No, the picture’s not squashed, it really looks like that

Gary Fisher has managed to persuade the UCI to allow 29in wheeled bikes to take part in mountain bike races. He’s been working on the UCI for several months, and personally presented his case for a rule change on June 13.

This is obviously good news for Gary Fisher the company, as it’s about the only manufacturer making 29in bikes. They’ve not exactly set the world alight, although they’ve had some success in 24 hour races including the UK’s Mountain Mayhem.

A press release from Gary Fisher describes the rule change as “monumental”. We’re not sure we’d go quite that far, and there’s a bit of a whiff of commercial interests dictating the rules here, but we can’t really see much wrong with it. If people think that big wheels are better on a certain course, let them use them. We’ve ridden the 2003 World Championship XC course in Switzerland and one thing’s for sure, the short, steep climbs, sharp corners and rocky descents aren’t natural 29er territory…