"History of the 29" wheel bicycle" (Completion of a Cycle)

After several years of work I can finally put this issue to rest.

Here's a link to my article about the history 29"ers published on the First Flight Bikes MOMBAT website.

I first started writing about 29"er mountain bikes when I did my first article on the subject for Singeltrack Magazine in the UK. Singeltrack Magazine published my profile piece on Wes Williams and let's just say everything about getting that article together was exhausting.

When the article was finally published I thought I was done with writing about 29"ers but one day I was sent an unpublished letter to the editor by a former publisher. The written a person that was involved with the early days of the 29"er and I was stunned by it contents of the email.

The email was a scathing repudiation of a two part article that the magazine had published. The letter was a blistering indictment of both the article's author and the publication in which it was printed.

Due to the radioactive nature of the email I just sat on it for a while. I was nervous about the email's content and I eventually contacted the Center for Investigative Reporting and talked to the managing editor. He said as long as the author of the letter stood by their statements I was in the clear.

Eventually decided to self publish it because I felt it was import to make the letter public in order to help dispel a lot of false information.

Even though the article itself still lives online I have a two word comment about the story, it's shit. 

As 29"ers grew in popularity more articles about 29"ers were published but with each new article I noticed there was a common thread in many of the articles being written and that was they all traced the origins of the 29"er back to single source.

And that's not accurate.

While Gary Fisher did come up with the name 29", the 29"er itself had many fathers.

For the record I have spoken to Gary Fisher, in depth, and at great length about the subject. Gary is a passionate guy and I listened to what he said. As Klunkerz morphed from Frankenbike to mountain bike Gary really wanted to leapfrog  making 26" wheeled mountain bikes and jump into either 650b or 29"ers. However, that move was hampered by what was commercially available and would have to wait.

Gary said he pressed for years to get the project off the ground but felt thwarted in this pursuit due to disinterest and inertia.

In my research I found some obscure 29"er fathers, I found some didn't want to talk about the subject, and some felt they had more stake in the claim than did others.

That said I think think there were a number of factors that helped contribute to the eventual development of the 29"er and a lot of it hinged on Fisher's joining with Trek, and Wilderness Trail Bikes evolving from a four man operation to becoming one of the most recognized brands in the industry. These things coupled with the resources that large companies could bring to bear helped move what was initially though as a crazy idea to something that eventually killed the 26" wheeled mountain bike.

But in the end I still hadn't found an exhaustive article about 29"ers where the author had spoken with people that were involved with 29"ers from day one so I decided to write one myself.

I approached Jeff Archer at First Flight Bikes about trying to draft a timeline concerning the development of the 29"er.

In my search I talked to many people including Wes Williams, Mark Slate, Gary Fisher, Bob Poor, Bruce Gordon, Geoff Apps, Joe Murray, "Shiggy", Gary Helfrich, Bruce Gordon, Mike Varley, Chuck Davis, John Goggin and Sandy Hague.

One of the people whom I didn't talk to was Steve Potts. Steve Potts, however, gets extra credit for making the test bikes that Gary Fisher used as his first purpose built 29"ers. Prior to that Steve modified several WTB Pheonix frames to accommodate the larger wheels and possibly even the pre NanoRapotor Continental Goliath and Bruce Gordon Rock 'n Road tires.
    
While I believe that there are more people involved than I had been able to talk to at this point I am willing to acquiesce the subject to some one else.

This is where my involvement ends. In addition to writing or self publishing articles and timelines on 29"ers I also wrote a weekly column for a short lived bike company's blog space.  I still feel passionate about 29"ers.

After suspension and disc brakes I think 29"ers are the most significant technical change in mountain bikes in the last 20 years. Up to the widespread adoption of 29"ers mountain bikes were at an evolutionary standstill.

In the end, however, ride whatever size of wheel you want.

Just don't be a dick about it.