De-mullet a mullet?

[Planemo]

Every time I get on my sons non-e Trance I am reminded how boat-like my Haibike is. That Trance really is so damn nimble. I accept that this is mainly due to weight, frame size (large Vs XL) and of course geo but I was wondering if front wheel size played a small part as well. As I was bored, I fitted his front wheel to my bike and thought about giving it a go although I need to swop discs first. The immediate thing that struck me was 'does this look really weird or what?!' What do you think? (No comments about how weird/shit the Haibike looks as stock please!)

And a stock pic for comparison:

 

[Slymobi]

Looks good to me suppose it all comes down to how it feels riding it for you.
Gotta way up the pros and cons for both styles then decide whats best for your riding.

p.s that green must be driving you mad whereas all that blue would kill my ocd lol

 

[Doug Stampfer]

Looks fine. I wouldn't have picked up that it was once a 29er & tbh the mullet version looks a bit weirder in compariason, the 27 front keeps it more balanced looking.

 

[BeBiker]

Yes, looks weird, the space between wheel and bottom bar looks too big.
Looks a bit like if there is a 24" or 26" wheel fitted.

But if it rides better, I wouldn't care.

 

[Planemo]

Looks good to me suppose it all comes down to how it feels riding it for you.
Gotta way up the pros and cons for both styles then decide whats best for your riding.

p.s that green must be driving you mad whereas all that blue would kill my ocd lol

Yeah the green is playing havoc with me mate! But I'm willing to give it a 50 mile go on the basis that its gonna run me at least £150 to get a new wheel/tyre etc if I decide to go for it permanantly

 

[Planemo]

Looks fine. I wouldn't have picked up that it was once a 29er & tbh the mullet version looks a bit weirder in compariason, the 27 front keeps it more balanced looking.

Cheers for your thoughts, just to be clear and I may have read your post wrong, but its actually a mullet as stock (29/27.5) not a full 29er and I fitted the Trance 27.5 front wheel. But yeah I guess I am used to the 29 front and it seemed a bit odd with a 27.5 front!

Yes, looks weird, the space between wheel and bottom bar looks too big.
Looks a bit like if there is a 24" or 26" wheel fitted.

But if it rides better, I wouldn't care.

You've said exactly what I thought! The gap between the front wheel and frame looks massive, likely not helped by the fact it is an XL frame. I agree, the wheel looks like a 26" or smaller but its deffo 27.5. I think I just need to fit my disc to it and go ride. Make a decision after that. The 29 really does feel and handle like a penny farthing to me, maybe I have just spent too much time on 26ers (I only had a 27.5 for a short time before getting the Haibike).

 

[JP-NZ]

How tall are you? I'd be more concerned with the change in geo rather than how it looks

 

[ilostmypassword]

The Trance feels like a steam roller Its so heavy that you can't even lift the front wheel. If you find it nimble that bike must be like a truck!

 

[Planemo]

How tall are you? I'd be more concerned with the change in geo rather than how it looks

6'1", or 186cm. And I am by no means an expert or competitive rider!

 

[kneecap]

I have a 2020 n-duro in a large. Came with 27.5 both ends. I've installed a mavic Mezzer 29 fork on it, & kept the 27.5 wheels, feels great, plus raised the front end a bit, better for steep downhills. Almost the same thing?

 

[Planemo]

Yeah I guess thats similar, not sure how much geo difference there is between the xduro and nduro. I may have to look it up. Either way I think I'm gonna try it and just see how it feels.