29+ vs 27.5+ | Comparing MTB Plus Tires

[@hardtailparty]

Another fantastic video. I wholeheartedly agree. I think 29x3.0 is my all time favorite tire platform. Hopefully we can keep it alive.

[@albertyanez3529]

I tried 29+ today for the first time and wow it’s amazing I converted a fat bike to 29+ I’m glad I did!!!

[@johnnydoe66]

I haven't had the opportunity to ride 29+, but my current hardtail is a 27+ w/ 2.8's. When the 27+ platform came out and I was able to test ride multiple bikes, I was an instant convert. I ride mainly natural terrain and alot of rocky tech, with the ability to run such low pressures it's perfect. I weigh 190lbs and I run 16psi front and 18psi rear with not a single issue.

[@TCat-ve9qi]

I rode dirt bikes for years and just last year I picked up my first real MTB (Specialized fuse 27.5) and I love it. I did ride a 29 on some trails and I felt I could be more nimble at least at my experience level on a 27.5 and I’m happy I went with it. Speed definitely goes to the 29 though

[@jimmansi9046]

Awesome vid, I have a Trek Stache 29+ & it’s a spectacular bike, upgraded carbon wheels, 26lbs, I run 10psi front 12psi rear & I’m 160lbs, best bike I’ve ever owned!

[@marksandoval5361]

In my experience with Plus tires, a 29x2.8 tire (like a Maxxis Rekon or Teravail Coronado Light) on an i35 rim is the ideal Plus setup. This setup is far superior to the standard 29x3.0 tire on an i45 rim. It weighs less and rolls faster without giving up much on flotation and roll-over. In addition, a 29x2.6 tires on an i35 rims, while not quite as good, are a close second. Unfortunately, there aren't many 29x2.8 tires available. If that first Plusbike had come with 29x2.7 tires on i33 rims, I think that Plusbikes would have been more popular. 3.0 tires on i45 rims were just too much tire and especially, too much rim.

[@andrec.136]

My bike came standard with 2.6 x 29. Even though that wouldn't be considered a plus size tire. I still like the big look and feel of the bike.

[@outbackwack368]

Thanks! I'm limited to 29x2.6 on i30 rims and run pressures 15F/18R. They get way too hard up in the 20's.

[@rybald1973]

Love the video, I use 29+ and make up the time buy just sending it through the rough.

[@guylord3837]

The weird thing is that I built up a 650b + back when plus was super popular, but it only took a couple of years before the mtb community suddenly started poo pooing that wheel size. I built up a 29+ a couple of years ago and had trouble locating 3.0 tires. Now there are a lot of 650b+ tire options and few 29+ options. I’m convinced the mtb community (as a whole) doesn’t know what they want and will come back around to 29+ in a few years.

[@icantgivecredit871]

I bet e-bikes are going to be the main driver. E-bikes, particularly in the trail category, have epic proportions and considerable weight. The need (or, want) for wide and knobby tires on an e-bike is understandable.

[@ElevationEveryWeekend]

Man I gotta say I love love love my 29+ wheels on my Salsa Beargrease. It is just dialed on that bike. I “settled” for 3” Maxxis Minions because that was all I could find a few months back, but I think it might be the best higher speed cornering tire on the market. Bomb proof as well. I think the key is going 35mm on the rim width, vs the wider 40-50mm that many early 29+ bikes typically went with. I could go down to a 2.6” if I wanted too. Hope they stick around.

[@turboelephant6298]

Haha, a year later and I'm watching this because I just got another 29+ bike. I'm going to import some Duro Crux 29 x 3.25 tubeless ready tyres from Jones, you should reach out to them and do a review!

[@RideYearRound]

Nice! What’d you get? I’d love to get the Crux or another 3.25 in, but I haven’t heard back from anyone.

