[Closed] 650b that is all.

That other rider was the team manager...Didn't he still finish 😉

Yeah, he is a total badass regardless of wheel size Just had a look at the results, he still beat Rachel Atherton, would have been 5th in the womens'.

ahwiles - Member
pussywillow - Member
You are the minority that has been brainwashed!
i'm in a minority? you mean i'm special?
if it's only a minority that have been brainwashed, and the majority are free-thinkers, then that's a good thing, right?
POSTED 12 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

You are the minority in the bmx world as they don't buy into the bs as much as a typical stw cliché loving mtber. Over and out.

its all going 650b like it or not that is how its going!

well as an industry stooge you would say that

You go to any bmx park and chances are everyone will be riding a 20"...cos they know what works best..

When you said smaller wheels for steeper trails, a bigger wheel puts your weight in a better position on steep trails - higher axles / more BB drop. More roll-over ability and lower bb relative to axles = less stall on very techy, chunky steep trails ime. Anyway, that's not saying it's 'better', just there's advantages to most things even in unexpected places.

Could one of the wizards on this thread look into the more immediate future and tell me the lottery numbers tonight please?

Seeing as your crystal balls are so finely tuned.

Seeing as your crystal balls are so finely tuned.

That can be attained by anyone that stops in polishing said balls for long enough.

jameso - Member
You go to any bmx park and chances are everyone will be riding a 20"...cos they know what works best..
..for the smooth surfaces and strength needs that covers pretty much all of BMX, fair enough. MTB terrain is more variable.
When you said smaller wheels for steeper trails, a bigger wheel puts your weight in a better position on steep trails - higher axles / more BB drop. More roll-over ability and lower bb relative to axles = less stall on very techy, chunky steep trails ime. Anyway, that's not saying it's 'better', just there's advantages to most things even in unexpected places.
POSTED 47 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

I don't want to feel like I'm on top of a penny farthing when I'm riding down my steep tight techy lines. It's not gonna feel as clumsy on a smaller wheel bike and why only now after 25 years of mountain biking have they only just realised that bigger wheels are mysteriously better!!? I mean it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realise that bigger wheels covers more ground better! It would be the first thing on a bike to get right..I'm not saying there's not a place for a 29er and obviously a lot on here love them but to me there kinda riding will be a lot different to mine, what's annoying is when the industry is telling me that a 29er is overall a better bike! That is all.

its all going 650b like it or not that is how its going!

Do you think if you repeat it often enough it might come true?

I don't want to feel like I'm on top of a penny farthing

Keep riding the bikes you have then and stay where you are.

No one's forcing you to do anything you don't want to.

EDIT.

Can't believe I've answered to a troll account. 🙄 @ me.

25 years of mountain biking have they only just realised that bigger wheels are mysteriously better!!?

EDIT - me too.

I have never ridden a 29er or a 650b bike but I can see that you should be the same height above the ground as a 26" wheeled bike. The bigger wheels will make you feel more inside the bike.

singlespeedstu - Member
I don't want to feel like I'm on top of a penny farthing
Keep riding the bikes you have then and stay where you are.
No one's forcing you to do anything you don't want to.
EDIT.
Can't believe I've answered to a troll account. @ me.
POSTED 54 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Who says I'm trolling?? You stick with yer own fancy niche bikes but when the industry is trying to force clown bikes on us who ride properly then I'm not a happy chap! And when i say force, that is really what they're doing as they're phasing the 26 out for the sake of the choco boys that cant ride for shit feel like its making them faster! If you think I'm a troll or don't like my opinion then don't reply to my posts!! Simple really.

Of course they are dear.

All those "choco boys" are trying to turn you aren't they.

Got to have a look though ain't you...

Edit.

Damn fallen for the homophobe racist troll again. 😆

singlespeedstu - Member
Of course they are dear.
All those "choco boys" are trying to turn you aren't they.
Got to have a look though ain't you...
Edit.
Damn fallen for the homophobe racist troll again.
POSTED 13 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

No not one racist remark there.

You stick with yer own fancy niche bikes but when the industry is trying to force clown bikes on us who ride properly then I'm not a happy chap!

Aw treacle have you had too much monster energy the freeride boys are forcing you to drink.

No not one racist remark there.

TBF you're speaking so much shite it's hard to tell what you actualy mean.

Why not stick to posting a few more pisstake vids they were funny...

singlespeedstu - Member
No not one racist remark there.
TBF you're speaking so much shite it's hard to tell what you actualy mean.

Why not stick to posting a few more pisstake vids they were funny...

POSTED 57 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

😆

I have a feeling the single speed boys are upset!
😆

I have this great road bike. I was blasting along on it last week and I thought, 'what an absolutely superb bike. So supple ans efficient, and so poised.'

Today I was flying over very terrain type imaginable on my Ti 456 (26er)' and I thought, 'what a truelly brilliant, agile, tactile bike. It's a joy to ride.'

