In fact as usual there is a little more too it than the actual wheel size,
1. longer wheel base on a pro rata basis gives more stability
2. lower BB to axle ratio giving better cornering stability
3. longer front centre (for most part) which give more confidence in fast or steep or technical downhill or all three
4. whatever the claims that the wheel size confers in roll over ect.
incremental change that probably improve handling characteristics, all a matter of personal taste, but if you cannot tell the difference between a 650b and a 26er (in full sus) then its probably not worth making the fuss about rear suspension designs either!!
So you could get all three parameters on a 26 er apart from the no 2, which to achieve with 175 mm cranks may be tricky.

Mandy Rice-Davies applies.

Most manufacturers cant risk producing both 26 and 650 of the same model, hence the turning point was when suspension, wheel and tyre manufacturers committed to high volume 650b output, it was then an easy decision for the likes of SC to make. Its purely a numbers game and given the interest the likes of SC already had with regards to 650b it was less of a gamble than some other manufacturers.

As SC led the way, they have probably reaped the most benefit in 2013/2014 but the others will catch up this year and next.

Santa Cruz hasn’t led the way with 650B, they’ve squeezed in a couple of frames with the new wheel size into their range this year, as have the other smaller high-end brands such as Yeti and Orange. The likes of Giant and Scott have wholeheartedly jumped onto the 650B bandwagon and account for far more sales than Santa Cruz et al.

It’s both industry and customer led, neither can create a market for a new standard on their own. If demand is there then companies will produce the bikes and components people want; whichever of the three wheel sizes survives will purely come down to economics in the end however we feel about it.

A majority of mountain bike sales are to the beginner / leisure market around the £400-£600 price mark, to these buyers it’s just a bike regardless of wheel size and they’ll buy whatever the shop has available or what MBR/WMB are pushing at the time; if those bikes are 650B we have little control over that.

Personally I’m happy with 26 and 29 which both offer something different. I’m not sure my opinion will count for much in the wheel size war though, but a small battle will be own for me in not jumping on a shiny new 650B for the sake of it. 😀

they’ve squeezed in a couple of frames with the new wheel size into their range this year

To be fair they’ve done a touch more than that. There are 4 frames in their range that are 27.5; 6 including the carbon variants.

As the guilty party responsible for starting yet another thread about wheel sizes, the point from the article that I wanted to note was how quickly this has all happened. When I was shopping for my latest bike – end of the year 2012 – only Scott had a 650b/27.5 bike. I never expected it to take hold as quickly as it has done.

Singlespeed_Shep – Member

I hope a lot of the haters stick to their words and actually give up mountain biking because of this wheel size issue.

Nobody’s said they’ll do that, that I’ve seen? 😕 But there’s definitely people who’ve been put off buying stuff. I’d probably have bought a new frame last year but didn’t want to buy the new wheels, tyres and forks needed to switch standards, so instead I spent it on hookers and blackjack.

I’m really curious to find out how this all shakes out in the end. Some manufacturers will do well from it, but since it’ll not get a single extra person riding bikes, it’s a bit of a tail-swallowy exercise.

So it’ll be interesting to see if in 5 years once the dust’s all settled it proves to have been beneficial. There’ll be lost sales, gained sales, extra r&d, more marketing costs. A lot of money spent to stay in the same place, in some cases, or even to slip behind competitors. Some lost opportunities- every penny spent developing a 650b equivalent of a 26 inch product could have gone on something new and cool. I think a lot of the industry will curse it. And riders… We’ll just keep riding like we did before, with less money in our pockets

Paceman – Member

Santa Cruz hasn’t led the way with 650B, they’ve squeezed in a couple of frames with the new wheel size into their range this year, as have the other smaller high-end brands such as Yeti and Orange. The likes of Giant and Scott have wholeheartedly jumped onto the 650B bandwagon

Eh, Giant have been one of the slowest to jump on, with obvious reluctance. Whereas Santa Cruz’s entire marketing and design push has been on 650b since early last year (or maybe earlier, behind the scenes)

But there’s definitely people who’ve been put off buying stuff.

Yup I’ve also been contributing to the pro-650b stats by not buying a 26er.
Sales of 26ers dropping off is because of people like me holding back for 3 years to see how it pans out, and not because I’m waiting for 650b.

For which, I do apologise to the pro-26ers, for screwing up availability of new 26ers.

Singlespeed_Shep – Member

I hope a lot of the haters stick to their words and actually give up mountain biking because of this wheel size issue.

Nobody’s said they’ll do that, that I’ve seen?

As i posted in a response above. not a direct response no anyone in particular but its the impression i get from peoples attitudes and from speaking to a few people out on the trails.

I do think your right that people are more likely to hold off. As just riding a bike is more important than a wheelsize.

interesting thread. im in the market for a new bike. Everything im looking at this year is 27.5 i dont think we will have a choice as to whether 26 will be around in the numbers it has been in the next couple of years. Its a shame.

