I read '26" is dead' and so on.Magazines speak of nowt else. Only a short time ago I purchased an expensive high spec bike. It seems great still but am I out of fashion. Should I go out in disquise or after dark. Will I be mocked. I cannot afford to replace it with the same spec wonder 29incher. Tough it out or take up flower arranging?
650b is where [s]the big marketing drive[/s] the future lies for next year.
Yes its dead and riders like you will be put in Camps till you die. Same goes for people who ride road bikes without disc brakes.
Stick with it. Once everyone has a 29er I'm sure the mags will decide 26 is where it's at.
Do you still like your bike?
Just tippex 650b onto your tyres. No one will know the difference and you can be down with the kids.
Stick with the 26.
Don't be a fashion victim.
Ride whatever wheel size or style of bike you want.
No one else gives a ****. 🙂
should be some 26" bargains about end of this year and next, 26" will live on in supermarkets and catalogues though
No one else gives a ****
Apart from it seems people with small [s]ahem[/s] wheels. 😆
Me !Bought a 29er over 3 years ago to make into a MTB for the road,but one that I could use off road as well should the need arise.Never really got the whole it rides smoother blah blah 'kin blah that's spouted about them.Did the 2011 Dyfi on it SS & rigid,which just convinced me I didn't really like it for MTBing.I've still got it but haven't used it for over 12 mths,mainly because I prefer proper MTB sized wheels.....
I's not the size, it's what you do with it that counts. Or so I've heard...
I just bought a second hand 26" race bike. Weighs 20lbs. For the same money I could have bought a new 28lbs 29er. I'll take my chances.
Also I like zipping around like a broken firework; don't care if it's slower, it's more fun.
having come back from a week in verbier on a 27.2mm seatposted, 1 1/8th constant diameter steerered, 9 speed, 26" bike, I'm surprised I am still alive.
Changes in standards are made to drive consumerism, magazines buy into the BS as its consumerism that drives their business, see how many articles and "tests" are regurgitated press releases.
Give it 5 years and 29 and 650b will be deemed too big for technical riding, and theyll come up with 25" as being the best wheel size, obviously, stupid.
I too have a 26" bike......but it's got bars on it that are less than 700mm....... 🙄
I admitted this in smiths and they wouldn't let me buy WMB......I just say its retro......but still in my soul I know it's laterally stiff and vertically compliant.....
Give it 5 years and 29,26 and 650b will be deemed too big for technical riding
You could be right in five years time we'll all be on MBR aproved hoverbikes. 🙂
owned 10 x 29ers, now back on a 26'' 456. it is still fun.
You could be right in five years time we'll all be on MBR aproved hoverbikes.
Pffft.
Have you seen what that bearded guy in the shed that no one else has heard of is making?
Hoverbikes are so over.
I've ridden a 29er xc orientated hardtail for about 4 years and just got a 26" full suss all mountain bike. Both are fantastic much as most good quality bikes are, whatever the diameter of the wheels
Pffft.Have you seen what that bearded guy in the shed that no one else has heard of is making?
Have I [b]seen[/b] what he's making?
[b]I already own it.[/b] 8)
*Puts own version up for sale immediately now that it's such a commonplace bit of tat"
😉
Being 5ft 4" I think I will be on 26" wheels for bit yet,
Although this keeps drawing me to it
[img] 
[/img]
Puts own version up for sale immediately now that it's such a commonplace bit of tat
It became common tat when they put the Specialized sticker on the downtube. 😆
😆
29 = Boring 26 = Fun, simples
29 if you ride boring tails and need more speed to make them fun.
26 if you shred everything
650b if you like to sit on the fence
I'm waiting for all the lovely 26 bargains 8)
Anyway I'm having too much fun to even notice what wheels i'm on, never mind what others are doing 😉
I can [i]smell[/i] the fear on this thread 😈
nope, me too.....still very few 29er's being raced up here in Scotland. I've had a couple and really like them but i'm a bit of a short-arse so doubt i'd ever race one here
It is, apparantly, not about the bike.
29" doesn't seem to be having any effect on the DH end of the scale(as far as I have seen anyway) and that I guess is the end of the scale I come from.
Seemingly, the more xc end is where the 29'ers are coming in. I see no reason to go 29" at all, the wheels have to be a little weaker right?
Mind you, even Dirt has been full of them lately....
que sera sera innit 🙂
My 26" wheeled bikes will last for several more years. When they die I'll replace them with whatever is the common "standard" at the time.
No. You are not the only 26 inch wheel rider left...
Although I would love a Kona 29 to add to my collection of 2 mtbs, 1 road bike, 2 bmx cruisers, surfboard , 1 longboard ,1 bodyboard, snowboard, 3 skateboards, frisbees, footballs, rugby ball, Nerf, airobee, boomerang, radio control car, rower, guitar, bass guitar, weber bbq... hand tools, power tools, cordless drill, gardening tools. COFFEE MACHINE (my favourite thing apart from wife and two kids who all have own bikes).
Now if only could use all those things at the same time.
LIFE'S TOO SHORT! JUST RIDE!