[@shaymtbrider7244]

V nice man love you keep up the good work

[@Tryphon77]

Thx for your video, always a thrill ! I want to convert for 29+ for a bunch of time now but i still don't know where to get the right rims with at least an i35 inner width? Do you have recommendations or useful websites for me to get this rare ressources ;) thx again and take care

[@bartmullin8018]

The differences in size/performance between a 650b+ and a 700c+ are moreso in paper-land than in reality. Additionally, my 650b+ wheels have surprised me with their ability to deal with bigger, gnarlier terrain/obstacles. Had a 'whoa Nellie' moment going over a decent-sized rock and cleared it sans any damage to the rim. Having wider rims makes more of the difference if the truth be told. Have a 50mm wide rim on the front plus a 27.5 x 2.8 Vittoria Martello and the extra 2mm makes it feel more like a 3.0. Also, it just seems silly to have two different sized wheelsets; same size spares sure, not two different sizes for hair-splittery paper-racing reasons...

[@RideYearRound]

In my experience there’s a pretty significant real life difference between the two sizes, but maybe that’s just me. You’re right though, rim width does make a massive difference. I run 29+ as the spring/summer/fall wheelset for my fat bike and 27.5+ as my main set up on my hardtail.

[@LordHolley]

You're making my case for the mullet lol

[@sbsb4995]

People are over doing tyre sizes. It's a marketing gimmick. Stick to the 26". They are the best.

[@KriegerKrieg]

I don't think anyone believes 26 is superior to 29. Im a dummy and could tell immediately that 29 is a large improvement to my 27.5 over obstacles.

[@turboelephant6298]

Good stuff. I couldn't get on with my 29+ wheel set for my fat bike, the Minion up front was so knobalacious that even with low pressure in it, the thing would rub against the brace of my Bluto. Just quick, I'd love to see a vid comparing 26 inch fat wheels vs 27.5... I've run both, and aside from pedal strikes on the 26 inchers, I'm buggered if I can tell the difference? 👍👍

[@RideYearRound]

What rim width were you running with the minion? I wonder if a wider rim would’ve brought the height down enough to make it work. Thanks for the video suggestion, I did a video kind of on that topic with my first ride on my new fat wheelset, but I’ll try to get a 26” wheelset and do a direct head to head comparison.

[@turboelephant6298]

@@RideYearRound I was using 50mm Surly Rabbit Hole rims on my 29+ set up, Hope hubs, the works. I didn't have rigid forks at the time though, and if I did I'd probably swear by that wheel set, they were just crap with the Blutos.

[@squeeler9421]

I have lots of fun on my full rigid 29'er, and wanting to get a 29+. Unfortunately, the major bike manufacturers only offer 26/27.5 plus. 29+ are hard to come by, and they only come by in the Adventure category or from a few niche brand ☹. Besides Surly Krampus, am disappointed Salsa didn't offer rigid 29+ as a complete bike package.

[@RideYearRound]

Salsa did have a few 29+ options for a couple of years with the Woodsmoke (hardtail) and Deadwood (full suspension). The Fargo actually came with 29+ tires for a year or two and still has the same clearance if you wanted to run them. It's still a bummer that the options are so limited though.

[@onlyonecannoli3952]

So in other words, you can't make up your mind. I'll try that approach with two ladies and see how that goes. I'm sure they'll be very understanding once I explain what each one does well and why I need both. Thanks for the advice.

[@RideYearRound]

Yeah it was definitely a hard conversation when I sat down with these tires… you should’ve seen the shock and confusion in their faces. But in all seriousness, I don’t have to choose one or the other right now so I haven’t. If you only want/need one then get whichever has the ride characteristics you’re after from what I said in the video, because they’re for sure different.

[@hair2050]

Going in the complete opposite direction, what is the smallest diameter fat tire available? Here’s my problem. Significant foot problems that may never allow me to hike longer distances again. I love riding too but don’t want to pack-bike. My concept is basically a very light bmx that I can ride on the flat and downhill, push up steeper hills and easily carry where needed. I would also love it to fold, but that is the next step.

[@RideYearRound]

I know that they make 24x4.0 and 20x4.0, although I think the 24 probably has more options available. A lot of the kids sized fat bikes run those wheel sizes.

[@hair2050]

@@RideYearRound thanks 😊

[@matticus6339]

I ride a 27.5 hardtail. I currently am running Ikon 2.35s, I climb ALOT and love climbing. I have however thought about going to a bigger tire to smooth out the ride a little. What is your opinion on 2.8s if you do alot of climbing? Oh and my bike is also a single speed.

