stamina and strength are getting better.

Before deciding that I prefered 29ers my bike was a hardtail 26er Gunner RockHound and since I have been doing this I prefer not to ride a 26er for normal trailriding.

The closest thing I can compare it to is: as a kid riding a BMX was where it was at!  But as the height and pounds came on, a bigger bike became more preferable.

I now am 6' 1" and weigh 175ish and when I get on a 26er it feels like I'm going back to a BMX.

I'm not going to say that I know all the technical stuff about mountain bikes but a few things were obvious to me.

1. Rolling over pretty much anything became much easier
2. Because of this no obstacle seemed as difficult and therefore my confidence was boosted significantly
3. When climbing while all the 29ers I rode have been heavier than my Gunner the ascent became easier due to less sliding and slipping around on uphill roots etc.
4. Because of all or most of the above I was able to concentrate more on my technique rather than feeling like I had to muscle my bike through the trail.

Again the above is my perspective as a beginner and I did notice some of the drawbacks others have mentioned as well, such as slower starting speeds (more than made up for by the momentum gained due to larger wheel size). Also the 26er seems more favorable for jumping (at least the small jumps I hit).

Really though if you are a taller / heavier rider and ride the typical types of trails that most do, I believe that you will find very quickly that the 29er is for you.

Just a beginners perspective.

By: Donn Otte

Donn Otte shows the contrast between his Litespeed Niota 26er and the Pivot Mach 429

First a little about me, I have been riding mountain bikes for 20 years and for the last 10 years I’ve been on full suspension bikes. I’m 5’6” tall and weigh in at 140 lbs. I design and build mountain bike trails and I even have managed to win a few mountain bike races.

To me riding the 29er is a no brainer for the bigger riders a big guy needs a big bike case closed.  Where this becomes more confused is with the shorter lighter riders – smaller rider = smaller bike - right?

Well part of what I wanted to do with this bike test was to shoot some video of our new Pivot mach 429 in action.  That plan evolved into a sixer against a niner shootout because I needed a bike to tote the camera so I volunteered my trusty Litespeed Niota, a high end, and light 26 lbs full suspension sixer to tote the rear facing GoPro video camera.  Using this sixer - niner combination we learned a lot about both bikes while shooting the video.  The ultra wide angle lens of the GoPro camera means you have to be close to shoot cool video.  Trying to tailgate the camera bike immediately highlighted the differences between the two bikes.

The sixer will accelerate like a rocket at the start of a down hill but as soon as the grade levels the sixer slows down just as fast.  My brother rides a niner and he has nicknamed it Old Moe for momentum, this trait was clearly apparent during the filming of our video.   The sixer would pull away at the start of the downhill but most of the time I would have to grab a handful of brakes to keep the Pivot Mach from running over the Niota as the ground went back to level.

Hill climbing is a different story with the advantage going to the Niota the niner has two strikes against it, weight & gearing.  The Pivot has considerable heft it’s a good 3.5 pounds heavier than the Niota; this is a big deal for the smaller rider who thinks in grams not pounds.  What further complicates climbing is the gearing, both bikes have the same gears but the Pivots larger diameter 29” tires makes it feel like it’s in overdrive.  I did an experiment to test the gearing – I marked off the distance each bike traveled with one turn of the crank when in the middle ring lowest gear, I found that the niner went a foot further than the sixer. I had to up shift the sixer one gear to match the niner distance.  After riding the niner it felt like there was a bigger gear difference that that – so the best I can figure you have to down shift the niner one more gear to counteract the weight penalty.  This is not to big of a deal with moderate climbing but in the mountains when you need your lowest granny gear to crawl up some steep slick rock what is doable on a sixer might mean some walking on a niner.  The up side of the gearing is higher gears force you to ride faster, my biggest success in racing came when I kept the old sixer in the big ring and hammered.

The saving grace of these draw backs is the sophisticated rear suspension which seams quite efficient with very little power robbing suspension bob.  I’m planning to do a follow up report on the inner workings of the Pivot’s suspension we will video the rear suspension in action and see how much bobbing actually goes on while climbing.

