[Closed] 29 v 650b interesting stats/propaganda?

Interesting is stretching it a bit. Propaganda, more like.

Xc world champs men's and women's won on 650b this year - 29ers were a nice fad and I'm sure they have a future for a few but 650b is the future ^ that's just a bit of desperate propaganda from someone with a vested interest who seen the writing on the wall

Anyone seen the latest What Mountain Bike?
A couple of very interesting propoganda pieces re 650b in there too.

Interesting is stretching it a bit. Propaganda, more like.

Indeed. Must be really annoying to have staked your entire business plan, including the brand name, on last year's fad. 😀

I don't really get what the measurements are supposed to be - 12.[b]93[/b]? is that supposed to be 12 minutes 56 seconds? who on earth expresses seconds as a decimal like that? or is there another metric that its measuring?

Let alone number of runs/order of run/randomisation, variety of rider heights etc.

If one of the mags wanted to do a proper trial, then it would be brilliant, I'm sure we could write a decent protocol and make with a decent level of rigour - personally, I don't believe any of the 'testing' done so far would stand up as 'science'

chain-free challenge would answer it better for me (not so fussed about climbing but I bet you could shove an electric motor with fixed output onto a frame that' fit all 3 sizes)

Xc world champs men's and women's won on 650b this year - 29ers were a nice fad and I'm sure they have a future for a few but 650b is the future ^ that's just a bit of desperate propaganda from someone with a vested interest who seen the writing on the wall

Yeah and on the rough final World Cup 29" won the men and women's races... On and the vast majority of the field are on 29".

650bs is the future because manufacturers said so and gullible consumers sucked it up. The real world advantages over 26" are minimal unlike 29" with is a different experience altogether.

Tech waffle about wheel sizes from Niner or Giant.. it's like listening to pro-car transport solutions in 50s US, funded by GM.

and WGAC about 'faster'. I want 'fun' and 'comfortable'. Define that with numbers.. and it usually ends up as fast enough anyway.

Its largely pointless, as for 99% of riders who aren't racing a world cup, the most important thing is how the bike feels. I like my 29er because its nice to ride and puts a smile on my face, at no point in a ride do I worry if my big wheels are making me 2.2 seconds slower on a 1km stretch of trail.
If I worried about this stuff I would question why I'm riding mountain bikes in the first place.

I fell for the hype, sold my yeti asr 5c for a 29er and love it - thank all the hype makers and propaganda press, thank you!

Those might be statistics, but only just.

If I worried about this stuff I would question why I'm riding mountain bikes in the first place.

Never a truer word spoken.

I have only ridden one of each; a Bronson & a Ripley. The Ripley on a "loop" felt much quicker, at a guess it was slower downhill.

Niner

mashiehood - Member
I fell for the hype, sold my yeti asr 5c for a 29er and love it - thank all the hype makers and propaganda press, thank you!

Mountain biker in, buying themselves a new bike and loving it shocker...

I bought a Niner.
I'm stuffed. 😐

As has already been said it's a garbage test unless you put identical power inputs into each test.

Jerome Clementz is winning on 26, Graves is winning on 26, Minnaar won on 26. I'm in no hurry to switch to bigger wheels for AM/Enduro/DH.

That chart would appear to show that 150mm bikes were faster - in fac,t the more travel, the more speed.. Why no 150mm 650? Or a 160?

Jerome Clementz is winning on 26, Graves is winning on 26, Minnaar won on 26. I'm in no hurry to switch to bigger wheels for AM/Enduro/DH.

That doesn't really prove anything, other than the quickest person on the day won.

I'm sure if at the time Cannondale & Yeti had a suitable 27.5" bike they would be riding them, and probably still winning. Same for Minnaar.

Thanks RD can your next one be something about what bike Jesus would ride as we have not had a religious thread for a while and I reckon it needs a [s]troll[/s] thoughtful post from you
Yours in anticipation.

yep that SB95 i have is shit 😉

Jerome Clementz is winning on 26, Graves is winning on 26, Minnaar won on 26. I'm in no hurry to switch to bigger wheels for AM/Enduro/DH.

Tracy Moseley is winning on 29. I'd hazard a guess that her power and speed are a little closer to most of us than any of those you mention.

Junkyard - lazarus

Thanks RD can your next one be something about what bike Jesus would ride as we have not had a religious thread for a while and I reckon it needs a troll thoughtful post from you
Yours in anticipation.

the clue is in the thread title, I'm not twisting your arm to open the thread, I do think what i wrote was balanced, can a balanced view be a troll?
I'd stick to patrolling the chat forum if you want religious arguments, probably your forte, the rest of us will stick with the riding bikes thing

If 650B is the future and 650B isnt actually much different to 26" - what's the point?

