[Closed] Are 29er's dead ?

In simple terms there is now more choice available

Not for 26 er forks. less, much less.

there are people trying new things, some will work some will be dog shit but again more choice

100 more tv channels did lead to better tv and neither will 100 more bike standards with tiny variations.

Just bought the bits and built up a 29er. First rides yesterday (x2) and majorly impressed. Have done a MTB orienteering series this year on my old 26 HT and got 2nd overall. Judging by the speed of the 29er yesterday (and the fact that everyone else in the series rides one) I think I may have just upped my ante.

29" aint dead yet. 🙂

Night riders I ride with are mostly on 29ers. Fair bit of singletrack involved but a lot of them do races. The chat is all about getting a 29er if you don't have one, and 26 is dead. 650b seems to not exist to them.

Weekend warrior rides I do... all about 26, and the odd 650b from folk splashing out on a new bike. 29 is seen as some freak of nature.

Happy with my 26er bikes and only disadvantage I see to the 29ers is whenever we hit a flat out climb, they surge ahead. Hit the twisty, flat or descents and it's all balanced out. That said, the 29er guys tend to just be way fitter than me anyway.

I'd be on 650b but I'm not done with the bikes I've got and don't want to have a mix of wheel sizes. I like to keep stuff compatible. 29 is not even on my radar, though I keep thinking singlespeed for some crazy reason and hard to do that without going 29 (and rigid) 😉

Far from dead.

Love my 29er, it's fast, comfortable and fun!. I will be rebuilding my 26" hardtail for the winter, I'll let you know if 26" wheels are dead.

Trying to decide on a 650b or 29er Remedy 9.8 for next year...

The few rides I've managed to get out on this year I've still only seen a small number of 650b's. I suspect it's because when 29ers came out they were noticeably different to 26ers, and after years of ever increacing travel on trail bike things were tipping bakc towards 100-120mm. So people bought them as there was a space in the garrage for an 'XC' bike. 29er's here to stay for any bike where it can be reasnobly packaged in, 650b (and fatter tyres) just fill in the gaps where designers can't squeeze in the bigger/better wheels.

650b is more of an incramental improvement on 26", so people may buy ito it when they upgrade, but won't go out of their way to buy it as they already have a 26" trail/enduro bike. Bit like you wouldnt rush out to buy this years bike because its a degree slacker and a cm lower than last years, that kind of incramental adjustment just buils up in the system untill you break your old bike and need to replace it.

26" aint dead, but seems like the insudtry's signed a DNR and life suppourt's been turned off and we're just waiting for a few years for it to pass on.

hora - Member
I always say oooo clown bike good naturely when I see one. Scarily on natural/rocky trails I dont see many.

I do actually like the banter that surrounds the whole wheel choice thing; clown bikes, 29ers are gay etc. etc.

buzz-lightyear - Member
Pick a wheel size and be a dick about it

Or just pick a wheel size you like and ride. To me, I just tried 26" and 29" wheels and something about the 29er worked for me - it made the ride more enjoyable and I was able to feel more communication from the bike in a useful way. No doubt, there are some limitations and it can be a bit less fun at jumping and popping off nice little bits of trail, but overall I'm happier on it, other than for downhill where I am nowhere near fast enough to bother swapping my DH for a 27.5 (which I personally think [i]is[/i] the wheel of choice for that discipline).

I can equally see how both 26 and 27.5 wheels have their committed fans.

I hope they're not dying out...I've just bought a 29er and it's ace.

I was a huge 29er skeptic until I tested one.

Nine months on and they seem to be gaining in popularity still, funny that.

I hope they're not dying out...I've just bought a 29er and it's ace.

I was a huge 29er skeptic until I tested one.

Just bought an Enduro 29er and it's a great bike (I do live South of Watford Gap if that matters). Spesh seemed to have the geo nailed on their 29ers right across the range.

So I very much doubt 29 is dead in the water, more on the start of its development curve. I fully expect to see 29ers in DH in the next few years. While 650b has quite literally replaced 26 outright.

So the choice is really 650b v 29 and probably will be for the next few decades at least. For race XC I thought 29 was already a no-brainer? Probably going to be more of an even split for general trail riding and 650b will probably dominate DH in the near future. That's my take anyway.

I hope they're not dying out...I've just bought a 29er and it's ace.

but even if they did die out over time, your bike is still ace and you will still be enjoying riding it. Next time it comes to buying a new bike there will still be good bikes to buy what ever the wheel size currently in fashion is and they will probably be better again.

Extremely happy with my Anthem 29er, its also ace 🙂

whole new generation of [trail/enduro/am] 29ers seem to be coming out with better geo and enough travel for "most" riding, seem ideal for a UK bike.

running a 26er fs, and a 29er HT. the 29er is a bit XC but is still sooo fast on the downs, i'm convinced, next FS will prob be a burly 29er

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Don't you lot make me do it!

I got asked the other day by a gnarpoonist on his retro (26") gnarpoon what it was like probably being the butt of the jokes re wheel size and especially as I was on my rigid 29'er at the time, I simply replied 'I'm not, they're ideal for how & where I ride' then specifically took them down some woodland single track & over a shit load of roots and fallen logs / branches after which they were rather impressed about the rolling abilities of the big wheels over stuff like that.

To me, definitely not dead, to others - yet to realise they've even been born

whole new generation of [trail/enduro/am] 29ers seem to be coming out with better geo and enough travel for "most" riding, seem ideal for a UK bike.

When I was choosing a trail bike last month, there was a lot of choice between 29 and 650b and obviously nothing new in 26. Being over 6' tall and usually keeping my wheels on the ground 29 seemed the better choice for me. But I'm sure either would have worked fine and certainly no regrets choosing the larger wheels.

I came from a 26" trail bike like pretty much everyone has and to be honest I expected a bit of a learning curve with the big wheels, but I just rode it like I always do and it felt right from the off. None of the cumbersome handling you often hear about on some 29ers. I think if the geo is sorted they can still be pretty nimble with all the rollover advantages of bigger wheels.

fitnessischeating - Member

whole new generation of [trail/enduro/am] 29ers seem to be coming out with better geo and enough travel for "most" riding, seem ideal for a UK bike.

Aye... TBH I think a lot of the inertia is from people who rode genuinely substandard 29ers back in the day- my first 29er experience was shit, even though it was a well regarded bike, I didn't quite write them off but it coloured my impressions for a long time. But riding some of the new ones- the Remedy and Five in particular blew me away- they just kick ass.

But it's taken a really long time for there to be a lot of bikes out there like that so maybe there's not much momentum- it's not like 650b where manufacturers surfed the initial wave and got good products in all brackets out very fast.

I do also genuinely feel there are certain physical differences between riders; height, weight, athleticism, confidence, which may lead them to preferring different wheel sizes.

Then there is also the question of how riders want bikes to feel, react and perform. I think you can make a 650b which is very, very similar to a 26" in this regard, but arguably more competent, but that it is not really technically possible to do the same with a 29er.