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I've got the tallboy in 29 and I'm really happy with it. I think it's travel and geo are pretty well rounded for almost everything. I bought it for riding tech stuff like ringwood, jungle and high mountain, but have been favoring it over my hardtail even when riding at allaire since I can't ride without a dropper now.
The kona hei hei trail is very similar but doesn't have 27.5 plus compatibility I believe. If your going to only own one bike I think the 120mm trail bike is the way to go. I'm sure someone could argue going higher on the travel, but I tend to lean towards less. Just make sure you demo.
 
Jmann said:
I've got the tallboy in 29 and I'm really happy with it. I think it's travel and geo are pretty well rounded for almost everything. I bought it for riding tech stuff like ringwood, jungle and high mountain, but have been favoring it over my hardtail even when riding at allaire since I can't ride without a dropper now.
The kona hei hei trail is very similar but doesn't have 27.5 plus compatibility I believe. If your going to only own one bike I think the 120mm trail bike is the way to go. I'm sure someone could argue going higher on the travel, but I tend to lean towards less. Just make sure you demo.
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At the recommendations I’ve gotten here, the Tallboy is def on my radar. How do you find the wagon wheels behave on the really rocky sections? Just roll over or can you pick precise lines?
 
JohnnyWestood said:
At the recommendations I’ve gotten here, the Tallboy is def on my radar. How do you find the wagon wheels behave on the really rocky sections? Just roll over or can you pick precise lines?
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You will get used to the wheel size. More easily IMO for your height, I'm a lot shorter than you and have no trouble with 29+ wheels. As for rocky sections it's more about riding style. Plus tires are almost the same height as a narrower 29, but you get some options to just monster truck it if you chose not to pick lines. Demo the same bike with the different wheels on a rock garden and you may favor the plus set due to the additional compliance. On faster rolling sections you'll want to keep the 29rs on. Hard choices I know, which is why it's great to have options. Good luck studying...
 
ridgehog said:
Now I'm waiting for the cross country racers to tell me why I'm wrong.
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IMO...Your not wrong. 29er XC bikes are awesome, but they are a tool for a specific job and can be somewhat compromised. Love my 29er XC bike for riding/racing in N. Jersey....but if im going to ringwood for a fun ride...ill take my 130mm trail bike most of the time. That said...after putting a dropper on my scalpel...man is that bike exponentially more fun now.

@JohnnyWestood I dont own one, but I have ridden the TB3 several times...excellent bike. Highly recommend trying one out.
 
JohnnyWestood said:
At the recommendations I’ve gotten here, the Tallboy is def on my radar. How do you find the wagon wheels behave on the really rocky sections? Just roll over or can you pick precise lines?
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I'm 29 for life, 29 just works for me. There's sections in some parks that will be hard no matter what your riding, so picking your line is always important. I haven't gotten around to riding the mid fat tires, but I had a fat bike on 4" tires that personally was too sluggish for me.
A 29er with 2.3-2.4 tires seems to be my sweet spot. Of course tire tread/compound maybe more important than tire size. A fatter xc tire vs a grippy tire like the maxxis dhf on rocks (especially if they are damp) will lose.
There's so many options you can give yourself a headache. Bikes today are awesome and it's easy to overthink it.
 
JohnnyWestood said:
THANK YOU! I’m not on Facebook, really appreciate the heads up. Keeping one eye on the calendar and the other on the weather. :)
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Don't know if you saw it, but we post weekly rides and events in the "what's going on this weekend" forum... We include demos there as well.
 
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