Do bigger wheels climb steeper hills?

The sales assistant at the local bike shop tells me that 29ers can climb steeper hills than bikes with smaller wheels. He says that he has ridden 29ers up steep hills and found them to be superior climbers. I however have ridden alongside people on 29ers and not noticed a discernible difference. Nor do I see why increasing the wheel size of a bicycle would make bicycles climb steeper hills.

I am not at all interested in yet another debate about the theory of which particular wheel size is best. However I would love to hear about peoples actual experiences of hill climbing.

If you own both a 26er and a 29er do you notice any difference? Can one type of bike climb hills that another can't?
And if you ride along side riders using other wheel sizes do you notice that one particular type of bike makes it to the top of the hill when others have to get off and push?

Most probably this is just another case of the manufactures hype being believed?

The bigger wheels would roll over obstacles that would take more energy out of smaller wheels slowing you down. Up, down, flat wouldn't make a difference in that.

That's a guess.

Getting a bigger wheel turning again takes more energy but going uphill and causing a stall would surely take more energy to get the whole weight moving again.

I can get up steep and I mean steep hills that my friends on modern 29ers, 26" and retro 26" bikes cannot.
I go up them on my retro mtb.

but then I could probably get up them on their bikes (and have done when they couldn't). Not tried the 29ers myself.

I find the gearing to be a more crucial point (and tyre grip to a lesser extent) as to how long I can keep going up a hill. (of course too low a gearing makes it hard to go up as well)

FluffyChicken":2yghfd88 said:

I find the gearing to be a more crucial point (and tyre grip to a lesser extent) as to how long I can keep going up a hill. (of course too low a gearing makes it hard to go up as well)

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The shop had a rear gear cluster that had a 42 teeth bottom gear. And many 29ers in the shop were fitted with "dinner plate" rear cogs and pretty small inner front rings. Surely in combination these will either just spin out the rear wheel, or cause an unintended wheelie?
At least that's what happened BitD, when Highpath Engineering experimented with 18 tooth granny-rings matched with big freewheels.

Good for business though, as one of these big rear cogs also requires an expensive, specialist rear derailleur. And maybe a purpose designed shifter?

The 42 tooth sprocket will be sram 11 speed. Which is all "special", shifter, mech, chain, wheel and so on.
The normal dinner plate sprockets (36 tooth) use normal mtb mechs and shifters.

And TBH, the tend for ultra low gears is not so you can climb really steep slopes, it's so the unfit can twiddle their way up "normal" slopes.
Climbing the really steep stuff is more about balance, grip and smooth power delivery. The last part of which is all but impossible with the really really low gears. Unless you have almost unlimited traction.

don't have a 29er but the bigger wheel will roll over obstacles better plus have a longer footprint meaning better grip. It will be heavier but it is the grip that usually determines when climbing is no longer possible.

02gf74":27mcfs79 said:

don't have a 29er but the bigger wheel will roll over obstacles better plus have a longer footprint meaning better grip. It will be heavier but it is the grip that usually determines when climbing is no longer possible.

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Grip, really? Of course it does, but my leg power often gives up well before grip gives up.

I blame the modern education system Clearly the bike shop muppet never paid attention in a physics class. :facepalm:

Bitd I could climb anything with 21 gears. Nobody needs 500 gears on a bicycle unless you want to spend more £££s on parts and time on maintenance, which is what the industry wants.

Of course it does. I've just completely thrashed a full susser 29er up a rooty gnarly rock garden 1:4 climb on my penny farthing. Had a little glitch with my foot pulling out of the SPD but otherwise the ride was smooth and even took time to enjoy a quick swig of VSOP from the Camelback.

Undoubtedly - I have a rigid 29er running 3" tubeless tyres (Surly Knards), I can climb stuff that a fitter and younger me repeatedly failed to ascent in the last 22+ years on various bikes. Even more so with tubeless tyres, which can be run below 10 psi, which puts down twice the footprint of a 26 tyre - I was out today with my mate riding his top-range, full suss Specialized 26er and he was doing lots of walking. Even better, my I left him for dust on long, downhill trails too. We have lots of steep, sandy climbs around here that are the beating of any regular MTB. There's no hype - I designed the frame and had it custom built for me to do a job