{"id":51106,"date":"2023-01-13T09:20:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T14:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/?page_id=51106"},"modified":"2023-01-13T09:21:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T14:21:01","slug":"drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/","title":{"rendered":"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Originally published October 2020, major update January 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As mentioned in part one, <a href=\"\/index\/650b-gravel-bikes\/\">650B Gravel(plus) Bikes<\/a>, bikepacking bikes come in all shapes and sizes. Drop-bar mountain bikes are one of the more popular manifestations, favored among Tour Dividers, weekend escapists, and those hellbent on a one-bike stable\u2014especially the drop-bar 29er. In short, riders find these bikes both comfortable and efficient. Here&#8217;s part two of our Gear Index, featuring a full list bikes that fall into this category. But first, more on the criteria we used to select them.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"thumblist-3col\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kona-Sutra-LTD-Review_17.jpg\" class=\"media-img\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kona-Sutra-LTD-Review_17-960x640.jpg\" alt=\"Kona Sutra LTD Review\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-44210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kona-Sutra-LTD-Review_17-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kona-Sutra-LTD-Review_17-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kona-Sutra-LTD-Review_17-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Kona-Sutra-LTD-Review_17-2000x1333.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main.jpg\" class=\"media-img\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main-960x640.jpg\" alt=\"Chumba Yaupon Review\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-131812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/chumba-yaupon-review-main-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Salsa-Cutthroat-v2-review_32.jpg\" class=\"media-img\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Salsa-Cutthroat-v2-review_32-960x640.jpg\" alt=\"Salsa Cutthroat V2 Review\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-63922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Salsa-Cutthroat-v2-review_32-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Salsa-Cutthroat-v2-review_32-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Salsa-Cutthroat-v2-review_32-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Salsa-Cutthroat-v2-review_32-2000x1333.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What are Drop-bar Mountain Bikes?<\/h2>\n<p>Not all will agree on what defines a drop-bar mountain bike. A strict interpretation of the term might limit this list to only a handful of rigs with a 73mm MTB bottom bracket shell and a geometry that resembles a mountain bike. However, there are variables and intricacies in this realm. Who&#8217;s to say that a bike with road-esque angles and a 68mm bottom bracket can&#8217;t be a mountain bike? With that said, our principle metric for this list is tire size. And, keeping in the spirit of bikepacking, we also selected bikes with added utility and characteristics that are well-suited to long-distance riding. Here are the details:<\/p>\n<div class=\"threecol\">\n<div>\n<h4>2.1&#8243; Minimum Tire Size<\/h4>\n<p>These days, many drop-bar bikes are designed to be versatile, with the ability to swap svelte road or gravel tires for bigger knobbies. While many gravel cyclists might be fine with 42mm tires, dirt-road tourers and mountain bikers appreciate the option for meatier rubber. With that, we decided a good metric was that this class of 29&#8243; drop-bar mountain bikes must fit standard 2.1&#8243; mountain bike tires or wider. Ideally, they would also be designed around a tire that&#8217;s about 2&#8243; wide. In our opinion, 2.1&#8243; is a versatile size for all kinds of dirt and gravel-oriented bikepacking, and wider is even better for tackling longer and more rugged pursuits.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h4>Plenty of Mounts<\/h4>\n<p>Even though there are countless options for rackless bags, having mounts for extra bottles or accessory cages is a nice perk for carrying extra bottles and gear. Rack and fender mounts are also important to many bikepackers and bike tourers, although not absolutely necessary for this list. We made sure that most of the bikes we included have at least a third pair of cage mounts (typically under the downtube). Even better, many of these bikes have forks with pairs or triplets of blade mounts for added water capacity or bags such as the Oveja Negra Bootlegger.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h4>Designed for Dirt (and Drops)<\/h4>\n<p>Last but not least, all of these bikes were designed for use with drop bars. Yes, drops can be slapped on any mountain bike, but they shouldn&#8217;t be. For instance, most MTBs have a geometry with a much longer reach, and generally don&#8217;t fit as well with drop bars. Conversely, a few of these bikes have some road bike characteristics\u2014shorter wheelbase, 68mm bottom bracket shell, road drivetrain or brakes, and tires labeled 700c, but all of them are made to play in the dirt. This means that the frame construction and specced components should hold up on the rough stuff.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad\"><\/div>\n<h3>The List<\/h3>\n<p>There are a few things to note about our list of drop-bar 29ers. The factors that we found particularly important to consider are listed in the highlights (in red). These include the frame and fork material, maximum tire size (to the best of our knowledge), and the hub\/dropout width specs. In addition, note the bottom bracket spec. Bottom bracket width is relevant to tire and heel clearance, usually either a 73mm mountain bike standard, or 68mm road standard. Plus, we reference whether it&#8217;s threaded or PressFit (PF)\u2014an important factor for many. Click each list item to expand the details and see a larger photo. Lists are displayed in alphabetical order, with bikes we&#8217;ve tested grouped at top (represented with a hexagonal &#8220;T&#8221; icon):<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally published October 2020, major update January 2023 As mentioned in part one, 650B Gravel(plus) Bikes, bikepacking bikes come in all shapes and sizes. Drop-bar mountain bikes are one of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86661,"parent":51217,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"post-list.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51106","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bikes","category-gravel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes - BIKEPACKING.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here\u2019s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1&quot;...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here\u2019s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1&quot;...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BIKEPACKING.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bikepackingcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-13T14:21:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bikepackingcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/\",\"name\":\"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes - BIKEPACKING.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-13T14:20:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-13T14:21:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here\u2019s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1\\\"...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":945,\"caption\":\"Drop-bar-29ers, 29\\\" Drop-bar mountain bikes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gear Index\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/\",\"name\":\"BIKEPACKING.com\",\"description\":\"Bikepacking Routes, Stories, Gear, and Inspiration\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes - BIKEPACKING.com","description":"Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here\u2019s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1\"...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes","og_description":"Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here\u2019s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1\"...","og_url":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/","og_site_name":"BIKEPACKING.com","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bikepackingcom","article_modified_time":"2023-01-13T14:21:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@bikepackingcom","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/","url":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/","name":"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes - BIKEPACKING.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-13T14:20:57+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-13T14:21:01+00:00","description":"Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here\u2019s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1\"...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/drop-bar-29ers_share.jpg","width":1800,"height":945,"caption":"Drop-bar-29ers, 29\" Drop-bar mountain bikes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/drop-bar-mountain-bikes-29er\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gear Index","item":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/index\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Complete List of 29\u201d Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/","name":"BIKEPACKING.com","description":"Bikepacking Routes, Stories, Gear, and Inspiration","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51106\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikepacking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}