“I had a fairly big crash about two-thirds of the way down the track, got back on cussing the big wheel using ‘all of the track’ to turn and rolled down to the finish. It felt less ‘sharp’ than the 26, but seemed to be holding speed well enough to clear obstacles I normally have to work really hard to clear. I rode it back to back with the 26 on the same day. “I tried it on one of my favourite ‘timing’ tracks, which I knew well and knew my times on too. So, in the end, I just cut the brace on a Fox 36 to fit in a 27.5 front wheel and had a go! “I had a Mondraker Foxy with the forward geometry but the rear end was just too tight to fit in a 27.5. “I first tried the asymmetric wheel sizes in the transition from 26in to 27.5in. We used the GeoMetron G1, designed by Mojo Rising and made by German brand Nicolai, for our test, but Chris has been experimenting with mullet setups for some time now. Mojo Rising specialises in suspension tuning and Chris, the company’s founder, knows just about everything worth knowing about mountain bike suspension. Suspension expert Chris Porter on early mullet bikesĬhris Porter from Mojo Rising is arguably one of the most knowledgeable men in mountain biking. World Cup downhill teams argued these rules weren’t relevant to off-road disciplines and, after pressuring the UCI for a rule change in 20, the restriction was lifted in 2019, allowing mountain bike teams to run asymmetric wheels on their bikes. Other than a few maverick manufacturers, it took time for mullet bikes to be proven in the fertile hotbed of MTB racing.Ĭycling’s world governing body, the UCI, initially ruled that both wheels must be the same size, regardless of the discipline, in order to prevent innovative bike designers utilising the aerodynamic advantages of running a smaller front wheel in the velodrome. Racing the mullet bike | A history lesson Plus, who can forget Specialized’s precursor to the Demo, the Big Hit, with its 26in front and 24in rear wheel.īut it wasn’t until 27.5in wheels appeared that brands really started finding the potential of mixing wheel sizes, with specialist companies Foes and Liteville offering bikes with a 29in wheel at the front and a 27.5in wheel on the back before other brands had even considered the idea. When it comes to off-road riding, the godfather of mountain bikes, Keith Bontrager, created the 69er back in 2009 – a Trek hardtail with a 29in front wheel and a 26in rear wheel. It’s worth remembering that mixing up wheel sizes on two-wheeled machines is nothing new. Business at the front, party at the back, in other words. Mullet bike proponents claim the 29in wheel offers rolling speed and better bump roll-over at the front, with the 27.5in wheel bringing sharp handling at the rear. For those not au fait with bad haircuts, the name is a reference to the once-popular uneven haircut, short on the front and sides, long at the back. Mullet bikes use different sized wheels, most commonly a 29in front wheel paired with a 27.5in wheel. A mullet bike uses different sized wheels, most commonly a 29in wheel at the front and a 27.5in wheel at the back.
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