Will wheel sizes settle down anytime soon?

Not to start another wheel size debate (think of the kittens!), but I’m in the market for a new bike / frame and just wondering – do we think wheel sizes will settle down at any point?

I’m currently riding a 26er but really liked the feel of the 29er I tried last year. So my thoughts were upgrade frame/forks, rebuild wheels with bigger rims, jobs a good’un. But now there are 27.5+ and 29+, which maybe my hubs won’t convert to? (BOOST)

Is there any end in sight? I’m all for more options for folk (even fatbikes seem to have had some knock-on benefit 😉 ) but don’t really want to shell out a load of cash for kit that will be immediately improved upon.

I haven’t ridden a 27.5+ or 29+ but can see that the benefits could be good – I’d think my ideal do-it-all bike could be a 27.5+ 140mm FS, but not sure how many of those are available yet or if they’re just a dead end with no tires available in 6 months time!

I honestly think B+ is an own goal for the bike industry – in terms of putting people off changing bikes.

BUT – if you liked the 29er then B+ makes a lot of sense for you as you’ll have the option to run B+ or standard 29er wheels and tyres.

I’m keen to try it myself in my standard 29er frames, I will admit.

I hope so.

It’s starting to get effing ridiculous.

but don’t really want to shell out a load of cash for kit that will be immediately improved upon.

Well you’re in luck then. None of the changes in wheelsize have improved bikes, just made them different i.e. better in some situations but worse in others. Of course that may mean they are better for you, but it may not. Good luck 🙂

I really like the idea of 27.5+, I’m not fussed hugely by 27.5/26 wheels, I love my 29HT but the full suss is 26 and i’ve got no intention of changing.

27.5+ however makes an existing bike more versatile as a kind of semi fat rig – I reckon a 120mm piked fs 29er with a pair of 27.5+_ wheels and 3″ tyres could be a brilliant all round bike.

Wouldn’t want to by a specific B+ bike though.

I’d say it is settled now, 27.5 & 29er for 98% of new MTBs, 26″ for the die-hard luddites and B+ for beard wearing odd-balls… Oh and Fat bikes, just pecause they can.

It’ll be drop barred bikes next: 622mm rims will get some special attention, I reckon, it will cause a fuss, but I can see some **** excuse being made to make CX and road bike wheel sizes diverge, just so Spesh/Giant/Trek can flog some new kit…

But then who really cares? it’s only wheels innit…

B+ for beard wearing odd-balls…

You mean 29+ surely?

The bike industry seems to want every Tom, Dick & Harry on B+.

Which bike industry is that then?

You only have to look at how interested people are in B+ and 29+ to see that they are going to be developed a lot over the next couple of years.

I can’t see if there will be any new ones though.

I mean what isn’t covered by
26 x <2.4
26 x 5
27.5 x <2.4
27.5 x 3.5
29 x <2.4
29 x 3
!?

I agree that it’s settled. You ahve the choice of 27.5 or 29 depending on your riding or taste, then you can go + if you like.

All the changes in wheel size have meant my wife got 25% off an Alpine 160 26er. Very decent price.

Orange are discontinuing that wheel size on that bike, but in a small it makes absolute sense. And we have all the tyres etc in that size already too.

I like 29ers, 26ers, fat 26ers and even 700c.

I’m not getting 27.5 at the moment, but I probably will.

At the moment though, go anti trend – the prices are cheap and the bikes as good as ever.

I’m with Cookeaa – it’s 29 for lighter bikes, 650b for gravity bikes – B+ is a fad a halfway house, best/worst of both worlds between a fatbike and well, a mountain bike – of course I said that about 650b.

The only slightly glint of hope I see for 26 is that some respected designer types are looking at equating wheel size with frame size 26 for small, 650b for medium and 29 for large being a massive over simplification of it, but otherwise I don’t see 26 having a come back, well not until it’s almost forgotten about and some bright PR guy hales is as the next great thing. 😉

650B has proved to the manufacturers that they can sell pretty much anything, to anyone, without justification.

Floodgates are open now, expect yearly introductions of competing standards.

Choice, yaaay.

I’m still not convinced that there wont be a return to 26″ at some point. Obviously with some new standards so that you can’t just re-use your old stuff. But the smaller = more playful/fun argument still seems to be trotted out fairly often.

27.5+ however makes an existing bike more versatile as a kind of semi fat rig – I reckon a 120mm piked fs 29er with a pair of 27.5+_ wheels and 3″ tyres could be a brilliant all round bike.

Why? Not trying to be argumentative, I just don’t get it. You spend loads of money on carefully controlled/damped suspension (on your FS 29er example), then stick on some heavier wheels that add a few inches of undamped (or poorly damped) suspension into the mix. Why would that be better.

Simply buy a frame that allows for different plates/rear dropout fitments. That should cover any future changes. Any smidgen-angles- offset bushes and/or angle headset?