Far from it. I demoed a Niner when I was buying a hardtail not long ago, liked it, but found it a bit of a gate in corners, and didn't feel I could throw it around how I wanted. Ended up with a Soul, zero regrets.
29ers have their place, and it'll be intersting to see how they progress, but in the main, their place isn't where I want to be.
The 650b all mountain bikes that are starting to appear are intersting.
The way I understand it is;
Man buys 26"AM super-build for awesomeness.
Sells 26"AM super-build for 29" awesomeness.
Man sells 29"AM super-build for 650b awesomeness.
Chris buys 26"AM awesomeness for himself.
Chris buys 29"AM awesomeness for Mrs.C.
Both fly past man on 650b while he reads the "next-big-thing" article.
Everyone get's old and dies on 26".
Ride the fekin bike, whogivesashit.
I still ride 26" AKA a Mountain Bike. 29er = Cyclo Cross wannabe.
To me 29ers just look silly unless your 6ft2 and need a big frame. Im only 5ft5 so it would look ridiculous.
Nope there were at least 4 others that I saw riding around on 26" bikes at Woburn this evening! I'll continue to ride it until I have no other choice. I don't like the look of 29ers and 26" already feels huge and sloppy after riding a bmx! I think I've only actually ever seen a 29er in person once, but I haven't been to a trail centre on a busy day for ages.
not sure ad tbh who cares.
I have a house full of 26" bikes all seem to work very well. But as said above it's not what you got it's what you do with it.
If 29's are that much better then I must be better^2 when I overtake them
My 26" hardtail still has THUMBSHIFTERS, little tiny Suntour XC Pros.
They're fantastic and they weigh nothing.
If you care that much you really should be riding on the road, head to toe in Rapha and waxing your handlebar moustache 😉
I suggest you quit worrying about it and go and get muddy, 26 are quicker to clean.
Nice to see the haterz still hating.
Things change, there's no need to be afraid. 😉
The stats for the 500-odd riders we've had come and stay with us over the last few years are as follows:
26" - 99.8%
29" - 0.02%
The one 29er was an Australian guy who lugged it all the way over. Not sure he was loving it in the switchbacks...
Yay !!! Seems i'm still in the gang HURRAH ! Though the fact that Kona are doing another batch of Rajin Ti 29ers for 2013 is chewing away at my moral fibre 🙄
I'm considering a move to 20" for my off-road but brief and jumpy commute...
No. You are not the only 26 inch wheel rider left...
Although I would love a Kona 29 to add to my collection of 2 mtbs, 1 road bike, 2 bmx cruisers, surfboard , 1 longboard ,1 bodyboard, snowboard, 3 skateboards, frisbees, footballs, rugby ball, Nerf, airobee, boomerang, radio control car, rower, guitar, bass guitar, weber bbq... hand tools, power tools, cordless drill, gardening tools. COFFEE MACHINE (my favourite thing apart from wife and two kids who all have own bikes).
I can't believe you listed Frisbees in there.
Thanks small but not alone
The stats for the 500-odd riders we've had come and stay with us over the last few years are as follows:
26" - 99.8%
29" - 0.02%
Were the remaining 0.18% on 650b (stupid stupid stupid size), cruisers and BMXs? 😉
29"? Err yeah I'm running four road bikes with the aforementioned 29" / 700c wheels.
26? Just brought a 3rd MTB. Really couldn't see the logic of not being able to swap wheels around
No intentions of making my wheels heavier in the near future - so no, you're not.
I popped into the local bike shop (here in Oz) for a quick look round. Ended up having a friendly debate with the lad in the shop about 29er's he even got one off the rack for me to look at. All it did was add to my argument that they look "wrong" and as I'm only 5'8" it would be pointless. He was convinced that they are indeed better and told me that everyone at the local xc race was using 29er's. I then pointed out that I don't race which simply didn't compute in his mind.
He did tell me that he came from a road back ground and had only been MTBing for a couple of years.
They might work for taller folks but I doubt I'll enjoy it. Didn't the guy at HTN win on a 26er this year?
My LBS staff have been to the ATB sales previews this week (Marin Whyte,Wilier) and they all seem to be going for 29ers in a big way next year. When the shop staff point out that there's no demand for 29ers from the general public it just falls on deaf ears. Whyte have alreay admitted that they've had to compromise their suspension design to fit in the larger wheel.
Nope ive just ordered a new bike and its only got 26" wheels, i wanted a speshi camber so thought would wait until 2013 but next years models are 29er only, so i ordered a Camber Expert in the early sales, £1800 for a well equiped 26" wheeled bike, while the basic 29er comes in at £2k? i know i got a better deal than most, plus being 5ft5 ish doubt even the smallest frame will give me any standover.
I did try a Gary Fisher superfly i think it was, great bike but no clearance if i had a crash would have to tell the oh no kids!!
i've just been out with my pal Rob, on our 26ers, i can confirm that i enjoyed it.
there's life in the old girl yet.
i want[s]ed[/s] a spesh camber ... £1800 for a well equiped 26" wheeled bike, while the basic 29er comes in at £2k? ...
specialized lanky tax innit.
(i had a go on a camber 29er, it was great, i want one, but it was nearly twice the price as a similarly specced 26er - they can get bent)