the NOT SO official 27.5+ thread.

27+??

  • On my radar!!

  • No clue?

  • NOT ANOTHER WHEEEEEEEL SIZE!!!

  • 26 forever! This is just aploy to sell more bikes!

  • Full fatty only

  • I quit riding and just troll

  • 29 4-eva

  • 27.5 regular /non-plus

Results are only viewable after voting.
You aren't going to pin a number to a 28lb bike and hope to be winning xc races. (Although I will "race" the bearscat on one.)

These things remind me of my Dirtbike which makes me smile. The fact that they can also run 29er wheels make them the most versatile platform going.

This test was an interesting take and it seemed like they didn't have a direct agenda.

All I can say is you gotta ride one. This is everything I hoped a fatbike to be but wasn't. I love it in the rocks. It is overkill for sure at 6mr for sure, but this is all I have right now. I have been toying with the idea of a lightweight 29er setup just for xc.
 
The Kalmyk said:
People who need to move units will chime in. I can't wait to hear about the traction and rotation
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I rode one up in VT, an "industry type" gave me his SC, we traded bikes for a couple of hours. Great in the low-speed tech, rocks, wet roots as advertised (and it was wet), however I didn't enjoy it while descending (talking about 15-20min. descents), railing berms, or jumping as much as my 160mm bike. It lacks the precision of that bike. And dragging the heavier wheels up 2000ft of climbing is definitely something that you will feel. To be honest, my 160mm bike didn't give up much in the slow speed sections either. It was a good bike overall, people riding around here will probably like it, I just don't think I'm the target audience for it.
 
Monkey Soup said:
I rode one up in VT, an "industry type" gave me his SC, we traded bikes for a couple of hours. Great in the low-speed tech, rocks, wet roots as advertised (and it was wet), however I didn't enjoy it while descending (talking about 15-20min. descents), railing berms, or jumping as much as my 160mm bike. It lacks the precision of that bike. And dragging the heavier wheels up 2000ft of climbing is definitely something that you will feel. To be honest, my 160mm bike didn't give up much in the slow speed sections either. It was a good bike overall, people riding around here will probably like it, I just don't think I'm the target audience for it.
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I have a huge amount of respect for the way that you wrote this. Not saying.. I don't ride it so it sucks.

My view is skewed as a long time 29er fanboy.

I just spent 6 rides on a 5010 and I gave it a fair shot. I could jump with an ease that I haven't seen since my haro bmx days. I loved it for that. In the chunky stuff the wheel kept dropping holes and stuffing me dead stopped. This may be my total lack of skill, but I gave it enough of a chance in the rocks and we never became friends.

If I had come straight from 26" to 27"- I would be all over it. Maybe.

As a 29er guy, 27+ feels like the best part of 29, the best part of a fat bike and a hair of 27"- thrown in.
 
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Specialized 6fattie FSR Stumpjumper Comp (Aluminum) First thoughts:



I started to consider this bike at the beginning of 2016, when @treeman picked one up in carbon and was quite happy. My thought was that the combination of generous tires and full squish would be an easier every day ride on my back than my FS Tallboy (race bike) or hardtail Fatboy (SNOW, mud, backup). I don’t have any back problems at age 61, but I like to ride six days a week with 3-4 of those rides on trails and some of those MTB rides are up to three hours.



Besides the OEM specs, Jim at Hilltop set it up with a Thompson carbon bar and matching stem, Nextie Jungle Fox 52mm rims with I9 hubs and the Vittoria Bomboloni 3” tires running tubeless, instead of the OEM GC and Purgatory. Total weight is 30.1 lbs with pedals. The seat is an S2 last from Selle Italia. YBMV…


I have four rides on the 27+ so far. First ride was a 12 mile shake out ride at low intensity effort that my wife insisted I take. One of my first thoughts after 800 yards is that the nose was really long, but that is something I am used to now. The picture is before the four mile mark. (Whoops, forgot to get a water bottle cage and a bell.)

The second ride was a three hour, 26 mile effort with one five minute effort that was somewhat successful at generating a good result. Two thirds of the way through the ride, I brought it to the shop for some more tweaks.


That same evening, I did 12 miles at Fun Monday at Chimney Rock, rolling out of the Ballfield lot. It is usually difficult for me to hang with this ride even at a very high effort level, however, there were a lot of new faces and, because it is a no-drop ride, I could hang. The crazy thing was that one of guys who showed up was a “Fat is the only way to go” bud, who was rolling the same bike in the same matte orange (Gallardo) color. Every few minutes, @goodvibe said something along the lines of “I really like this bike”.


On the rocky CR trails, especially High Tech Vosseller, the 6fattie was very capable. It steps over boulders with 160mm of travel up front. The 3’’ tires cruise over the chunder of rock carpeted trail. The biggest surprise is that it climbed those switchbacks easily. I had the tire pressure at 14 lbs, which was too high, causing a slip out on the steepest left hand switchback. Next time, I would take it down to 12.5 PSI or lower. Coming down from Miller to Gilbride, the bike excelled.