Somehow though, I appear to be completely wrong. The industry has realised that all the intense bike evolution of the last 20 years has been misguided and that every review that celebrates brilliant mtb design is fundamentally flawed. Those great Souls and Yetis have been deemed to be somehow so deficient that the fundamentals of their design is to be thrown out and a fresh round of development and evolution is to begin. For years from now on now, we'll have magazines breathlessly trumpeting the increasing stiffness of 29er forks or the gradual lightening and strengthening of 29er wheels.

It's...so completely depressing. So obviously a manipulation of the consumer. I read a thread like this and I just see the sport demeaned.

650b or 27.1 = a little over half an inch between axle to ground over 26". Totally pointless but make no mistake the industry don't think they're selling enough bikes so they're coming like it or not.

29" are faster than 26", that's obvious to anyone who can push a 26" to the point that it's trying to kill you. The people who don't find them "exciting" suck ass and just aren't riding them quick enough. Guess what? DH bikes feel pretty boring punting about at XC speeds.

Ideally 26" should have stayed for 160mm plus and cheap bikes and 29" should have been everywhere else. Now we're going to haveba total mess.

Not going to read any of the nonsense on this thread, but I will say that 650b is in my top five wheel sizes.

You are really not helping the bike industry here. Just causing customers to get pi55ed with the manufacturers for forcing the 'new' marketing wheel-sizes on them and making them argue too. If your that insecure in your ability to sell enough in a recession you might be better not to reveal it

Yes pussy.

I was so upset i cried myself to sleep over the size of a wheel...

I feel that most bikes these days are boring. We've got to the motorbike sports bike situation where they all look the same and all go the same.
Take the stickers off 5" trail bike and I couldn't really tell you who made it.
So when something different comes along I likes it. I certainly won't buy a 650b or a fat bike but if I saw one I would want to know all about it.
Personally I'm looking forward to the next new thing.

What does it matter? It seems to me as though some people are taking this issue of wheel size way too personally. In a way that says if I go out and buy a new bike that has 27.5" wheels rather than 29" or 26", I am wrong, I have made a mistake. So?! It's my choice, my money, my ride. My world come to that. I'll make the final conclusion thanks. There are no right's or wrong's, just personal preference.

What I personally object to is the industry media telling me what I need to ride. I have the power of free will and I shall choose to spend my hard earned on whatever wheel size I want to and do not care a jot what anyone else thinks/feels or says about my choice. So long as I enjoy the 'feel' of my bike for the type of riding I enjoy, I will own whatever wheel size I want to, based upon my own research.

Don't get the begrudging of folks in the bike industry who want to offer choice, but each to their own.

Incedentally, ten years ago, when I was doing a lot of riding in western Canada, many riders there were running 26 front and 24 rear, mainly because of the steep terrain I guess.

Ride what you have, go with your own personal choice and if you like it, stick there, or if you don't, try another and in the meantime, try not to be fearful of change.

In fact, just try not to be fearful. That is it.

zippykona - Member
Personally I'm looking forward to the next new thing.

spring?

me too.

slackalice - Member

Incedentally, ten years ago, when I was doing a lot of riding in western Canada, many riders there were running 26 front and 24 rear

that's a good point, i remember the specialized big hits with 24" rear wheels, they seemed like a bad idea to me, and everyone seemed to agree because they weren't available for very long.

but you can still buy 24" tyres, even now, even dual ply.

even 24" wheels haven't been 'phased out'.

I feel that most bikes these days are boring.

You're doing it wrong.

650b or 27.1 = a little over half an inch between axle to ground over 26". Totally pointless but make no mistake the industry don't think they're selling enough bikes so they're coming like it or not.

There are no right's or wrong's, just personal preference.

Bought the cube stereo 160mm 650b because it looks amazing and reviews were good, always been a 26 fan and never been fussed by anything bigger - have to say I love this bike, it is amazing! No idea if it has anything to do with the wheel size mind!

A thread about wheel sizes turning into a bash fest, haven't seen that before!

I have a feeling the single speed boys are upset!

Sweetheart, never heard a fellow singlespeeder complain about technology or wheelsize being pushed.

Those great Souls and Yetis have been deemed to be somehow so deficient that the fundamentals of their design is to be thrown out and a fresh round of development and evolution is to begin.

Just to be clear, I'm only interested in this from a rider's pov as I like trying out new stuff as well as being set in my ways for what I like myself, the 2 need to balance somewhere; and I'm interested in it all from a riders + bike industry development and marketing etc viewpoint. I don't believe in 'better' as a factual statement - things are too variable now.

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

29" are faster than 26", that's obvious to anyone who can push a 26" to the point that it's trying to kill you.

Don't talk wet.

Steep climbs,rough climbs,loose climbs,smooth climbs,technical climbs,fast open trails,slow tight trails,natural old school mountainbiking in the hills,trail centre riding,riding around Torridon,riding (especially climbing techy stuff getting into the Cairngorms) the list goes on. If you have owned or ridden 26" & 29" wheeled bikes and ridden them over all of the above terrain, you will find that both wheel sizes can enhance the ride depending on where you take it.

The give-away is that there just isn't the sort of impiricle proof that 650b or 29 is actually superior in any measurable way-just different. Despite that, Specialized has gone all-in, together with the bulk of the big-volume US Manufacturers. It called 'fixing the market'.

