Hello,
After destroying my hardtail for the last three years, I now have a new job and i’m looking at getting a full susser.
All of this year I pretty much had my heart set on a zesty 314, it seemed fun, fast, decent spec (flexy fork aside, i’m told) and could handle what I ride – trail centres/natural ‘let’s go up that hill and see where it goes’ kinda stuff and still be able to take a hit.

Now Lapierre have released next years bikes and they’re all 650b. My first thought was – I should be able to get this years one in a sale! But then I thought about it a bit.
Everyone seems to be going 650b. Trek have just brought some out, the bronson – which looks amazing but costs a lot, and all the other big brands too.

So my question really is, from all of your experiences are the advantages really all that? Is 26″ on the way out and should I buy bigger to keep with the progress?

Cheers

Why stop at 650b unless you are vertically challenged, go the whole hog and get a 29er.

26″ will not disappear, but since 650b is booming and feels pretty much exactly the same you may as well go for it.

At the risk of starting a fight – I don’t think 29ers could look much sillier if they tried. They remind me of clowns for some reason. Really tall clowns.