You could design to combine the characteristics of fat tyres and suspension. Make your forks firm, maybe platform damped, or little sag, and the tyre would take care of the small stuff.

27.5+ doesn’t give you “a few inches of undamped suspension”. It allows a higher volume tyre at lower pressure for better traction/grip. Think how folk have been chasing tubeless for years in order to run the same tyres at lower pressure – now exaggerate that. Remember when everyone ran tyres at 50psi? Who does that anymore?

What “Settles” it isn’t what all the Niche-Whores on STW and other corners of the web tell us is new and exciting, or whatever novelty Patagonian life-style touring rig Surly are flogging this week…

It’s what you’ll find on the shop floor when you wander into a Halfords or Evans I’m afraid… While industry types have a big fat Lob-on for oversized rubber, Johnny Trailcentre and his off the peg Carrera/Boardman/Specialized/Trek/etc is still the common benchmark…

Specialized and Trek eh?

I get 27.5 and 29, but TBH I’m lost with the whole “+” thing and BOOST and new axle standards, is there a wider front as well as something that trek are doing with the rear axle?

Seems like a free for all really with little or no cross compatability (I refuse to use the standard word now, as it’s pretty much redundant) between bike manufacturers, throw in the addition of variants in BBs and headsets, it’s pointless trying to keep up.

Yes, 110mm fronts now.

One of the advantages of 27+ is that it actually retains a lot of compatibility – you can (though obviously many brands won’t) use standard 100/135mm hubs and have a frame that will take both 27+ and 29er wheels.

+ + ++ + +++ ++ +
+ ++ + +
++ + +
+ = ?
Where are these + signs coming into it? Do I need to read more magazines?

27+ = a fatter tyre’d 27″ (or 650b or 27.5) wheel – eg 3″(ish) or wider tyre

Not full fat bike (which are 4-5″ wide usually) but noticeably bigger than a standard 27″ bike wheel.

You can probably work out what 29+ is 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/lets-see-your-29650b-other-nearly-fat-bikes

Nothing’s dead,there’s more choice than ever,it all works,some better than others,some not so good as others,everyone is different in stature and size,get the bike that suits you not what fashion geeks blurt out,good thread.

Do I need to read more magazines?

If you ride a 26″ bike, I honestly wouldn’t bother anymore.

I can’t notice any difference due wheel size between my 26 Soul and my 27.5 Anthem. The bikes feel different, obviously, steel HT and alloy FS, but who knows if its the wheels 🙂

I also quite like the idea of a 27.5+ for winter mud plugging.

Surely the more variety the better and the less chance of any of them becoming ‘obselete’ ?

I think the actual diameter of the rims has settled, Axle standards and widths, hell no.

Surely the more variety the better and the less chance of any of them becoming ‘obselete’ ?

The saddest point of all this for me is the unintended outcome of the probable demise of the LBS.

The variation in hubs, BBs, headsets, tyres and on and on…what do they stock? the chances of them having the part I need on the shelf becomes more and more remote.

26 Soul and my 27.5 Anthem

Well let’s face it you wouldn’t expect to feel a big difference given that they’re near enough the same size 😉

nemesis – Member
26 Soul and my 27.5 Anthem
Well let’s face it you wouldn’t expect to feel a big difference given that they’re near enough the same size

Ehh ?

What Giant say :

What do you get when you combine the XC speed of the Anthem platform with the added handling and stability of 27.5-inch wheels and longer-travel front suspension? You get the allnew Anthem 27.5 SX.

🙂

the chances of them having the part I need on the shelf becomes more and more remote.

Wheels/rims, tyres, (tubes), forks. (tubes are cheap though)

How often do you actually just walk into a LBS expecting to buy exactly the model of those items that you want? You don’t really or at least most don’t.

What Giant say

Marketing 🙂

(I was only referring to the wheel size, not the bikes themselves)

27.5 for the forseeable future

Big tyres and wide rims just a thinly disguised attempt to flog off all those noodly 1st-gen 29r frames no one wants. In a year or two we’ll look back, laugh nervously and move on

Looking at the recent economic data from UK and USA showing people are still skint and likely to remain so for some time yet, expect more shenanigans from the bike industry to try and maintain pre-crash growth in a mature, discretionary spend market at a time when consumers are cutting back even on food…

Personally it’s put me right off buying a new bike…

Big tyres and wide rims just a thinly disguised attempt to flog off all those noodly 1st-gen 29r frames no one wants. In a year or two we’ll look back, laugh nervously and move on

Big tyres and wide rims don’t fit in the 1st-gen 29r frames…

Nice conspiracy theory though 🙂

Busted!

Do I need to read more magazines?

If you ride a 26″ bike, I honestly wouldn’t bother anymore

Yep, that’s pretty much my policy.

has anyone mentioned Boost hubs yet?

not long till we’re buying Nu-skool roadie hubs for our old-school mtb’s…

(oh, hang on, even that won’t work!)