27plus

When the Cannondale Bad Habit Carbon 1 rolled into HQ, I was skeptical at first. Big ol’ meaty 27plus tires, 120 mm of front and rear squish, the fork was missing its right half, and a dropper. For Pete’s sake, a dropper! I admit, my skepticism was likely driven by the fact that all of ...

Cannondale’s Bad Habit could not have rolled into our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania headquarters at a more appropriate time. As the trails began their late-season transition into an array of conditions from pristine hard packed to mud, slop and snow, the Bad Habit was ready to impress. On more than a handful of occasions, I found myself ...

Trek designed the Farley EX 9.8 to be a year-round bike capable enough to tackle any trail or weather condition. Fortunately I got my hands on this beauty at just the right time, as we transitioned between a glorious fall and bitter winter. I figured the large 3.8″ 27plus tubeless tires would be a welcome ...

The new Viral Skeptic is not your ordinarily hardtail. And before you get huffy about that weird looking black box nestled in the bottom bracket junction, it’s not an electric motor but a 12-speed internal gearbox made by German company Pinion. The Taiwan-made frame is beautifully executed, with clean welds and a seat tube port ...

Riding photos by Caleb Smith/Kona Kona is the kind of brand that when it wants to f*ck around, it doesn’t f*ck around. It makes solid product backed by solid people who are genuinely more interested in having a great time—on and off the bike—than raking in the dough. I was lucky enough to score an ...

The 29/27plus platform has another option, this time in the form of a aluminum frame made in Colorado. Guerrilla Gravity looks to take a slice of the shorter-travel market with this 120 mm travel frame, the Trail Pistol. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the change to a Horst link/chainstay pivot. Why? Guerilla Gravity says: “Marketing, mostly. ...

The Fuel EX wasn’t exactly an “old” bike, even by bike industry standards. It wouldn’t have taken much for Trek to redesign the rear end of the Fuel EX 29 to accept a 27plus tire, slap a new Fox 34 Plus fork on the front and ship it out. It would have been an above ...

The original Santa Cruz Tallboy is arguably the bike that signalled 29ers acceptance into the mainstream/cool kids’ cycling club. That’s not to say there wasn’t good 29er before the Tallboy or that it had the most revolutionary geometry. What is had was a certain something that was well loved and well used. Fast forward a few ...

For some riders the name Pipeline will bring up old memories of adjustable travel URT suspension and Giro Switchblade helmets. But put those thoughts out of your head. This new bike might as well be an alien species for how little DNA is shares with that early freeride bike. Much like the Sherpa, Rocky’s first ...

Words and photos: Emily Walley and Justin Steiner The mountain bike market is a flurry of activity right now as frame, wheel and tire manufacturers strive to sort out where the current evolution and specialization of mountain bikes will end up. On one end of the spectrum, we have enduro bikes with descending capabilities that ...

It was with some excitement that we read this press release. John Parker? Missy Giove? Frank the Welder? 27plus and 29plus bikes? Yes to all those things. John Parker’s new bike company will debut at Sea Otter 2016. Here’s the press release that got us all excited: John Parker, founder of Yeti Cycles, announced his return ...

Finally, I get my grubby mitts on a bike with them thar plus-sized tires. My portulent partner for the next few weeks is Marin’s Pine Mountain 1, sporting a pair of 27.5 x 3.0 inch Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires rolling on wide-bodied Maddux DD40 rims. Those tires and I are bound to become best buds, ...

Salsa Cycles’ Pony Rustler is the rotund sibling of the brand’s well-admired Horsethief. Both bikes feature the same basic platform and very similar components, with the obvious difference being the wider wheelset of the Pony Rustler. I’ve been riding the Carbon X01 build for a few weeks and have been impressed on how well it ...

This newest Mojo has almost nothing in common with the steel hardtail that first wore that nameplate. But like the original Mojo, the Mojo 3 is a pretty lust-worthy trail bike. This bike doesn’t break any new ground for Ibis. It continues with Ibis’ successful combination of the industrial design ascetic of Roxy Lo, the smarts ...

Disclaimer: Junket- a free trip by a member of the press to a place where something (such as a new bike) is being promoted. Let’s get that out of the way first. The new Santa Cruz Hightower was introduced to select members of the media on a trip to Chile for the first running of ...

For a while there, the patient was touch-and-go. Assets were on the operating table. Little passion was moving through its blood. After its sale to BST Nano Carbon in late 2014, Ellsworth looked like it might not pull through. The 2015 lineup wasn’t released at all. “We weren’t dead,” joked company founder Tony Ellsworth. “We ...

Ed’s Note: This bike is part of our annual, sub-$3,000 bike test where the Dirt Rag staff spends significant time aboard less-expensive but fully capable offerings that we’d seriously consider buying ourselves. The final review will be out early 2016 in issue #189. Subscribe today so you don’t miss it! Price: $2,425 The Torrent name is ...

It’s taken most of the summer but we’ve finished gathering parts for our 27plus project bike. We started this process earlier this year when rumors of a fat 27.5 production bike were just a whisper and no one was really sure what to make of Trek and SRAM’s “Boost” hub spacing. Then came Sea Otter and ...

I might be speaking prematurely here, but in a few years this new bike from Devinci might just be what most trail bikes look like. Boost spacing, 120 mm front travel, 110 mm rear travel, 27plus tires, single-ring drivetrain, aggressive geometry, and an affordable price put the new Hendrix in a good position for 2016. Like ...