Now for the biggest surprise of the comparison, Ronnie my camera man I both agreed that there was a big difference in the rolling resistance between the two bikes – so big in fact that I thought there was something wrong with the Niota maybe the brakes were dragging or low tire pressure or something like that but everything checked normal. We switched bikes at regular intervals and it almost got to a point where we didn’t want to take our turn to ride the Niota.  The Niota is equipped with an almost new XT wheel set and high end tubeless tires but it seemed to be dragging compared to the Pivot.  The ease of pedaling the Pivot was remarkable, you read all the technical jargon about bigger tire foot print lower tire angle but the bottom line here is this 29er stuff actually works.  I could feel less strain on my legs when pedaling on everything but the up hills.  I’m not sure how to prove this greater efficiency, maybe I can a conduct a test to see how far the bike will coast or something like that.  Not only did the Pivot seem to roll easer but it rolled smoother too! The big tires flattened out the roots and rocks producing a very comfortable ride. This easier to pedal smooth riding bike allows for more time in the saddle with less strain & pain a very good thing.

First impressions of the Pivot Mach 429

This is a very comfortable bike to ride, you just think wow when you get on it / it just clicks / it has a low stand over height.  The suspension performed well on all the roots and rocks at San Lee Park.  The frame looks bomb proof it has a ton of intricate machining and welding / I like the reliability of having roller bearing at the pivot points not bushings like my Litespeed / the frame was heavy but super stiff with zero flex.  I did not feel any power robbing pedal bob in the rear suspension.  We were also taking a first look at the new Rock Shox Reba 29er front fork which felt plush to me and it was well matched to the rear suspension– unfortunately what I did noticed about the new fork was oil leaking from the fork seals we had a coating of dirt sticking to the oil after the test rides not a good start for a new product maybe the seals have to break in we will keep an eye on it and report back to you on it.  This bike is long, as is most 29ers; it barely fits in the bed of my short bed Tundra pickup truck.  29ers are big this makes them more difficult to transport that’s one thing my brother discovered when he got his niner they don’t fit on some of the bike racks so you might want to check that out if you already have an expensive rack.  One complaint I had with this bike was its low ground clearance – I scrapped more metal off the Pivots chain rings in San Lee Parks Free Fall rock section than I ever had with my Niota – what’s up with that, doesn’t bigger tires give you more ground clearance? I checked the bottom bracket height and they were within 1/4” of each other.  My best guess is when the plush Pivot suspension compresses the bike rides at a lower height hurting the ground clearance some of this might also be the result of the suspension set up for this bike which calls for more sag than the Niota.

Conclusion

Here I was happy as a lark on my Litespeed Niota sixer figuring that 29ers were only for the big guys now I am not so sure.

Pivot mach 429

I liked riding the Pivot no doubt about it. I can’t wait to put it through its paces on more of my favorite trails. This is not a race bike but for comfortably bulldozing down your local trail and leaving your buddies in the dust when you hit the rough stuff.  That’s what the “all mountain” type of bikes are all about - ride it longer and harder and do it again tomorrow.

Is the Pivot the best niner out there – I don’t know but I intend to find out stay tuned as I plan to do more head to head comparisons against the other niner’s I will try get you the answers you need to make the best choice.

Pro

Suspension / ride / handling / quality & craftsmanship

Con

Weight / gearing / low ground clearance

SIXER verses NINER

Sixer

Pro

Lighter weight / acceleration / climbing

Con

Rougher ride / less traction / less momentum

Niner

Pro

Smoother ride / more traction / lower rolling resistance / more momentum

Con

Weight / gearing / size – harder to transport

If I learned one thing in doing this test it was the importance of doing a direct comparison, this bike against that bike instead of depending on intuition.  Most of us never get a chance to ride a lot of different bikes and unless you own a bike shop you probably won’t. I am pleased that FatBob offered me a shot at testing bikes for 29eronline.com so stay tuned for more comprehensive head to head reviews – niner verses niner and lots of cool video too.  We have a long list of bikes to test.  Oh by the way niner’s can work for the lighter riders.

Editors Note: This is not yet an official 29eronline test as the Pivot did not have the Fox f29 rlc fork on it. Donn Otte will be testing The Mach 429 against other 29 inch wheel bikes with the official 29eronline test kit.

Also I have not given Donn the official rundown of what the manufacture says the bike is made for. I find it interesting that Donn views the Pivot as an all-mountain bike. Take note of this impression. It is the feel Donn got from riding the bike not reading about it.

What you just read is an unedited first impression of not only the Pivot but also 29ers in general. So this is a viewpoint that has not been swayed by a bunch of marketing. We are happy to have Donn on board and hope you enjoy all the years of experience, media and honesty that comes from Donn.