Specialized Carve 29'er HT. Bought C.2012 as 29'ers were taking off.
My main points of disgruntlement were:
The frame was a touch too flexi at the chaimstays for a heavy, powerful rider.
29" wheels, like for like, flex noticeably more off road, I discovered. This was disconcerting, and gave rise to a loss of confidence, and a more conservative, slower riding technique.
That aside, it never really felt any quicker, possibly because I'm also a road rider used to 700c and 27 x 1 1/4, so there was no relevatory performance improvement.
And the big one for me...in the local claggy, sticky clay like conditions the 29 wheels simply added more surface area to collect mud, which decreased the performance, showed up the relatively poor clearances, and made the damn thing weigh a ton more than the 26s I'd been used to up to then.
So in my case it was a mix of displeasure with both the type and design. I just never gelled with it, and sold it on. Lesson learned - I'd never buy a bike again without ridingnit first. A less experienced rider would have spent their £1200 quid and raved because they wouldn't know any better, but as an MTB trainer I found it very unsatisfactory and was glad to see it gone.
