26 wheels on a 29er

[bluestarbass]

  Is it possible to run 26in wheels on a frame and fork made for 29in wheels?

[Unfit Nitwit]

It is possible.
Surly had a frame made to use either. If I recall, it was the Karate Monkey.
You may end up with a lot of pedal strikes with the lower bottom bracket.

Care to share why with everyone?

Also, if you are going to buy a set of wheels to do this, why not 650B?

Ed

[Shark]

As noted already, you will mess with the geometry and may get pedal strikes, or it may ride goofy. Why do you want to try this, curious ?

[bluestarbass]

I'd like to try it because my brother bought a 29er and thinks its too fast and out of control.  We're having a hard time selling it, so I was hoping this would work just to get him back on his bike riding.

[Shark]

Most folks like a fast bike 

Perhaps a new set of grippy/beefy tires might make the bike feel a bit less "out of control" (as well as less fast hehe).

What tires are on the bike now? What bike is it? How long has your brother been riding? Might just need more practice on the new bike. Might not be setup well for him either, hard to say.

[gnawbonelefty]

Most folks like a fast bike 

Perhaps a new set of grippy/beefy tires might make the bike feel a bit less "out of control" (as well as less fast hehe).

What tires are on the bike now? What bike is it? How long has your brother been riding? Might just need more practice on the new bike. Might not be setup well for him either, hard to say.

agreed,  fit not wheel diameter makes more of a difference,  Larger fatter tires  might help too, a shorter stem might reign in the handling a bit, make it seem a bit more sure handling.  if the frame is the wrong size wheel size might not make a difference,

[Troll]

Tell your bro not to give up on the 29'r.  It took me all Summer to get comfortable on mine.  The bigggest thing to me was getting the front wheel to raise up from using the pedals.  I found myself pulling on the handlebars too much. Also had too move my wieght back more.  No doubt though,  the 26" bike is easier to handle.

[bluestarbass]

its definitely a combination of things.  He's new, this is his first bike since he was a kid.  I'm fairly sure it is sized correctly.  It is a GT Korakorum 2.0, i know I spelled that wrong.  I have some spare rims that I wanted to try this, so I could figure out if its the wheels or what.  I figured if I put some 26ers on there, then he rode it and had the same issues, we could eliminate that.  He really just needs more time on his bike.  I looked into doing those 96ers thinking that might be a happy medium, but it looks like that is frame based as well.

[Fett]

You definitely need a 26er frame with 26er wheels (as well as 29er frame to 29er wheels) to fairly judge what feels best to someone. Mixing and matching will defintely make for an awful handling bike.
 
My belief is the the 96er is a poor idea as one of the biggest advantages of a 29er is the ability to roll over rough easily and since more of your weight is on the rear, you would lose the biggest portion of the smoothing out of the trail by putting a 26er on the rear.
 
The Karate Monkey was not made to use 26" wheels. I believed that they advertised it as being good for road or mtb wheels, which I found funny since 29ers are 700c wheels, but many people were not educated on 29ers at the time.

[David Gardner]

IIRC someone mentioned (may have been Bentcrank) that Surly 1x1 could run both 26" and 29" wheels.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave

[Fett]

IIRC someone mentioned (may have been Bentcrank) that Surly 1x1 could run both 26" and 29" wheels.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave

That could be true as it is for any 29" frame. I would maintain that you cannot make a good handling frame that runs both. You have to pick one and design a frame around it.

[Krautwaggen]

Won't the only noticeable change be the bottom bracket height?
In theory if both axles are raised or lowered the same amount, the geometry will otherwise remain the same.
In any case, don't do it.

Get some heavy grippy tires like Panaracer Rampage 2.3s That'll slow it down PLENTY! and their pretty decent in the corners.

You might also mess with the stem length and rise. I was running a 90mm with little rise and switched it out for a 110mm with 15 degrees and noticed a great difference on the ability to pull up the front wheel. I guess the no rise had me hunched over too much.

[Fett]

Won't the only noticeable change be the bottom bracket height?
In theory if both axles are raised or lowered the same amount, the geometry will otherwise remain the same.
In any case, don't do it.

Get some heavy grippy tires like Panaracer Rampage 2.3s That'll slow it down PLENTY! and their pretty decent in the corners.

You might also mess with the stem length and rise. I was running a 90mm with little rise and switched it out for a 110mm with 15 degrees and noticed a great difference on the ability to pull up the front wheel. I guess the no rise had me hunched over too much.

There are plenty of other factors. A 29er frame usually has longer chainstays than a 26er to accomodate a bigger wheel. When you talk about a 29er being harder to pull the front wheel, the longer chainstays are a big factor in that. Just hanging a 26" wheel on the frame will not change that. Same thing with the longer fork, it puts the front wheel further out in front.  Also lowering the bottom bracket about 1" will completely mess with the handling of the bike as well as making you suffer from pedal strikes at about every pedalling turn. I am sure Loretta can list additional issues.

[pedalpusher]

I'd like to try it because my brother bought a 29er and thinks its too fast and out of control.

Sorry for this, it's due to growing up in a cornfield...
 
 Too much fun whats that mean
It's like too much money, theres no such thing
It's like a girl too pretty, with too much class
Being too lucky, a car too fast
No matter what they say I've done, well I ain't never had too much fun

[bikapelli1]

Won't the only noticeable change be the bottom bracket height?
In theory if both axles are raised or lowered the same amount, the geometry will otherwise remain the same.
In any case, don't do it.

Actually, the biggest change will be in the steering geometry, and if I am thinking right it won't be in a good way.

The stability (or lack thereof) on a bike is heavily influenced by the front end.  The two biggest factors are the head tube angle and trail.  If you replace the29" wheels with 26" wheels, the head tube angle won't change, but the trail will.  For those who may be unfamiliar with trail, it is the distance between the imaginary line where the head tube axis intersects the ground and the contact patch of the front tire.  The shorter the trail, the twitchier the bike.  The longer the trail, the more stable.  The trail is controlled by the headtube angle, wheel size, and fork offset (also called rake).  Putting a 26" wheel on a 29er will actually decrease your trail, making the steering more sensitive by decreasing the trail. 

In other words, it'll do the exact opposite of what is intended. 

bikapelli