Well Specialized and I believe Trek’s stance is that 29″ are quicker so they’ll be around but future bikes wise, 26″ was dead a year ago so everyones 26″ are now worth nothing and you’ll have to buy 650b next time. Interestingly most companies have put a 10-20% price increase on 650b over the 26″ they replaced.

The thing to do is run your 26″ in to the ground for as long as possible and then buy a 29″. Take that industry!!!

If they all say 27.5 is the future then thats it isn’t it?

Not necessarily. If enough suppliers of 26 bits keep supplying to meet demand then we’ll keep riding our 26ers, which we’re quite happy with, no?

The thing to do is run your 26″ in to the ground for as long as possible

This is the best bike I’ve ever ridden, bar none. It’s 21 years old and it’s mine:

IMG_3496 by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

So I very much doubt 26 will ever be dead.

On a professional note, most people buying their first decent MTB aren’t even aware there’s more than one wheel size……

everyones 26″ are now worth nothing

this,

ive been trying to offload a friends 26er forks, been on eBay for 90 days now, price keeps coming down, not a single question or offer,

I stopped reading at ‘Cannock Chase’

I think everyone knows my thoughts on Cannock.

You could ride 99% of Cannock on a CX bike.

Love my 26″ stumpjumper, responsive, fab control & hard work through the winter, making me work harder & keeping me stronger, perfect…

29″ just look odd! See loads out & they look out of proportion?

If you want faster, with less rolling resistance, get a road bike?

Long live 26″ 🙂

Such a lot of guff. 650b wheels are not 27.5 anyway so please stop trying to pretend they are. And personally I hate the look of 29ers. Looks like 26″ is ideal, lots of cheap second hand parts will be available from all the people believing the hype buying new overpriced bikes.

Sorry for making the assumption that 650b is 27.5 inch.
Please enlighten us incompitent fools so we can work out the difference in diameter.

Hora, which 1% can’t be ridden on a cyclo cross bike? I’m pretty sure there is nothing there that can’t?

But then again, CX bikes aren’t 26″ wheels so we are probably agreeing with the OP 🙂

I was meaning the bike companies – they call them 27.5 inches in order to promote the guff about it being the ideal size combining the best of both worlds.
26inch = 559mm wheel
29 inch = 622mm wheel
650b = 584mm wheel
So a 650b wheel is exactly 1 inch (25mm) larger than a 26 inch wheel, with a 29er a further 38mm bigger. Obviously actual wheel size is partly dictated by the tyre but my point is it’s just a marketing tool to make us want a new bike.

“What would Bill say.”

Chilled76 the black bit cutting across the cliff (right name?)

I actually got grief for buying my new covert frame in 26″ flavour. I have no beef with 29ers, or 650b (a few of the guys in my Sunday ride group have them) but It’s my bike, and I’ll ride what I want thanks very much. 8)

“What would Bill say.”

Until he saw this.

Boils my piss

Boils my piss

Why? It’s a pro-650 site, no shock that they’re looking for all the positives and ignoring the rest to suit their spin. It’s just someones opinion based on what wheel gives them the feedback they’re looking for.

That’s all the wheel-size choice thing is imo, feedback. Not performance, that’s too hard to define. And that makes it a highly personal thing and debating what’s better pretty much pointless. The market movement around it is another thing, but use your wallet-vote if you feel strongly about keeping 26″ stuff. There’s not much bike kit that is unavailable to those that want it, and it’ll create opportunities for smaller brands if the general market does continue swing away from it.

Major brands seem to be keeping 26 in their DH bike lineup – there’s an obvious reason for this!

You could ride 99% of Cannock on a CX bike.

No I don’t think you could as you posted up about how you struggled on your all singing all dancing Peak slaying gnarpoon.

If you really want a wheel size vote with your wallet/badger manufactures.
It’s what us early adopters of the wagon wheel had to do.

In response to the OP 26inch rims seem to work quite well on DH bikes and fatbikes.

The funniest thing to me is that it’s only really the ‘can only ever be 26″‘ crowd that feed these threads. You whip yourself up in to such a state, keep it up. 😆

Because it’s pish, and all pro 650b diagrams demonstrating the wheel difference are always not to scale, enforcing the fictional 27.5 in the middle best of both worlds pish.
Because showing to scale and calling it 27 which it is would not serve their purpose so well.
And may make people instead question the fact it’s not April first is it.

I have a 29er and and 26er (both HT).

I really really like my 29er. It’s much faster than the 26er, rolls over stuff better, goes down stuff more confidently.

Right now though I ride the 26er almost exclusively because it’s just so much fun.

i agree with chestrockwell, its all a bit

my wheel size is obsolete 🙁

Major brands seem to be keeping 26 in their DH bike lineup – there’s an obvious reason for this!

