MULLET VS 29

Do mullet bikes really turn in éasier, are 29ers better at carrying speed, and will big wheels buzz your bum on steep stuff? Time to find out the truth...

While the majority of bikes on the market are 29ers, brands are increasingly offering mullet configurations as an alternative. And while the early mixed-wheel models were little more than frankenbike mash-ups, the bikes you can buy now are usually bespoke variants without compromises in geometry.

But why would you choose one? What are the pros and cons? And can you feel the differences on the trail? Armed with two versions of Intense's latest enduro bike, the Tracer, we set out to find some answers.

THE THEORY

Some of the oft-repeated generalisations about mullet bikes are that they are more agile, playful, and indeed more fun, than full 29ers. Hand in hand with that is the assertion that mullet bikes change direction more easily, and that they take less effort to manual or lift the front end.

Additionally, the smaller rear wheel gives more bum clearance, and helps with acceleration and braking, but at the expense of improved bump rollover and high-speed stability.

On the scales, the 29er was the lightest, although only by 150g. What's interesting is that while the rear wheel is lighter on the mullet bike - as you'd imagine the shock is heavier, so the Tracer 279 actually has a marginally better sprung-to-unsprung mass ratio.

With the same size chainring and cassette on both bikes, the actual gearing on the 29er is slightly taller because of the larger rear wheel. Fitting a larger 32t chainring on the mullet bike would even things out. Equally, the brake rotors are 203mm on both bikes, but the larger rear wheel on the 29er would benefit from a bigger rotor on long descents.