Specialized went all-in on 27plus bikes for the 2016 model year with 6Fattie versions of the Stumpjumper and Rhyme, as well as dedicated 6Fattie hardtail models for men and women, called the Ruse and Fuse. Here at Crankworx Whistler we took our first ride aboard the top-of-the-line S-Works Stumpjumper FSR 6Fattie with 150 mm of travel ...

The hardtail isn’t dead. At all. In fact, we might be living in the golden age of hardtails, with everything from fancy carbon race bikes to steel expedition bikes easily available. Most exciting to me is the trail hardtail market and the versatility that is becoming common with the addition of new technology. Orbea’s new hardtail ...

Ponyrustler Spotted as a prototype at Sea Otter, the new 27plus full suspension bike from Salsa made its official debut today with two carbon fiber models and an aluminum model built around the excellent Split Pivot suspension. If you’re ridden the Horsethief 29er and enjoyed it, you’re likely to feel right at home on the ...

Deadwood Somewhat surprising is this 29plus touring bike that Salsa says will be produced in somewhat limited numbers. More evolutionary than revolutionary, it’s kind of like what you’d expect to get if a Fargo and a Mukluk enjoyed a little too much bourbon around the campfire before snuggling into a sleeping bag together. It’s built ...

Photos courtesy of Scott Sports The tidal wave is coming, and it’s rolling on big tires. Scott is one of the first major brands out of the gate with 27plus, in this case built on the Genius full-suspension platform and Scale hardtail. The brand touts the added traction offered from the 27.5×2.8 tires while sacrificing ...

By this point you’ve likely heard plenty of watercooler chatter (both excitement and complaining) about the latest crop of bikes with 27.5 wheels and tires ranging from 2.8 to 3.5 inches wide. If you’re looking for some backstory, check out Part 1 of this occasional series. Here at Dirt Rag we’ve only had some short ...

Based on the success of its Fatboy, Specialized debuted the new Fuse (men’s) and Ruze (women’s) 27plus at the Sea Otter Classic, a platform the company has dubbed “6Fattie.” Built from Specialized’s M4 level aluminum, the 67 degree head angle is slacker and more trail bike worthy than the Fatboy and the bottom bracket is also ...

Sultan 27plus There’s no doubt this is the year of the 27plus bonanza, and Turner is one of the first brands out of the gate with a revised Sultan built around the new wheel size. With an overall diameter roughly equal to that of a 29er, modifying the design was simply a matter of making ...

Here at Dirt Rag we’re huge fans of classic steel hardtails, and today we got an introduction to a new brand with a unique business model that is giving back to the associations that support cycling. Advocate Cycles is a new venture from industry veteran Tim Krueger and its first product is the Hayduke, a ...

We first got a look at the Sherpa concept last spring at the Sea Otter Classic, and now one year later Rocky Mountain is ready to introduce the bike to the world. Built around the 27plus tires—in this case WTB’s 2.8 Trailblazers—the Sherpa is loosely based on the Element 29er and contains much of the ...

If the past decade is any indication, there may soon be as many tire sizes as there are gears in a cassette (though that is also growing year after year). 26 is too small. 29 is too big. 3.7 isn’t fat enough. 4.8 is too fat. Where will it end? Perhaps it never will, but Dirt ...

This weekend at Crankworx Whistler, Maxxis is launching a new signature tire, created with downhill World Cup champion Troy Brosnan. The Dissector is designed especially for dry, loose conditions. Beginning in early 2018, Brosnan and Maxxis engineers worked together to find the right balance of rolling speed, cornering traction, and braking traction for the Dissector. ...

Tester: Scott Williams Age: 31 Height: 5’10” Weight: 175 lbs. Inseam: 32” In early 2017, the SIR 9 had vanished from Niner’s website, shocking and confusing more than a few fans of this steel-framed classic. It wasn’t until June that Niner officially released its newly revamped SIR 9, and with the dust settled, it was ...

The Surly Karate Monkey is an iconic hardtail that helped popularize 29er wheels back in the early 2000s. It remained unchanged for 14 years, until 2016, when Surly launched an update to the frame that brought it into modern times. With longer, lower, slacker geometry, 27plus compatibility, internal dropper post routing and a frame that’s designed ...

The trail hardtail is the cockroach of bicycle kingdom: tough to kill. Just when I thought full-suspension was set to crush the venerable beasties, plus tires and modern trail geometry came along and breathed new life into the hardtail category. In fact, Trek offers two trail hardtails: the 29-plus Stache at the high end and ...

All-City has added the Electric Queen, a 27plus hardtail, to its small lineup of mountain bikes.   The Electric Queen is a steel-framed 27plus trail hardtail with a 120 mm suspension fork and stealth routing for a dropper post. It fits 27.5 x 3.0 or 29 x 2.25 tires and features modern trail geometry and a short wheelbase. The ...

The pickings were pretty slim at Interbike’s Outdoor Demo this year, especially if you didn’t want to just ride e-bikes all day, which I didn’t (I did try one out – it was alright but didn’t offer the same satisfaction as riding a human-powered bicycle). Luckily, Marin was around with a full fleet of non-e-bikes. Rather than ...

By Adam Newman Ah yes, the Kona Unit. At once the least glamorous and most amorous model in the Kona lineup. A no-frills, knobby tire gateway drug for the masses. The Unit may be simple but it has changed through the years, and for 2017 Kona is showing off its versatility by swapping out the ...