On Sunday, July 15, 2018 at 6:00:30 PM UTC+1, wrote:
I have a friend who just bought a new 29"-wheel Motobecane MTB and swears that, due to the larger-diameter wheels, it "pedals easier" than his old 26"-wheel MTB did.

Have you ever heard anyone say this before? I have.

Since the contention does not seem correct to me, I was just curious about how you gentlemen would respond to it?

I wouldn't pay overmuch attention to the sneering of the usual clowns competing to be the most snide poster of the week.

I have a proper 29er, which means that it has 622x60 tyres mounted on rims at least 40% of tyre width, in this case 24mm across the bead retainers; all of the consideration I mention in this post are important primary parameters; if the makers skimp on them, the bicycle isn't a 29er and will not share in the benefits of a 29er. The tyres are furthermore inflated to very low pressures, in my case 2 bar or about 28-30psi to carry at least 135-150kg or bike, rider and extensive painting gear. (Despite what the usual morons will now tell you about my bike, about which they claim to know more than its makers or me, its frame is lighter than my two similar ali bikes; when you order custom tubes from Columbus, you get what you pay for.) My bike is very comfortable indeed without any other suspension than the air in the balloons, and light rolling too, and once it gets going, the momentum of those big tyres keeps it going, which also makes the pedaling easier.

Several distinguished European universities in recent years tested low inflation near-slick balloon tyres and found their rolling resistance less than narrow, high pressure, treaded tyres. That is a fact which continually comes as a surprise to a surprising number RBT posters, though it shouldn't: Jobst Brandt, the smartest engineer who ever posted here (not a high barrier, as most of those with punched tickets here have tenth-rate minds and are the products of third-rate colleges, and Jobst was a very thoroughly trained engineer -- his first job was with Porsche in Germany -- with brilliant insights) several times predicted these findings by a pure process of logic, which was also the logic behind his introduction of slick tyres for road bikes for an American firm he advised.

Andre Jute
Zero tolerance for pompous fools, less for lying clowns