Paceman – Member
Santa Cruz hasn’t led the way with 650B, they’ve squeezed in a couple of frames with the new wheel size into their range this year, as have the other smaller high-end brands such as Yeti and Orange. The likes of Giant and Scott have wholeheartedly jumped onto the 650B bandwagon

Northwind – Member
Eh, Giant have been one of the slowest to jump on, with obvious reluctance. Whereas Santa Cruz’s entire marketing and design push has been on 650b since early last year (or maybe earlier, behind the scenes)

Current UK MTB ranges:

Santa Cruz

26er x 7
650B x 6
29er x 7

Giant

26er x 3
650B x 11
29er x 4

I’d say Giant are pushing 650B pretty hard wouldn’t you? Their only 26ers are a £450 entry level hardtail and their £5000 DH bike. They also stated in their press launch at the start of the year that they will drop any wheel size next season that isn’t selling. Writing on the wall I think 🙁

Not the good stuff you won’t. That is if the rapid demise of the 1-1/8 steerer is anything to go by especially with a 15 mm through axel.

If people stop making new 26″ wheel mtbs they will stop making new 26″ forks.
A few models may continue to get made in there current never evolving spec.

Quick search of CRC shows plenty of 1 1/8th forks with 15mm axel as long as you don’t want Fox. You can’t get every fork but you can still get decent ones.

I’m sure part of the reason for the drop off in 1 1/8th was that the sort of people who drop ££££££ on the swanky top end forks are also the type that would have bought a swanky new tapered frame and swanky new 15mm axel wheels when they became the standard. Didn’t seem to matter as much then though. 😉

It the people who made the gear thought they could shift what ever standard you care to mention then they would make them. It makes no sense not to.

The smaller companies are gambling less in many ways – its the bigger ones who seem to backing just one horse. Giant are putting all their eggs in the 650b basket (more or less) and Specialized on 29er. One of them is going to have to change a lot in the next two or three years and look silly.
I’m just hoping that companies aren’t going to replace 29 as well as 26 with 650b – I’m lanky and like my big wheels!

Can we not like all wheel sizes and spread the love? I must admit I bought a 29er and think it is great but don’t ride it as much as I should as most of my time these days is spent building and riding jumps, pump tracks and drops as that is what I have decided I will “improve” in my riding.

Smaller wheels mean smaller/stronger frame, greater manoeuvrability, greater acceleration. But most people who go mountain biking are not doing this kind of thing and from looking at most of the trail centre trails they are smooth, swoopy affairs so these characteristics are not so important

Paceman – Member

I’d say Giant are pushing 650B pretty hard wouldn’t you?

They are now- like I say, very late on the boat, they were pushing 29ers as the best option until about 5 minutes ago and trying to replace their 26 inch range with those.

I’m in the market for a new FS at some point this year and up until now i’ve been fairly ambivalent to the wheels size issue, deciding that i’ll get whatever is best for me at the time and if it has 26 inch wheels, 650b or 29 inch wheels then it really doesnt matter, its the bike as a whole, the reviews it gets, price, how it fits me etc etc…

….then i started looking at the price of 650b parts, jesus wept.

I’ll not be going 650b for a while yet!

Tyres from all manufacturers in all tread variations are plentiful and cheap in 26 inches…the range for 650b is limited and the prices are much much higher.
Forks nearly made my eyes water, there are loads of Revelations and Sektors at very reasonable prices in 26 inch form but start looking at 650b specific forks and the price shoots up dramatically….i’m starting to side with the skeptics and feel this is a massive marketing push and nothing more.

On the basis of the ridiculous price premium the manufacturers have put on 650b specific gear i’ll actually wait this year out and see if prices come down and if 26 inch stuff really does become difficult to get hold off as the doom mongers are saying….because actually the reverse seems to be true and its the 26 inch stuff that is currently plentiful and cheap.

I’ve not looked but would guess it’s not 650b stuff being any/much more expensive RRP but more that every one has got used to and expects big discounts (CRC/Merlin/Wiggle etc) so are not used to paying RRP. From what I understand the big discounters tend to stock a lot of OEM or slight seconds so as 650b stuff floods the market it’ll be that stuff that gets the biggest discount.

People will be cheesed off about the price of 26″ gear in the future as the discounters will not get the same stock. You’ll still be able to get it though.

Again without checking, I’d bet the price of 26″/650b/29er equipment at my lbs is very similar

Again without checking, I’d bet the price of 26″/650b/29er equipment at my lbs is very similar

Cant say i’ve ever bought tyres from my LBS due to the ridiculous RRP being charged….i tend to order tyre online and a quick google shows the Maxxis Highroller 2 in 26 inch flavour at around £30, rising to £40 for the 27.5 and 29 inch versions….it wont break the bank but for those of us with mud tyres, soft compound tyres, XC tyres, dual ply DH stuff etc etc the price difference soon adds up….enough that over the course of a year a 650b would cost me loads more to run than my current 26 inch bike on tyres alone.

Until the price of consumables comes down then i’ll wait, once the market is flooded with 650b stuff and the price comes down i’ll change over….this is one of several hobbies i have and the idea of spending £40+ for a tyre is a joke, the tyres on my car didnt cost that much!

Don’t disagree at all. Seems that 29ers will remain a strong minority so stay high but if the push for 650b continues that will become the cheap option.

For the sort of riding I do I was always going to go 29er with my next bike (whenever that might be), so in a sense some of this is irrelevant – though I’m guessing that 650b may take away some of the 29er market (was probably looking at a Giant, which might not exist in 29 form by the time I come to buy, but given their marketing I’m not sure I could bring myself to buy one now anyway, so that’s one sale they’ve lost – I doubt they’ll be crying). Still don’t think it’s in any way a good thing for the consumer.

recently bought a 29er…shit maybe I should have gone 650…dam

thats what you’d like me to say 😆

😈