As I read this I can’t help but feel as though I must apologize for my fellow countrymen. While I have stayed loyal to 26in bikes (had to join this forum to find that the whole world hadn’t gone mad), it has been a pretty steady takeover here in the US. My local shop just sold his last 26in bike recently (he said he was glad to see it gone, took him ages to sell it). Sadly they are all now 29ers now, and they are moving so quickly that I fear the writing my be on the wall over here (me and one other guy are all I know left on 26in).

I’m pretty shocked by this 😯

… but also really chuffed the British resolve is holding true for now 😀

I’m 5’4″. I have a small Soul which is great; I like the way it turns fast. Am I (and other average sized women) going to be stuck with loon wheeled barges in future?

You’ve not tried a Solaris then? It’ll still turn very fast if the rider turns it fast; any bike will turn like a barge if that’s how you ride it.

LoCo – Member

photo (2) by Loco Tuning, on Flickr

photo (2) – Copy by Loco Tuning, on Flickr

😯

How could anybody else promote such a similarly slight change in wheel/tyre size as progress with a straight face?

Joe Punter with cash burning a hole in his pocket will buy whatever the shop sells him, but it does appear ridiculous.

Aha!

First it was the switch to road bike threads… Now it’s the reactionary responses to new standards.

I’ve worked it out.

STW has been infiltrated by the UCI!

😉

😕 I’m not trying to sell you anything and it was in reference to aracer’s post.

That’s just the back end 😉 It’s actually my bike and faniced doing something interesting.

The wheel size thing has been done to death for years anyway.

I’m not trying to sell you anything and it was in reference to aracer’s post.

I know. Are they on the same rim with different height tyres or different rims, 26″ and 650b?

That’s a full 650/27.5 rim stans arch and Nobby nic setup.

Errr don’t ride anywhere even remotely muddy..

Mud 😯 are you mad I’d get all dirty 🙁

I will be buying a new full suspension bike in the near future as my previous bike was pinched. Choice is good and everything but I do feel a bit baffled tbh.

I’ve been trying to decide between a Zesty, Stumpy Evo and Norco Sight but the guy in my LBS was singing the praises of 29ers and insists that they’d really make sense for me, because I’m tall.

I’ve been dithering enough as it is and then I find out there’s another size! I’ll probably do what I always do and buy the one that has the nicest paint job 😀

LoCo no I mean that clearance- it’ll cause issues and tissues 😯

Justatheory, sounds like you should try to get a demo ride on the bikes you’re interested in.

Stop feeding the trolls. The bike industry is trolling big time with 650b.

Paceman, I’ve demoed the three I’ve mentioned and liked them all! When I say demoed I rode the Zesty and Norco around Manchester City Centre, down a few steps and along the canal. The Stumpy I rode around the bike shop car park. I need a demo day really.

Face it, 650 is just the Bike industry learning from Gillette!

http://www.theonion.com/articles/****-everything-were-doing-five-blades,11056/

Paceman, I’ve demoed the three I’ve mentioned and liked them all!!

Sounds like you should go with your heart then,… or the best colour scheme 😉

That’s a full 650/27.5 rim stans arch and Nobby nic setup.

FTFY

😀

This is a comparison of a 26″ Specialized 2.3 Eskar on a Haven Carbon Vs a Maxxis HR2 2.2 650b on an Enve AM wheel. The Eskar is quite considered a big volume tyre for it’s size.

There is quite a difference. The 2.4 version of the Maxxis was even bigger.

For reference, the 26″ had an actual diameter of 27″ & the 650b had a diameter of 28.25″.

It was tried in a few different bikes (Nomad, Nomad C BLTC, BTRC, SB66A & C, Meta AM, Meta SX to name a few) and it wasn’t even close to fitting. Most you couldn’t even get the rear axle in as it was too big to fit for the frame.

There will always be a demand for 26″ parts from people who want maneuverable 4x style hardtails. It doesnt look ike the above wheel/tyre combo would fit in any frame wit a less than 16.5inch chainstays.

You’ve not tried a Solaris then? It’ll still turn very fast if the rider turns it fast; any bike will turn like a barge if that’s how you ride it.

Nicely patronised there Paceman! Maybe she has and actually found out that it doesn’t compared to her Soul? I don’t know, and more importantly neither do you.
But as a fellow short arse I’m not overly enthused by the possible obsolescence of the smaller compact format, luckily I have weight (fat) and upper body strength on my side so I’ll be able to turn any format if needed but my lady rider friends are mostly 5′-5’4″ish and weigh considerably less! (also being much faster and competent than I!) So the basic physics of turning the dynamic weight of the larger wheeled bikes is going to be more noticeable to folks of a smaller frame (regardless of sex!). And I suspect that was more of the (perfectly reasonable) point she was trying to make.
It does look like there will be a lucrative, and not insignificant, niche to look after in the future if the big players drop out of the 26″ market though, there’s an awful lot of those frames still about and will be for decades! 🙂

But as a fellow short arse I’m not overly enthused by the possible obsolescence of the smaller compact format

Suck it up shorty, full grown adults have had to suffer the indignity of bikes with child sized wheels for far too long, now it’s your turn to suffer!

Watch it lanky, I’ll bite ya knees! 😉

And to be honest I don’t think anyone’s saying the larger sizes should be banned are they? It’s more of a worry that you won’t be able to get decent stuff in a 26″ flavour.

These new forks for “slightly bigger wheels” will still take 26″ wheels easily…

So that leaves tubes, tyres and rims…

Seems to me that you can’t even buy “slightly bigger” tubes in the shops, and 26″ tubes stretch to fit… so… either 26″ tubes will always be stocked in the shops, or you’ll be able to bang in a “slightly bigger” one anyway.

So that leaves just tyres and rims…

I can’t see either going out of production during the life of my 26″ bikes. Still easy to get all sorts of weird Euro sizes of tyres and rims that you never see on a bike made by any major manufacturer.

What I can see is “new” ideas (gimmicks) in rim and tyre technology being made in only two sizes (ie not 26″).

I don’t know what you’re all worried about. I some times hang about with the retro mob and can tell you that brand new 26″ Mavic 231 rims are still about if you look hard enough, as are brand new M900 XTR mechs. How ever hard the powers that be try to force us on to this size or that there will still be top quality kit available for what ever you ride.

….. and anyway, does anyone really think the top rim and tyre chaps (as they are the only people who really count in all this) are going to stop making top of the line kit any time soon for a wheel size that 99% of bike riders still use and will for some time. That would simply not make economic sense.