[@RideYearRound]

In general a 2.8 is going to be heavier than a 2.35 so it’s going to take more effort up sustained climbs, but I do think wider tires can more than make up for that on the downhill and on rolling stuff…the traction and way it smooths out the chatter give you a ton of confidence to push things on the descent. That traction can help on technical climbs as well.

[@mybadvideos]

Mullet???

[@fivecasa]

👍🏼👏👏👏👏

[@PebusGalacticus]

Will you make a plus mullet bike and tell us how you feel about it?

[@sixate]

29+ is by far my favorite tire size. Hope it never goes away.

[@egidio6david0]

Yeah but try finding training wheels for 29 + almost impossible, only kidding cool video. I really like 27.5,,, I bet I would really like 29 too LOL.

[@timmallard5360]

I love my 27+ tires on my fat bike. Swable racing Ralph 3" on a 47mm rim is just perfect

[@rmazocar]

My fastest time on a 5 mile, 3000 ft. fire road climb is on 29x3.0 WTB rangers. Nothing else manages to hook up on the half mile of 14%+ with loose gravel. In summary, 29 plus is faster than hiking.

[@nekoashidashi]

I am a year late, but thank you for your video and the insight!

[@aroundoz]

You do an excellent video. A lot of insight and to the point. I am having a new bike built and hoping it will work as both my hardtail mtb and bikepacking bike. Trying to decide if I should go 29x2.6 for trail riding or 27.5x2.8/3.0. For touring I would use 29x2.2. I am tall and a diehard 29er fan so having a hard time talking myself into 27.5.

[@RideYearRound]

I wasn’t the biggest fan of 29x2.6…just seemed sluggish without the benefits of a true plus tire.

[@alias8125]

Sorry if this is probably a stupid question: does 29+ get more '''suspension feeling'' compared to a 27.5+? Just wondering... Anyway I run 27.5+ on my rigid steel bike and I love them, wish to upgrade with some lighter wheels one day. Today I ran 10psi front for the first time and damn I was able to travel some rough singletracks with easy (I'm 65kg) is that too low? Didn't feel any rim strikes. Many questions I know :>, thanks anyway for sharing your knowledge, I already watched many of your videos and I love them, cheers from italy

[@RideYearRound]

No stupid questions out there…I wouldn’t say there’s more suspension feeling, but it has more of a fat bike feel for sure (although far from a fat bike). 10 is really low for a plus tire but you’re pretty light. I run 29+ at 13-14 psi but I weigh a LOT more than you haha.

[@alias8125]

@@RideYearRound Thanks for the reply mate, sorry I got back at this 1 month later didn't see it before. Anyway I'm really temtped to try out 29+, saw that most avaialbe tyres are 29x2.6 nowadays, is it still considered plus with all the advantages that comes with a big tyre? What do you think?

[@mountainbiker8904]

What is the most aggressive 29 x 3.0 tire on the market?

[@RideYearRound]

Minion DHF/DHR, Bontrager XR4 and the Surly Dirt Wizard are the only real aggressive tires in my opinion. Not a lot of options out there unfortunately.

[@mountainbiker8904]

@@RideYearRound Thank you.

[@boybusilakbikes]

Hi, newbie here. There wouldn't be an issue putting a 27.5+ wheelset on a 29+ frame, right? Planning to get a krampus.

[@RideYearRound]

It really depends on what you ride, but there’s a big difference in diameter of those two wheels so it’s going to drop your BB quite a bit which may result in more pedal strikes and some odd handling on the trail.

[@boybusilakbikes]

@@RideYearRound ohh I didn't think of that. Probably not a good idea then. Maybe I'll get a karate monkey instead. I do mostly bikepacking and I feel like 27.5+ is better for that than the 29+. Easier climbing and more clearance for mud. Tends to get really muddy here in the Philippines.

[@RideYearRound]

Yeah a KM would be good if you want to stick with Surly, or an ECR comes with 27.5+ in XS-Medium sizes and would be even more prepped for bikepacking.

[@boybusilakbikes]

@@RideYearRound can i put a suspension fork on an ecr?