Look, bike innovation is great fun: The endless search for the perfect suspention solution has been fascinating, and the constant tweaking of frame geometry has led to some stuff I still can't believe. Ejecting an entire format because it is suddenly deemed to be out-moded though? That's something else. A 26 inch wheeled bike does all the things a larger sized wheel does, and in the key off-road areas of slow speed controll and accuracy, it does these things better. Soon however, the 26 format will be the preserve of the 'weirdy beardy' types on this forum. Admittedly, a lot of us thrive on that here, but something will be lost for the sake of mass market revenue generation.

I will say that 650b is in my top five wheel sizes.

Speak for yourself. 6 wheel sizes in regular use in my household, and not one of them is 650b.

Jesus, JCL talks some utter shite.

Wheel size is soooo last year, its all about fork rake and frame geometry now. Do keep up... 🙄
[IMG] [/IMG]

Er... IMHO 29ers mainly came to the market so that the industry could sell more stuff. Then 650b followed.
Anyway, this is all outdated already, 36ers are the future:
[img] [/img]

I remember when U brakes made cantilevers obsolete only to disappear within 18 months.
Elevated chainstays were a must have.
I can see a theme for a new thread especially if you include fashion disasters like disc wheels!

I remember when U brakes made cantilevers obsolete only to disappear within 18 months.
Elevated chainstays were a must have.

These things proove the point that in the end the bike buying public is in charge

Today I was flying over very terrain type imaginable on my Ti 456 (26er)' and I thought, 'what a truelly brilliant, agile, tactile bike. It's a joy to ride.'

Somehow though, I appear to be completely wrong. The industry has realised that all the intense bike evolution of the last 20 years has been misguided and that every review that celebrates brilliant mtb design is fundamentally flawed. Those great Souls and Yetis have been deemed to be somehow so deficient that the fundamentals of their design is to be thrown out and a fresh round of development and evolution is to begin.

Thats not really fair on bike reviewers or representative of how things move forward. My camera was once state of the art with brilliant low light ability. Now its out classed by miles. It still takes great pictures but it doesn't mean my next camera won't do it better

Obviuosly the wheel size thing is driven by the bike makers. Just like FS we are being sold it via sponsored racers. It worked for FS which is well established, whether it works for a new wheel size is upto the people who buy the most bikes...

It's down to uptake , and with the US bulk manufacturers going wholesale across to 29in wheels, that uptake will be guided by them, not us.

I'm a 29er complete convert and I was one of he biggest naysayers prior to really riding 29".
If you're tall enough then I see no reason not to adopt 29" for trail riding.
of course it's all personal preference. But 26" for me feels wrong now. It stalls and stutters compared to 29". 650b seems a bit daft really to me.

I haven't read anywhere and don't know if anyone has considered this (even the bike companies) but there is a considerable balance advantage to having larger wheels.

I could do with a diagram to explain this but can't really be bothered to draw one right now so the googled image is the best I can manage below.

The height of a BB is somewhere around the 13-14" mark off the floor on most mountain bike (and you can't really go lower this due to pedal strikes) which is approximately the same height as the hub axles on a 26" wheel.

When a wheel is spinning fast it has a gyroscopic affect and fights being tilted off its axis. If you are stood on a platform at the same height as this (BB height) then there is little to no mechanical self correction in balance.

However if you are stood on a platform beneath this axis then there is a mechanical assistance to remain upright.

If you look at an extreme version of this if you get a bent piece of wire and put weights on the end so that the centre of gravity is beneath the balance point it self corrects. See below.

However if you put it the other way up it is very unstable.

[img] http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQyCAurdzKvHNM3xymMV1FZhqcQeA_5OqvjUlXk9b0GEx3TNv2 [/img]

So with a bigger wheel you can have a BB that is 13" off the floor but by raising the centre of the gyroscope (middle of the wheel) just slightly you can in theory make the bike far more stable when it breaks loose.... so should be easier to drift without the bike coming out from under you.

If you can't get your head around that then think of this. If you glued a broom on a ball and then stand on it and try and balance holding on to the handle it is difficult and you can fall off. Yet if you stand on a childs swing and hold the chains you automatically return to upright even when pushed off kilter.

Having a BB below this gyroscopic centre is obviously not as dramatic as that example but it should have a measurable effect. Its also in my opinion why 26" bikes with a 14.5" high bb feel really unstable compared to ones with around 13".

It's also why if you have all your weight through an outside pedal that is lowered and the wheels break loose you tend to stay upright but if your pedals are flat the wheels sometimes have more of a tendency wash out from under you.

So basically if your feet are beneath the centre of that gyroscope it is more like standing on a swing under the bar but if you are above it than you are more like standing on top of something and balancing.

And for the record I ride 26" wheels and have no desire whatsoever to spend money changing my bikes to a new standard but I do perceive there to be an advantage in the above which would come in to effect more at high speeds when the gyroscopic effect of the wheels is more pronounced.

I hope that makes sense as I'm sat here having just crawled out of bed with the mother of all hangovers and can't be arsed to argue a point on this. I do have a degree in mechanical engineering if that adds any credibility to what I have just written though.

Paul