The next day, my back felt fine. I did some low intensity rail trail with a couple of guys, then about five miles of the Nassau trails east of High Bridge. The Specialized dropper post, which I have never had before, is still not perfect, but that is the only complaint that I have about the 6fattie. That will get resolved in the next week or so.


The bike is faster than I expected and as comfortable as I had hoped. The bottom bracket is a bit lower than the Tallboy and I have had a couple more pedal strikes in the first 50 miles of single track than normal, but I am such a conservative rider that I probably don’t have “enough” pedal strikes. Dialing this bike in will be an enjoyable process.
 
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some kid brought one of those things into the shop last week, he had a flat i nthe back and ziptied the tire onto the rim like 50 times and rode it in

thing mustve weighed 80lbs
 
I think if the handebar didn't fall off he would have pushed the bike harder and broke more things.
 
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Joined the world of 27.5+ this week. Thank you @jdog, and Halter's Cycles.

Whatcha see here is a SC Tallboy 3 set up with Sram XO1 1x11 and 130mm Fox 34 float elite, 2.8" rubber, level tlm brakes. Why is that important?
well, ya can get it set up as a 29r, with a 120mm fork, and similar drivetrain, or 27.5+ with drivetrain upgraded to xx1 and level ultimate brakes, (and a few more goodies)

my history of mtb is a panasonic hybrid, 1990s marin rigid, 2011 paragon hard tail (29r), 2009 anthem fs (26r) - so i've got limited experience, and
the legs to match. my fitness has waned since a few years ago - in 2011, i seemed to have leg power, but not endurance - built up the endurance to match,
but still shy of really riding - then a couple accidents, and boom. here i am. yet i still seem to have improving times when i push - so my riding or familiarity
with the trails is getting better.

anyway, to the bike. coming from a fs, skinny tire, 26r, to this is definitely cheating.
I forgot to weigh it coming out of the shop.

got two rides in totalling about 3 hours.

the first at CR - trying to catch fun monday, but whiffed. went out on my own, and managed a bunch of PRs - the bike created confidence
with the wide tires, and lots of travel. both downhill, and uphill were a new experience. where i usually spin out on the anthem, is now hooked up
on the tallboy - and i climbed out of the high tech trail without putting a foot down. (not usual for me.) I'm still learning how to turn the bike, but
downhill, with the fork/shock wide open was just a blast - manage a couple pedal strikes, but that was more me.

today at cushetunk was interesting. the trails have not been cleared of leaves, and they aren't ridden much, so the rocks get some organic
matter growing on them. still the bike climbed well - when it got steep, i seemed to be going off the back. currently have the handlebars a tad below seat height,
but this bike has a dropper - so i'm thinking lower might be a good idea (ride the bike a bit below full extension when climbing, then i can stand without going off the back
of the bike)

great experience the last couple days - can't wait until tomorrow.
 
These guys have this bike nailed. Their use of the VPP is well documented, but you have to ride it to understand.. It simply relies less on the shock to minimize pedal feedback.

The new geo is amazing and like Pat said, it climbs and descends better than most everything out there. This bike feels way closer to the long travel hightower than I expected.

I'm not sure that this is a "race" bike anymore, but it certainly is a hoot to ride.

Since these bikes have come out, I haven't sold a single one in 29". Everyone is opting for the 27+ format. I do suspect if competing in a XC race, that a set of 29er race wheels would be a good choice.

It is worth noting that SC tested mules with 3" rear tires and they didn't find enough gain in performance to justify the weight. That being said, this bikeis made for a 2.8" tire on the rear. A 3" might fit, but just barely. A 3" tire if fin up front if you want it.

Look for lower priced "c" bikes in the next month or so as well.

Enjoy your new toy.
 
OK so first ride on the Horsethief set up as originally sold - 29er. This truly is 2 bikes in 1 - she felt completely different from the 27.5+3 setup. Felt much lighter, quicker, more nimble, faster climbing, albeit this was only at 6mr and in almost perfect conditions - recent rain made the trails nice and tacky, just some dusty/loose areas. Gave up some traction but in a fairly easy short canal side loop I did it faster than recent rides on the 27.5+ setup. Will see how she does at the sourlands tomorrow.
 
Round 2 at the sourlands. Skinny tires more likely to get kicked sideways by shallow angle roots but there were some advantages - could weave through small gaps in rocks that would wedge the wider tires. Got just as far tho quicker on my nemesis rock garden before the troll bridge - if I can stay right and avoid that one rock I should be able to make it. Set a PR on another and bomb down the pipeline. Overall round 2 goes to 29er. Next test - chimney rock
 
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