According to Sebastian Maag, an employee (or more precise name) of Specialized, interest in the bikes with their big wheels has never been as high as this year. "Driven by curiosity, many visitors came back from their test ride with a big grin on their faces. Most of them would have liked to load the tested bike into their car straight away," says Maag when asked about the response. But it's not just Specialized that has positive things to say about the interest in the "big one". The other manufacturers also share this assessment.

Specialized impressively demonstrated that 29ers are no longer as heavy as many think and presented a 7.6 kilogram Stumpjumper S-Works 29er hardtail. The lightweight was built by Christoph Sauser's racing team manager Benno Willeit - who, according to his own statements, wanted to see what was possible in terms of weight. It should perhaps be mentioned at this point that all the parts used are components available in series production. No one was allowed to ride this bike, but it was admired and weighed nonetheless.