The Buzz GEAR
Do mullet bikes really turn in easier, 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.
THE BIKES
The Intense Tracer gets 170mm of travel front and rear and comes in two wheel size options, with near identical geometry and specs, making it a really good choice for trying to isolate and identify any differences on the trail.
Indeed, when we measured the two bikes, the only real difference was in the chainstay length, with the Tracer 279 mullet bike running a short 437mm rear centre, and the Tracer 29 coming in at a more common 450mm.
Intense fits the Tracer with a flip-chip, with the 29er in the low position and the mullet bike in the high position.
The biggest spec difference between the two bikes is the shock. On the mullet there’s a coil, while the 29er gets an air shock. We ran both bikes with 28% sag. Other minor variations include the tyre treads (Minion DHF/DHR II on the mullet, Assegai on the 29), but the casings and compounds were the same.
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.
TIMED RUNS
We undertook timed runs on both bikes, using a short downhill and a gradual fire road climb. An A-B-A pattern was used, with two runs on the mullet bike, followed by four ru
