how bad are the climbs around you? 1x10 takes some legs if you want a good top speed... you can always gear down the front and just deal with a lower top speed. 30t front ring is as small as you can go with 1x right now unless you get the xx1 sram stuff, but that is $$$.

29ers are more stable and steady, the smaller wheels are more fun and playful riding- your pick. 17" frame sounds about right for you, I'm 5'11" and usually ride 18.5/19 frames.

 

Basically MTB wheel size comes down to your riding style. There are 5 ft 6in people racing 29ers and 6ft 5in people racing 26ers. A friend described it this way.

26 - Flickable, tight turns, jump over stuff. When you are in a technical area, you like to bunny hop, pick your lines and like to go through tight trees and whip the bike back and forth. You appreciate jumps and getting the bike into the air on anything. When you ride a trail, you hit all the side jumps and stuff. Wheels will accelerate faster but slow down more over rocks.

27.5 - A little bit more roll over to help with roots. A little less flickable. It will roll faster, have more grip in the middle of the corner. You can still choose your lines and you can adjust the bike through a rock garden as it will be hoppable and flickable. Just not as much as the smaller wheel.

29 - The steamroller. You like to go fast. Rolls over roots/rocks the best. It obviously turns less sharply and is even less flickable. But not BAD. It's harder, but not impossible to lift the front end and do manuals, wheelies, and jump off little side trail features. When you hit rocks or a downhill, you point and you shoot with your *** hanging off the back without caring too much about the line. There is even more mid corner grip (given same tires) and once you get up to speed, you hold it because the rolling momentum the wheels give. They are harder to accelerate up to speed though.

 

Keep in mind I'm a mountain bike noon. Going from 26 trek to a specialized 29 was awesome. 29er just rolls over stuff. Didn't really see much difference in getting up to speed. Is not as bad as some machine out to be. Not like putting jeep tires on a Miata. I am a weak sissy and I can bunny hop mine over stuff no problem. Mine will turn almost as well as my 26, but the front fork isn't as stiff. Upgrade should solve that though.

 

It has a free-hub.

 

I like XC style MTB and therefore I ride a hard-tail 29er. I'd like to ride one actually, but my arm is still not ready.

 

I'm building a front-brake only FG right now. My excuse is that I'm not comfortable with drilling the rear bridge on an aluminum-frame bike, but the front fork is a road-specific fork and thus comes pre-drilled. I'm not willing to run sans brakes because I live where there are hills. The frame also has no provisions for cable stops or any way to attach a rear brake cable except for zipties, which would hardly be aesthetically acceptable. (it also has no provisions for a water bottle cage, which is still a problem I'm trying to solve.)

I am not, however, doing something stupid like mismatched levers. That's just shameful.

 

With a fixie dont have a rear brake inherently? Its like a bmx bike, just stop the pedals and it stops the rear wheel from spinning.

 

yuck... it should have 2 brakes and be a very functional ss road bike. now it's just a poser with **** braking abilities and no respect from the 'real' fixie dorks.



is this bike for training purposes? or like #swag? if it's for training just use zip ties and hose-clamps to attach bottle cages. because racebike.



yeah the mis-matched levers is disgusting.

 

I'm guessing you've never ridden a fixie and wanted to stop quickly.

 

It's art, fagettes.

 

 

Only BMX style rear hubs. Such flat spot, much bald, 1's's for days.

 

Are tires with the exposed fabric like this cool or not? I can't decide.

 

yeah sure

haha, that would be a coaster brake. a fixie will toss you over the handlebars if you try and stop like that.

 

Cool: Bikes that get ridden a lot. Parts on those bikes that get ridden a lot
Not Cool: Everything else

 

The climbs around here aren't super bad, the longest ones aren't very rocky, and the gnarly rocky climbs are closer to the lakes and rivers and are usually over in 4-5 minutes.

Think I'm set on a hardtail 27.5 with 2x10 and a decent 120mm travel fork up front should keep me happy. 27.5 is sounding a little better, there's a few bikes I like, just gotta decide if I wanna fork out the extra cash or slowly build one.
Something along these lines KONA BIKES | 2014 BIKES | TRAIL 27.5" HT | EXPLOSIF

 

Neither, mostly. Primarily, I'm building it because the 3 guys I ride with on weekday mornings all have them and take them out 2-3x a month, and they look like fun. It's a good excuse to build a bike that's different than what I already have, too. We aren't training to any particular schedule, mostly hammering around the local foothills and talking **** about each other in between sprints to the top of X hill or Y intersection. The FG-specific rides follow specific routes and are never longer than ~25 miles or so. To that end, the bike needs to be as functional as possible (front brake, yes) without sacrificing aesthetics. It's not a race bike that will see any track time, but it will get ridden on a semi-regular basis and I'd like it to be pleasing to the eye while I ride it.

Sidebar: My alpha solution to the lack of bidon cages will be a 500ml Platypus soft water bottle in the jersey pocket. I am still searching for a ~16oz plastic flask that fits in the big jersey pocket, and I am open to other innovative ideas that allow me to discreetly carry 12-16oz of water. Mention the word "Camelbak" and I will think less of you as a man.

 

Yes. Reminds me of classic 1970's English road bikes.

 

gotcha. Sounds like a reasonable use of a fixie...

the soft flask is a good solution. I have an eddie bauer one that holds 12 or 16 oz (not sure). I use it to supplement the one bottle on my bike when i don't want to wear a pack.

LOL camelback + fixie

 

What the hell. Why didn't you just buy my bike?