Bought a copy today based on the cover.
Firstly because of an article on Surrey hills and secondly a winter tyre test.

Get home and discover they only review 29 and 27.5 tyres.
Now I know new bikes are pretty much all going 27.5, but surely a large percentage of mbrs readers are still on 26 and would like to be included after shelling out a bluey.

Are they right to now ostracise me and my fellow 26 riders whether they be Luddites or just too skint to take up the new standard.

Just get the 26″ version of the tyre they tested.

26 is obsolete… Get with the programme 🙂

Magic marys are the tyre to have.. You can still get them for little wheelers ….

Just get the 26″ version of the tyre they tested.

But the range of 26″ tyres is greater so there may be a better 26 tyre that they did not test due to not being available in 27.5:

And I feel left out, (looks around for blanky).

Most of their test bikes will be 27.5 or 29, so it makes sense to test those sizes.
Any new tyre for 26 will also be made for 27.5.

Magazines are only for newbies. They forget everything they have ever written, when was the last time you saw a cycle ‘journalist’ reference a previous article or review older than the previous few issues, 90% of mags seem to forget they have items in for testing and you never hear about them again after the ‘hey, we just got this in for test, stay tuned for a review’.

I’d imagine the majority of good winter tyres are available in 26 & 27.5 and in reality there is no performance differences in the minor size change.

I’d also imagine the testers are regularly riding new & as a consaquence 27.5 wheeled bikes, so why change bikes?

I agree with you. As a rider with three 26″ bikes and no intention of buying anything else for the foreseeable future (2013 Orange Patriot is my big bike and two 4X bikes in shed) most of what is in the mags on the shelf is irrelevant to me (wheels, forks, tyres etc). Some nice trail writesups and whatnot.

Just out of interest what was the narrowest 650b they looked at?

I Had vague plan to optimise my old 26 wheel hard tail to its road and easy tracks role. My first thought was the 700c thing but I’d be short of space for chunkier cx type tyres. So I thought 650b would be the answer.

Well it seems 650b is well provided with proper 2 inch off road tyres. Commuter or touring tyre I could find non. Same for thinner off road tyres. But you can get 23mm tyres

So perhaps part of the 650b thing is making it harder to commute on your MTB. More N+1 rubbish

Since the best winter tyre is still the conti baron by a mile, and it’s only available in 26, it’d be a wee bit embarassing to test it and say “sorry chaps, we told you to buy the wrong wheel size” 😉

Bontrager mud XR also not in 650b….

Just out of interest what was the narrowest 650b they looked at?

Vittoria goma tnt at 2.25 but it scored badly.

The 29″ winner was,
Specialized storm control 2bliss in the 2.0 with a resounding 10 out of 10.

And the 650b winner (drum roll please),
Maxxis shorty 3c exo in 2.3 with an ‘andsome 9 out of 10.

Since the best winter tyre is still the conti baron by a mile, and it’s only available in 26, it’d be a wee bit embarassing to test it and say “sorry chaps, we told you to buy the wrong wheel size”

Earlier this year I suggested the Magic Mary was similarly good – however now the Baron is back on the Soul I have to agree that it’s an incredibly good tyre, unparalleled as a front in the wet, loose, roots, grease, slop of winter woodland trails. Its specific black chili compound is so damned sticky despite rolling ok and wearing well. On the other hand it’s a pain in the neck to get to seal tubeless – I have no idea how much sealant bubbled through the sidewalls over those first few rides. It’s small for its 2.3″ size but that doesn’t seem to matter in how it grips.

So if you want a 26″ front tyre for winter and you like corners/descents but still pedal back up, get a Baron. Put them front and rear if you want even more grip and don’t mind the extra drag (I run a Rubber Queen out back because it’s bigger and faster and predictable but that seems to be rather a marmite choice as a winter tyre).

Ahahaha specialized won an mbr test ahahahaha. 😆

@eddie, to be fair everyone loves the storm. And they did kind of slag the butcher (I dunno, maybe to do with it not being a winter tyre)

Those Storm Controls are outrageous. I wish they were 2.3″.

MBR

The 29″ winner was,
Specialized

MBR
The 29″ winner was,
Specialized

They know good bikes when they see them.

Agree with Jamie, got a storm on the rear of my E26, so much grip but not draggy

Hmm No narrow 650b tyres

I think I’m just not gnarr enough

another vote for the baron…
very good…
for me better than the magic mary..

I’ve been dabbling with the magic mary, to be fair it’s fantastic at really bad mud but the Baron just kicks its arse all the rest of the time. So it’s going in the Pile of Shame

Got the Magic Mary front on mine and its great and further you tip it over the better the grip

JCL – Member
Those Storm Controls are outrageous. I wish they were 2.3″.

Specialized do the Hillbilly. It’s a DH carcass so quite heavy but they are great mud tyres if you want a 2.3 spike type tyre. Work a treat tubeless as well.

Hillbilly is cool… Similiar in fact to the magic mary, just with a stickier rubber and no trailbike version. (though, there’s supposed to be a Control of the new version of it for 650b and 29er, Control tends to be harder rubber too.

Anyone tried the Maxxis Shorty? Tempted to give it a go next.

Tried the shorty’s in 650b 3C DH casing at FOD. They were very good, confidence inspiring grip. I was on the uplift. I wouldn’t want to pedal them anywhere in in that model.