I'm not sure it's the future, but choice is good, no? who wants to be forced to only use one size? oh, wait

Jerome Clementz is winning on 26, Graves is winning on 26, Minnaar won on 26.

I cant afford to change my 26 inch wheel bike ,have no skill ,and dont do strava .So I dont care if other wheels are a bit quicker

niner bikes claim 29ers are faster! who'd have thunk it 🙄

Thanks RD can your next one be something about what bike Jesus would ride

It's quite obvious that he used a 650b when he rode over Lazarus.

It's all nonsense as far as my riding is concerned. Do I care if one is faster than another. Not at all. I don't race and don't care.I ride for fun. Do I think I'd prefer 26 inch over 27.5 - probably as I prefer my 20 inch bmx feel to my 26 inch fr bike, although on balance the bmx tends to get hard to ride on the same (fr type)stuff. So for me it's all of about feel and fun.

I like nibble handling mostly. If I raced XC or maybe rode serious xc trails on a light weight rigid xc bike then I'd maybe like to try a 29er as I can see how that makes sense and would work in the real world.

I can understand the pros choosing one over another though ,as every second counts.However this is probably not clear cut and will hopefully be considered as 27.5 or 29 for xc with dh and enduro being 27.5 or 26 as present. So hopefully all 3 wheels will have a place and be continued to be used.

Not sure Ive taken a single big wheel rider through my switchback trail (64 switchbacks in 4km of descending) without them saying their wheels dont fit well in tight spaces.... Never heard a 26er say their wheel size is holding them back... Even on the pedally vehicle track linky bits. Now THATS science. 8)

(Imo / may not have happened / just riding for fun y'know)

Bike Magazine Germany

a larger wheel climbs hils more [b]safely[/b]

That's hysterical ! I have never felt unsafe on a climb, clearly I'm all radical and living on the edge riding uphill on my 26" wheels

the thing is most of us probably reasonably experienced or maybe newer but more enlightened (due to stw no doubt) riders. What were you like when you first picked up an mtb mag in John Menzies and dreamt of owning your first mtb?

allmountainventure - Member

Not sure Ive taken a single big wheel rider through my switchback trail (64 switchbacks in 4km of descending) without them saying their wheels dont fit well in tight spaces.... Never heard a 26er say their wheel size is holding them back...

But I bet you've had plenty of 26 inch riders who would have used a convenient excuse like wheel size if they'd had one.

I can understand the pros choosing one over another though ,as every [s]second[/s] dollar counts

I'm really surprised that people are so upset about this wheel size business. It's not a new thing that the bike industry pushes products onto the waiting public. Suspension, disc brakes, 9speed, 10speed, ISIS, 6" travel bikes, 5" travel bikes, thru axles, kashima, rear bolt axles, tubeless... and the never ending list goes on.
Noone is being forced to buy into all, or any of these. Some will come and stay others will come and go.
Pick which makes a difference to your riding and enjoy it. Same goes for wheel size.

But I bet you've had plenty of 26 inch riders who would have used a convenient excuse like wheel size if they'd had one.

i ride a 29er and 99% of the time its faster than my 26" bike.

Why all this obsession with speed? Every discussion about wheel size, whether here or in magazines, just seems to talk about whether X is faster than Y. Is this some Strava-fuelled thing? Do people really judge their rides by how fast they were to the nearest second?

I'd rather pedal up a hill faster not slower and do you not like the sense of speed when travelling downhill?

Every development in MTBing and cycling is all about more speed. Suspension - ride over things faster, hydraulic disc brakes - if you have better brakes you have confidence to go faster, Carbon Fibre parts - lightness+stiffness = more speed, bright green baggy shorts - obviously faster etc. And so it is with wheel size. IF it can be proved that one wheel size is faster than another, then that will be the wheel size that wins out. The problem is with wheel sizes is that some sizes are better for some things, other sizes better for other things - there is no one size fits all.

Noone is being forced to buy into all, or any of these.

We are if we want to buy certain brands new. That's the problem. SC say it's BS and led by the customer, yet who grooms the customer? The bike mags via adverts from the bike companies.

If we had choice, it'd be fine - the lesser products would fade, like cantis and v brakes, or ISIS, or threaded steerers etc.