Strange debate amongst non-cycling work colleagues who saw me reading an article on 29ers today*

I tried to explain the supposed advantages of 29ers re momentum, contact points and so on, and that somehow got a couple of guys debating whether 29ers would be better in summer/drier conditions rather than 26ers, or whether they would be better in winter.

Now I’m curious as to what you guys might think on the matter, as when I win the lottery I’ve always fancied a “winter bike” and a “summer” one….

*can I just add that we weren’t actually at work debating this, we were on the train back from a meeting where we had been told how many of us will be surplus to requirements in the next financial year. 20% of us apparently, if you are interested. Gotta love these public spending cuts…..

26ers are always better!! 🙂

both are shit in mud

700c x 35

A bit of each is best …… 😉

I’ve just come back from quite a long ride with a friend. He rides a geared 26″ bike and is usually faster than me. Today’s ride was *very* muddy and slithery and I definitely had the edge over him on my SS 29er.

Lots of slithery bridleways. I imagine in dry twisty-turny forests it would be a different story.

Turned my SS 29er into a 1×9 today & went for a ride on my local loop.
It was very muddy & squirmy & found it very hard, in fact hardest I can ever remember.
I would say 26ers are easier to accelerate in muddy conditions & 29ers are better suited to harder surfaces.

my 29er copes with muddy local trails better than my 26″ does, but then this is the first year ever i’ve had proper mud tyres

So that’s as conclusive as I was expecting……. 😆