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If they are a dying breed then hopefully I can get some bargain hope hoops as 29" wheels are too big for me.
Anybody wanting a 29'er please sell me your 26" wheels for cheap.
Thank you
I love riding mountain bikes, I'm absolutely addicted (this will be my 28th year)....and it will also be my first with a 29er in the shed. I didn't buy the 29er because of any kind of hype or marketing BS, or because someone on a forum said they were ace. No, I bought it because I tried a demo version for a weekend and absolutely loved it. It was also the first mountain bike in nearly 28 years that fitted me like it was custom made (I'm 6' 2" and gangly) and without having to compromise on frame size or component choice. Although I've kept hold of my 160mm travel 26" wheeled bike I have a funny feeling it's just going to gather dust this year. It's early days on the 29er but it really does feel sorted and ready to ride all the gnar I can throw at it, from local hills to big days out in the mountains. I'm really looking forward to exploring it's boundaries including, I hope, a run or two down the Fort William DH course.
26" wheels dead? Probably not in the short term but for me.....possibly. It all depends on what I plan to buy as a replacement for the Blue Pig that was sold to help fund the 29er. A 650b hardtail would be a nice project.
it's the worry that I might decide on 26in and in 3 years time struggle to buy, for example, decent tyres
There are gazillions of 26ers already sold, there will be plenty of tyres I think. I wouldn't let that stop you getting a 26.
This is the marketing genius of 29" wheels. People talk endlessly about which is the best, is 26" going to die out etc. How 29'ers are so much better than 26'ers. I swear MTB'ers are the biggest kit geeks on the planet.
It's a wheel. Slightly larger. Rolls better. Good for some things, not so good for others.
Is 26" going to die out?. Don't be silly.
The way people carry on it is like someone has invented the wheel, rather than enlarged it slightly.
Of course none of us really know what will happen, but it's equally likely that 29ers will die out as 26 inch bikes. If I were buying a new bike I'd be just as concerned that I might just be buying into a short term fad with a 29er as that I'd be buying an obsolete standard with a 26 inch bike. Either could be true.
Having spent a few months on a 29er I struggle to see what the fuss is about really. The difference isn't that great, but I do tend to think that 26 inch bikes are more fun (i.e. easier to chuck about) and since most of us ride for fun my guess is that the 26 inch bike will make a comeback and 650B will allow all those early-adopters who bought into the 29er thing to get back to smaller wheels without having to admit that the were wrong.
Is there no end to the way the same questions and answers can keep cropping up every day.
Ride whatever you want no one gives a shit.
Ride whatever you want no one gives a shit
I was looking for opinion not permission 🙂
Looking for opinion(ated) posters? Well, you've come to the right place! 😉
And by the way, you're wrong. (whatever the question is/was)
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Yes. (But very slowly).
The thing i find is that people seem to think it's entire due to a couple more inches of wheel diameter than the new bread of 29r's are "so good". Well yes, although i have seen no actual scientific data to prove this, a large diameter wheel might roll better (for which i mean less vertical input into the frame and maybe lower drag) over some surfaces), however, that new 29r is also likely to have a longer wheelbase, a shorter stem, wider bars, a lower BB, probably a shorter headtube, almost certainly a steeper seatpost and slacker head angle plus longer chain stays etc etc.
It's those differences to your "old" bike you are feeling, not just the fact the wheels are a tiny little bit bigger!
maxtorque very true. I have a Kona Unit for my local easy trails and family days out bike. Singlespeed, 29er, steel, rigid niche-machine. I was really disappointed with how hard it was to manual and blamed the fact it was a 29er. I put a 20mm shorter stem on it for £20 and bob's yer mother's brother.
emac65, that's why I said normally. I've not noticed a 29er being any worse than my 26 at anything, but better in quite a few areas, hence why I'll probably get one.
S'funny,I've got two of them(I like to buy bikes)& I really haven't noticed them being that much better(or worse) at anything,they just feel different.Swings & roundabouts with 'em tbh........
All my mates ride 26" wheel bikes, so my next bike (if and when I ever get round to buying it) will probably be 26" too. That way if I ever get a puncture (and have run out of tubes) or vice versa...
And I'll believe 26" is dead when the supermarkets start selling 29" bikes.
It's a no to 29ers from me. 650B may be the salvation though. Dunno, I'll try one and see what it's like. If I prefer the 26" and they're still around at new bike time (I have a suspicion they will be) then I'll buy another.
No biggie, choice is rarely a bad thing.
Was considering buying a new frame this winter for enduro racing next year but thought I'd wait another year and see what the 650b market brings.
Brian Lopes said it best:
“It’s a bike for people who are old and lazy and need something better. If you have an aggressive riding style, you’re not riding a 29er.”