Not for much longer:

http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Prototype-Giant-Glory-DH-27-5-for-Marcelo-Gutierrez,7136/Prototype-Giant-Glory-DH-27-5-for-Marcelo-Gutierrez,71937/sspomer,2?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&mobile=false&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+VitalMtbSpotlights+%28Vital+MTB+Spotlights%29

650 blah, the middle ground, the safe choice, the not quite, the compromise to grey – go big, go small or go home. 🙂

I heard a rumour people buy 29’rs because they are compensating for 3 inches less in the general penis area. 🙄

In all seriousness. I’ve given up with this world. Can’t we all just get along …?

I always say ‘ah clown bike’ when I see a 29’er to the owner.

The owners always accept my comment. As they should.

Please keep buying 650b and clown wheelers everybody I’m loving the split new 26’r bargain stuff !!! 🙂

i agree with chestrockwell, its all a bit

Not so much, just if it is a genuine advantage why lie and mislead.
There was an interview with someone in the industry where the interviewer kept referring to the standard as 27.5 and the independent bike builder referred to it as 650b. At some point the interviewer pick up on this and asked why the builder preferred to call it 650b, to be told quite matter of factly because it’s not 27.5 and to call it that was misleading.

If it is better, then tell it as it is . Don’t take me for an idiot and try and mug me off with bullshit.

I always say ‘ah clown bike’ when I see a 29’er to the owner.

Don’t clown bikes have small wheels…
I normaly just say hello to people on bikes and don’t give a flying chuff what type of bike they’re on never mind what size the wheels are.
Then again I’m not a **** like you appear to be. 🙂

Is anyone actually misled though ?

I bought my bike because it had great reviews and I liked the colour scheme 🙂

I wasnt forced to just coz it had 650b wheels

And I can’t see myself ditching my old lava dome or Dh bike anytime soon just coz the wheels are an endangered species

idiot, bullshit, mugged – I think you are taking it all a it too seriously
Its just business, advertising and all that jazz

You could ride 99% of Cannock on a CX bike.

And you’d be much quicker than everyone on MTBs. It’s about as tame as MTBing gets trail centre wise…

When buying a new bike I think about two things.

Do I like the way it rides and can I afford it.
If the answer to both of these is yes then i buy it.

What a random person on a forum thinks of it has no importance to me.

Singlespeedstu

Your name is the female equivilent of Jane.

Your name is the female equivilent of Jane.

I thought Jane was a female name…
Maybe put the keyboard down now. You appear to be either drunk or more of a fool than you normaly are.

Like others have said, my only real concern is that parts, spares upgrades will continue to be available for all the various wheel size choices. I don’t care what anyone rides but I do worry that we are at a point where anyone one or two of the currently available wheel sizes could be quickly dropped by the industry rendering them obsolete in relation to spares .

26, dead, phaaaa

When I recently bought my new forks, only the 26″ ones were at or just below RRP. 29 and 650b or 27.5 whatevertheflip its called were discounted way more. I guess that’s because stock of 29 or that other size isn’t shifting.

Wonder why ? Not that popular perhaps? Not that many about?

Hmmmmm?

What’s going on here?
Do I need to leave all my bikes on the kerbside so the local scrap-pikey can do me a favour and dispose of my obsolete 26 inch scrap?

And why did the OP say ‘waist’……..?

STOP!

I’m about to buy a 2nd hand 24″ DMR Reptoid.

Yeah, backwards logic. Twatfuddery, this whole debacle.

4 pages in but we can’t figure out why someones caliper has seized on another thread? Bananas.

Has Pinkbike lost some serious arsehole clickbait this week? maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! 😈

When I recently bought my new forks, only the 26″ ones were at or just below RRP. 29 and 650b or 27.5 whatevertheflip its called were discounted way more. I guess that’s because stock of 29 or that other size isn’t shifting.

It’s probably more about the fact there’s a lot more OE spec of 650 and 29 than 26 this year. And there’s still demand for aftermarket 26 forks for bikes out there a few years and the old forks are worn out, but there’s fewer forks about – less reason to discount.

I should not be that bothered really, I have perfectly serviceable bikes for the moment and if that changes worry about it then.

You don’t get honest salesmen if you did they would be on the breadline.
I don’t buy bike mags, but if they are anything like the airgun mags I used to subscribe to where I never ever read a bad review of any of the guns they reviewed, may be me being cynical but could have something to do with the full page adverts for the same guns in the magazine.

Its just the very bikes the industry was touting as fantastic last year are now fundamentally floored because they say so.

Made me think of this,

[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kfdpcrOgUp4[/video]

All he said was his 29er was faster than his 26er and its true they are ,that dont mean 26 is dead it just means if he comes across you he will have ye for breakfast ,if ye want to ride 26ers thats fine just dont bleat on about how 29ers are sh one t .Its your choice make and shut up losers.