Twenty nine inch wheels are pretty common now, but they weren't back when the Asylum OCD was just coming on the market. Here's some information about why Asylum Cycles chose to go with the 29" format, and how they felt about it.
Why big wheels?
A better question might be, "Why did we ever ride small wheels?" Considering how much better the larger wheels roll over terrain, how much energy they save, how much they improve traction, and how much faster they descend, it's no wonder bikes with larger wheels have been showing up at the front of so many races. While most bicycle companies are still trying to reinvent the wheel, those who've been riding mountain bikes from the very beginning have quietly realized that the real answer is pretty simple: make the wheel bigger.
So what is a 29er?
A 29er is a mountain bike with rims as large as a road bike, but the same old large tires you'd find on any mountain bike. On the road, we refer to this wheel size as "700c" an antiquated measuring designation that basically translates into 29" total diameter, tires included, and makes for better overall rolling. It isn't a new idea. In the early days of "velocipede" or "safety bicycle" design, roads were a lot worse than they are today-basically everyone was mountain biking, knickers and pipes and all. Without lightweight, high-tech suspension gizmos and doo-dads we use today, those early designers knew that larger wheels dealt with cobblestones and mud better than smaller wheels, all without any added complexity. And this applies even more directly to nasty terrain. Think of what the ground actually looks like to your tires as they pass over it. It's a serious of jagged edges, like the elevation gain profile of a Tour de France stage. The smaller the circle of your wheel, the more work you do, falling into and rolling out of each of those small valleys. But a larger wheel-even one not much larger-simply falls into fewer valleys. It literally blasts over the top of terrain. It's a feeling you notice instantly, and has prompted a lot of riders to drop their beloved 26" wheel bikes and immediately make the switch to 29" wheels. But add up the miles, and the advantages become more and more pronounced as you work less and travel faster. It's no mistake that so many racers-guys like Ernesto Marenchin who rode his Asylum to repeated 24-hour Solo victories-have scored such spectacular results on 29ers, and why average riders can suddenly pedal one gear higher through the nasty stuff, and hang with the fast crowd. It's such a noticeable advantage, that anyone can feel it.
 Are they right for everyone?
No. Even the guys at Asylum had to admit that, while larger wheels are an advantage to everyone, their size, and the constraints they place on frame size, keep them from being the best choice for more petite riders, and riders under 5'7" tall. It's a matter of scale.
What was so special about the Asylum?
In a word: the ride. The handling. Any company can expand a 26" frame to clear larger tires, but that's a recipe for disaster. The folks at Asylum had ridden a lot of bikes, and knew they were on to something special with the OCD. Yes, it looked pretty conventional, but it's all about the details, and the ride of a finely tuned bicycle isn't so easy to map out on paper. You have to build it and go riding, take notes, and keep revising. They'd been riding mountain bikes since no one knew what they were, and when it comes to handling, they were very particular. The OCD maneuvers through its native dark, twisty Western Pennsylvania rock gardens with all the agility of a 26" bike, but all the monster truck roll of a true 29er. It's still hard to find a faster, or better handling 29er, period.
And the Asylum OCD frame was almost bombproof. The Racer-X suspension design wasn't chosen by accident. As one of the only full-suspension frames the folks from Asylum never managed to destroy, the stiff, serviceable, and super-reliable Racer-X suspension system was the perfect answer for big wheels. The big wheels do exert more force on the frame-that's definitely true-and if you don't have a solid foundation, you're all over the trail.
They also wanted a suspension system that not only worked beautifully, but worked beautifully with the larger wheel size. The rising-rate fully active Titus design is firm under normal pedaling, but right there when you need it-the perfect compliment to fast-rolling, obstacle-absorbing big wheels. Combine the feel of a suspension system in harmony with the faster-rolling 29" wheels and strong lateral stiffness in the swingarm and you have a recipe for success.
In his first season aboard his new Asylum OCD, Ernesto Marenchin finished an incredible 2nd place at the World Solo 24-hour Championships in Whistler, B.C. Not too shabby for a bike design that was essentially brand new at the time!
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