It's really my first venture to a plus bike. My only other plus experience is around the block with a sub-US$400 Sandugo Brusko 27.5+ bike. It's a homegrown bike (Philippines, picture below). The Brusko rides a bit funny, not that it's geometry was bad or something but rather because I came from over a decade of 29er. However, that short Brusko ride was enough to tell me I'm gonna like the plus bike. Short history ends here... that's also saying I can't compare it with other plus bike. I can only compare with my XC 29er that's build for light trails.
I haven't really rode it on trail, was supposed to but the rain kept me away. I did however rode it up a local paved road uphill that cyclists frequent. I'm using the same drive train (literally, transferred the whole group set from 29er to 29+) as my full rigid 29er XC, 38T ring with 11 speed XT cog. With the 29er on that climb, I got 2-3 cogs to spare. I used up all my gears on this plus bike. The thing is, it is a slow climber (as expected) but I was not out of breath. The biggest difference from my 29er is the rotational weight. Currently I'm not going that fast on flats (around 27kph) but I always get the feeling that I can go much faster. And my friend also had the same comment when he rode it around the block.
The big tires and dropper post are really confidence inspiring. I broke my self-imposed speed limit for going downhill by a dozen kph (from 40kph to 52kph) on it's maiden ride. It really felt I'm in control. I've still have to test it's maneuverability on trail though. But bottom line is I'm loving it.
Some pictures with the 29er XC with "wimpy" Treadlite tires.
