Got the bike

At last, a steel 29er hardtail mountain bike is sitting in my basement. It is a Jamis, not a megabrand, but still a fairly known one whose line of steel hardtails seems to have small, but somewhat cult-like, following. You can check the factory specs here: 2011 Jamis Dragon 29 Sport.

Right away, I had the stock Avid Juicy 3 hydraulic disk brakes replaced with Avid BB7 mechanical disk brakes and the stock SRAM PG-950 11-34t cassette - with a Shimano SLX CS-HG-61 12-36t cassette (the largest 9-speed cassette there is).

These are my first, mostly visual, impressions:

• Next to my standard MTB (26-inch wheels, frame size 18"), it looks like a monster truck next to a Mini. Those 29-inch wheels are huge.
• If you are under 5'8", a 29er is most probably not your thing. I am 5'8.5", and the smallest (15") frame size with very slanted top tube barely gives me enough stand-over clearance not to feel that my private parts are endangered.
• Another potential problem is that I might not have enough clearance for a large seat bag. At least 8" clearance from the saddle rails to the top of the rear tire is required, and I am not sure I am going to have that much (might have to get a "skinnier" seat bag).

So, why did I buy a 29er?
Primarily, out of curiosity - had never ridden one and really wanted to try. Also, since I was not going to ride a full-suspension mountain bike (something I had considered at one point), I assumed that bigger wheels, combined with wider tires and a steel frame, might make my ride more comfortable compared to the aluminum hardtails with 26-inch wheels and relatively thin tires I had ridden before. Whether my assumption was correct or not, I will find out in less than three months.

Update:

I finally took my new bike for a few short rides. Here are the pictures...

...the drivetrain side (with the stock saddle)...

...the non-drivetrain side (with my preferred saddle).

It does look kind of dorky, but rides pretty nicely, although I wouldn't call it a life-changing experience (which I sort of expected having read all the hype about 29ers).

The stock saddle is exactly what it is - a stock saddle, bearable, but definitely not great. So, it was replaced by Selle SMP TRK. Bike saddle is a very individual thing, but, for my anatomy, this one seems to be the best (I have had it on my other bike for a few years now).

The handlebar feels way too wide. I will probably refrain from cutting it since I will need room for a lot of stuff mounted on it, but I need to come up with some way to alternate hand positions. I will, most probably, install bar ends, which will also make the handlebar feel narrower.

The thumb-only SRAM X7 shifters feel weird after Shimano (I kept trying to shift with my thumbs and index fingers), but not too bad not to get used to. Getting a 12-36t cassette was definitely a wise move, although, with extra 20-25 pounds of gear, that might still feel like not enough (I must focus on hill work in the remaining months).

I am not sure about the pedals yet. The initial plan was to install my PD-M647, but that means I will have to do all the walking (and I suspect that there will be a lot of walking) in my Shimano MTB shoes that are more like instruments of torture when it comes to walking.

Yet another update:

Having ridden the bike farther and longer, I have noticed some more things worth mentioning:

If your leg length / inseam is around 30 inches, the stock 350 mm Ritchey seat post might be too short. If it is 31 or 32 inches, you will most definitely need at least a 400 mm seat post. There are two reasons for that. The first is the very shape of the frame: although the bike overall is quite tall, due to the very slanted top tube, the seat tube is pretty short. The second reason is that, as I have noticed, the less of the seat post length is inserted into the seat tube, the more the seat post tends to slip down no matter how much you tighten the collar. The slippage is not immediately noticeable, but, after about 5-6 hours of riding with the seat post pulled out to its maximum limit, it slips down by almost an inch. After that, it doesn't seem to be slipping any more. So, my assumption is that a 400 mm seat post should not slip at all, provided you don't need to pull it all the way up.

Although pretty tall, the 15" bike is quite short. The stock 90 mm Ritchey stem also feels kind of short to me. Again, this is very individual and will depend on how long your torso is and your specific position on the bike, but bear in mind that you might need to get a longer stem as well.