[url= http://www.leelikesbikes.com/brian-lopes-testing-29ers.html ]source[/url]
How many people on here would Brian consider to be an aggressive rider though. 😉
male and female , we all want a few more inches..........
get out and ride...............
Brian Lopes said it best:“It’s a bike for people who are old and lazy and need something better. If you have an aggressive riding style, you’re not riding a 29er.”
He's just a bloke who's livelihood depends on getting press attention. Really who cares.
I love it how some people get so animated on this subject, there is a bunch of people who feel they must defend 26. It makes no sense to me at all that they feel the need to be so defensive.
mattjgHe's just a bloke who's livelihood depends on getting press attention. Really who cares.
What, is he on TOWIE now or something? He's a professional rider. His livelihood depends on riding his bike at a level you'll probably never get near so his opinion carries a bit more weight than yours.
I've been very vocal on 29ers of late because the sheer amount of guff spoken about them seems to have exploded recently. Choice is a wonderful thing, but not when it comes at cost of losing something fantastic ie 26inch mtb, and not when it leads to yet more standards, driving costs up.
The bike industry simply won't sustain 3 wheel,fork,frame,tyre sizes. something will have to give.
26inch bikes are nigh on perfect - and now we are being told they are obsolete by people who frankly can't ride or by people who's agenda is to sell new bikes or to sell advertising to those people. Soon we will have another dozen or so new standards to try and bastardise 26 inch geometry with 29 inch wheels when there is no need - no one ever rode a good 26inch wheel bike and concluded it's wheels were too small. Until very recently.
I have still yet to see one in the flesh being ridden in anything resembling style skill or speed .
Someone thinks they're as gnar as Brian. 😆
bland - Member
You do realise that 29ers are purely the product of a marketing department in distress after years of flat lining sales.
Thats it, purely a product designed to increase full bike sales, hence why big bike companies havent adopted 650B as you can run the wheels in a lot of frames, 29ers mean a full new bike sale.
26" will be back in Vogue once 29er sales flatline.
If it was any better to run a bigger wheel then surely MX bikes would have done it first as the spend on development is far bigger over there (and they havent).
All a load of marketing BS and you have been taken in by it im afraid
POSTED 8 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
This is absolutely spot on!
muddyfunster - Member
mattjg
He's just a bloke who's livelihood depends on getting press attention. Really who cares.
What, is he on TOWIE now or something? He's a professional rider. His livelihood depends on riding his bike at a level you'll probably never get near so his opinion carries a bit more weight than yours.
I've been very vocal on 29ers of late because the sheer amount of guff spoken about them seems to have exploded recently. Choice is a wonderful thing, but not when it comes at cost of losing something fantastic ie 26inch mtb, and not when it leads to yet more standards, driving costs up.
The bike industry simply won't sustain 3 wheel,fork,frame,tyre sizes. something will have to give.
26inch bikes are nigh on perfect - and now we are being told they are obsolete by people who frankly can't ride or by people who's agenda is to sell new bikes or to sell advertising to those people. Soon we will have another dozen or so new standards to try and bastardise 26 inch geometry with 29 inch wheels when there is no need - no one ever rode a good 26inch wheel bike and concluded it's wheels were too small. Until very recently.
I have still yet to see one in the flesh being ridden in anything resembling style skill or speed .
POSTED 14 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
Too true!
26 is perfect. It won't ever stop being in demand.
What's this all got to do with 29ers?
If anything kills off 26" it'll be 650B. Could take a chunk of 29" sales too.
[b]muddyfunster[/b] - MemberWhat, is he on TOWIE now or something? blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
It was only a matter of time!
i got too many mtb' s now that I dont use enough.
29er is aimed at the newbie or the niche-type (AttentionSeekingWhore)
I guess I been mtbing too long to be that into mtbing anymore to buy into the marketing BS.
700cc does it for me nowadays anyway. On & off road.
At 5'3" I'm pretty short :P, I normally ride a trek fuel x8 but took out the specialized fate for a spin. It fit perfectly, handled great even though it is a girls bike. It could have been new bike syndrome or the fact it was maybe 4 kg lighter, but it was much faster. Very nice bike.
So many legends on just one forum. We are truly blessed.
29er is aimed at the newbie or the niche-type (AttentionSeekingWhore)
Been riding 12 years so I'm not a newbie, that makes me a ...
We should settle this with a race. 26er riders of the forum versus 29er riders of the forum. Results will settle the argument once and for all. Any takers?
Gravity enduro style race?
