JAMES RICHARDS

Not properly, jumped on one or two in a car park, and I’ve ridden one round a short demo loop but never set one up for me and had chance to get used to one.

I have been happy with my 26, build them light and they go fast! But also I’m a bit of a stick in the mud, I don’t feel I need one, plus people say they’re cumbersome, and slow in tech stuff. So I was sure it wouldn’t suit my riding style.

Yes, definitely. 160mm travel, good angles, pedals great, bombproof and has a reliable proven suspension system. It ticks all the boxes for UK and European enduro races.

Yeah everything, except rear shock. Lighter wheels with Hope Hubs, Mojo tuned float 36ers, XTR drivetrain, Ti bolts, carbon bar/stem, Black Spire stinger with a Shimano Shadow Plus rear mech, a solid reliable set up for me.

Yeah, a pedally DH track, not the pure steepness of a full–blown DH course, but with plenty of rough sections to challenge full sus’ bikes.

I guess I thought the whole track would favour my Slash except maybe the 20 seconds of fire road. The top middle and bottom sections all had braking bumps, roots, jumps, drops and turns, but the sections each get faster, steeper, and rougher, but especially on the final section, it’s rough with drops and faster turns, almost DH bike territory. So that place for sure should be quicker on my Slash.

Solid, couldn’t have ridden any more consistently. These weren’t race runs, I pedalled off the start the same every time and tried to carry speed the same, hit the jumps the same, pump in all the same places. I just tried to have identical back–to–back runs, clean, smooth, and fast, but not taking chances that would cause mistakes. I wanted to let the bike do the talking.

It’s rough no doubt, there’s some big braking bumps, but I had grip, composure and control and it seemed to corner like on rails. It did feel like the bike was on its limits but I was never sideways, or out of control. I only felt nervous on the tables near the bottom. The grip is quite inspiring really looking back now, and when you have grip you can go faster.

Surprisingly similar to my Slash, reach was half a cm longer, bars a touch wider and slightly higher too. But for a 19 the short, wide cockpit set–up was close to exactly the same, I was comfy and at home almost straight away.

To be honest after first run I felt like it was one of my bikes, point and shoot, hold on. I maybe automatically adjusted a little, but I made no significant adjustments to my riding style.

It felt faster, but I was way more loose, lots of little steering corrections and slides. The off–camber roots were smoother, but in the heavy braking bumps I see–sawed more and I was more of a passenger.

Yeah it had to be because I felt that much more aggressive carrying speed through the jump sections and more on my limit. I just felt faster in the steep rough stuff, as it should.

They feel like two completely different bikes. The Rumblefish is somehow taut and coiled ready to spring into action, it feels like a thing of purpose, almost uncompromising, whereas the Slash is the clown, a goon, lots of fun and eager to please any interaction.

For me to enjoy my ride it’s simply about fun, little jumps, tweaks and bar turns all the way down the trail, and I didn’t get that feeling on the 29er, but there’s still that feeling of speed.

I’m sat firmly on the fence now, anyone who has a racer in them will love the unquestionable speed and ability of a 29er, and if you still have reservations you’ve got to try one. I’m looking forward to trying the new breed of long travel 29ers and the knowledge that we’re closer than ever to finding one bike to rule them all. Until that is, everyone starts riding a 29er, and the holes in the trail are twice as big…and 26ers just love little doubles!