What helped me really understand the pros and cons of different wheel sizes was riding my BMX to work over the same (most offroad) route as my 26" hardtail, and playing on the same jumps etc with it. I can now totally see why some riders would like bigger wheels and why some would like smaller wheels - it's just a question of choosing the balance of compromises that suits your preferences. And those preferences aren't all quantitative differences, just as two riders of similar ability, riding similar trails, may ride quite different bikes that they're both very happy with.
Personally I like relatively slack, relatively long-forked hardtails with big tyres (easily 27") and I feel mine has tanklike abilities at rolling over stuff and rarely short of grip uphill or speed on the flat (subject to my legs!) so the last thing I want is something that rolls better at the expense of acceleration in all directions. If 26ers die out I'll be amazed but if they do I'm sure whatever replaces them will be great. If it isn't then someone will spot a business opportunity and relaunch the amazing new revolutionary 26er! 😉
Uphill down dale, xc, enduro, gravity enduro, dh. Agreeing on a format will be the issue 😉
A race to the cafe might be most fitting.
Why is it always about Skillz and speed ...why can I not just mince around on my 29er like I did on my 26er
I think I'm reasonably quicker on a 29er than I was on a 26er. But I ride with people who are still quicker on a 26er than I am on my 29er, and they always were when we were all on 26ers too.
I don't see what that shows except some people are quicker than others, and wheel size is not a magic bullet. But we already know that. One still has to pedal the damn things!
Maybe we could just do some research into what members ride and what niche they aspire to.
I'll start. I ride a 26er and I'm a lonewolf.
Next!
26 is not dead and will take a lot of killing. We still have more tyres more wheels and more frames. 29 is still to new to be judged as a stayer especially with 650 on its heels. Personal opinion it will be 26 and one other size for xc racers and people who want to be different and ride smooth trails or roads.
The industry have already found the limitations of 29" and it'll remain relegated to hardtails and short travel trail bikes. Not exactly the silver bullet they were hoping for.
Now the industry have realised that if they want to offer long travel bikes they need to go back to a smaller wheel size - which is why they're now pushing 650b, claiming all the benefits of both wheel sizes (more marketing BS).
Not all current 26" frames have the clearances/geometry to simply stick a set of 650b wheels in - so the industry will still be able to sell another lot of complete bikes and components.
so the industry will still be able to sell another lot of complete bikes and components.
Do wheel sizes encourage many more sales than this year's fork preference compatibility, head tubes, slacker angles, different suspension etc?
No-one in the industry I know is daft enough to think that 29" is a solution for all, I think rigid to shorter travel FS is where it belongs.
Like we've accepted that (eg) 140mm travel or more can work for XC, we're accepting that 26" wheels aren't the optimum performer for many riders, 29ers started that though process and 650B is gaining popularity because of it. No-one's saying "26 is sh1t", more the case that enough people are voting from experience, riding what they prefer of the options presented. Bikes have always evolved and always had obselescence included.
What I am more concerned about is the vastness of options for wheels, travel, type = many buyers confused, holding back from buying, waiting for 650B FS, etc. That's not good for the industry so anyone saying 'it's all marketing bs /sales driven' - the market confusion is the known flip-side to all this, it's not win-win for bike brands and that is always a factor with new categories, standards etc. Get on the wrong one and lose a year's sales growth, etc. The windsurfing industry made this kind of mistake years back with everyone thinking they needed 5 different sails and 2 or more boards, sales suffered there too.
Thinking about what makes me buy a new bike, it things that give obvious improvements, like the introduction of suspension or disc brakes. Neither 29 inch nor 650b wheels do that. Most people looked swamped by a 29er and they steer like barges - and so are actually worse not better. I have tried a few 29ers and the things that I liked about them were all to do with them being new bikes and nothing to do with wheelsize. Seems like the industry is flailing around looking for the next best thing and sales advantage but is actually putting everything at risk by confusing the market and alienating it's customers. So I will wait to see what happens before parting with cash
The main mass producing manufacturers will decide this for us. They can't and won't stand for three wheel sizes, it's too costly to develop and produce frames and bikes across that whole spectrum, with Specialized already making commitments to 29ers and Schwalbe now ceasing to make RR's in 26inch, only in 650b and 29er. It will settle on either 26er and 29er or 650b and 29er. The battle seems to be moving to one between 26 inch and 650b rather than 26inch and 29inch. However there are plenty of small independent manufacturers that will support the ousted wheel size for plenty of time to come. I'm past caring now. I don't think it is a case of one of the option wheel size being wrong for you, unless you're a keen racer chasing seconds. Buying the wrong bike for you will have a bigger impact than buying the 'wrong' wheel size. Just ride what you've got, and by the time it breaks the wheel size wars will be over.
Schwalbe now ceasing to make RR's in 26inch
I expect they'll keep the tooling though so can start up again at any time - just a short-term demand thing.
By RR - do you mean Ralph or Rons?