[Closed] Have 29ers finally won the wheel size war ?

We now have 29er downhill bikes with mudguards.

Your assumption may be correct.

Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans.....

Sorry kittens .

That, clearly.  The industry's not going to quit now; they'll come back fighting with "ultraboost 179 allows us to use the 29.7 size we always hoped we could - except if you're riding tech, where the superstiff 28.3 reigns supreme"

B+ and fat are likely to continue IMO, albeit perhaps nichely.

If I could predict the future I wouldn't be wasting my time on here, but yes, my guess is that 29ers will take over. Manufacturers wont stop comming out with pointless new standards or new innovations depending on your point of view, but I don't think having to produce 27.5 and 29 versions of everything helps them. They'd rather sell us one wheelsize this year and something different next year.

31.5 super boosted double plus is the next big thing. Makes the trails come alive by 30% more than 29 did.

Sad. Enjoying riding my 26er again.

What about short people? I don't know, but I can't imagine a 16" frame 29er being that great. Maybe it's fine, even if it does look clown-bikey.

And isn't 650B+ pretty much standard for those electrically assisted things that we'll all be riding soon? Or are they going 29 too? [size=4](Not that they're really mountain bikes, of course)[/size]

Didn't realise there was a war going on. Things change, industries try out new ideas, some work, some don't. 29ersdidn't work initially as they were trying to squeeze in 29 inch wheels into a conventional 26"frame back when the thinking was all about short chainstays and short wheelbases. But now the thinking is that short chainstays and short wheelbases is actually not all that and maybe longer bikes with longer chainstays is the better geometry for bikes that want to go down hill fast. So once you start changing the geometry then it opens up possibilities for other things and larger wheelsizes start to work better.

Not everybody wants to charge down hill as fast as they  can and not everybody is the same size so there is still a need for alternative bike geometries and wheel sizes. Who says you have to have one bike that can do everything? one wheel size for everything? The idea of having only one standard of everything when the sport has diversified so much over the years is bat shit crazy.

Count yourself lucky with the innovation in MTB'ing. The roadies are still arguing the toss about disk brakes! One sport is innovative and forward thinking, not afraid to break with convention and try new things, the other is stuck in the dark ages with the luddites.

Even as a fan of 29ers myself, there’s way too much importance attached to the size of wheels. There are some fantastic 27.5 bikes out there, not to mention a plethora of legendary 26” bikes.

I like 29ers, but for techy stuff they're never going to suit short people.

I can't see 27.5 or even 26 totally dying out.

That said, bigger wheels are winning the wheel size war, BITD 24in was a thing, particularly on the rear.

there was a war?

Still rocking 26" here, ram yer "progress"! 😆 I'm 5'9" I see no attraction to getting a bike with clown wheels!

I think I read about loads of people at darkfest running 26" wheels in 27.5" frames...

there was a war?

You don't know, man!

YOU WEREN'T THERE!

You don’t know, man!

YOU WEREN’T THERE!

As the war was mostly fought on the internet it was easy to confuse it with development.

I hope so, my Capra 29 arrived yesterday 😀

I am a fan of 29ers I'll admit.

Although I'm waiting for the next instalment when 26ers make a come back under the 'agility' USP.

Although I’m waiting for the next instalment when 26ers make a come back under the ‘agility’ USP

Probably best not hold your breath.....

I think I read about loads of people at darkfest running 26″ wheels in 27.5″ frames…

Ah, your typical mtber, right there...

my next new bike will be 27.5, with a 135mm rear hub

my next bike will have 2 wheels, I'll make sure I check what size before buying  a couple of spare tubes....

29 suits me and my type of riding, so I won't be looking at anything else.  I'm still slightly surprised Giant got this so wrong.

spare tubes

Oooh, get you retro king...

my next new bike will be 27.5, with a 135mm rear hub

My Demo runs just that...

26" wheels are slow for me, 29er Xc with skinny tyres Fast. i'd prefer a bike somewhere inbetween

650b/27.5 I'll take it..

agree alot of companies now making 29er only in some models and using 27.5 on the small/medium bikes

I’ll make sure I check what size before buying  a couple of spare tubes….

Not that I picked a random inner tube out of the box the other week <insert embarrassed smiley>

Is it safe to say that 29ers will be the dominant wheel size in the forseeable future and 27.5 will gradually become less popular , possibly mostly used on smaller frame size bikes like Trek and Cannondale do now with their smart wheelsize models ?

Nah, I think 27.5 will take up about the same proportion of the market that 26" did previously, maybe a little less now 29ers are seen as more "Gnarr Capable"...

It's worth noting that 27+ is a popular thing and lets companies essentially sell the same frame in "29er" and "Plus" versions to appeal to a broader spectrum of customers...

I reckon someone will have another crack at really pushing 29+ aside from Stache owners and wierdy beardy Jones owners they've not really broken through to make a mainstream niche for them, but there's a market to be exploited I reckon...

Having at least two dominant sizes is probably a "Good" thing from a manufacturers stand point, it's another differentiator, another way to sub-divide the market and sell more new shiny bikes that are beterer than last years.

I do think those manufacturers providing the option to size wheels along with the frame for midgets/giants makes some sense. Those at the extreme ends of human physical scale deserve a bit of consideration...

I do note that "Road plus" (650b rims with ~45mm+ tyres) is a thing they're keen to push now, especially to the US gravel crowd... clearly trying to pull the same trick in a different niche...

I reckon we're settled on 622/584mm rims for a few years now, it's going to be the tyres where they try to twist things from here on, that and changing your hubs/brake mounting/Steerer tube and BB every ten minutes... 😉

29 suits me and my type of riding, so I won’t be looking at anything else.  I’m still slightly surprised Giant got this so wrong

Maybe they don't know you well enough 😉

Maybe they don’t know you well enough

They only had to ask, and I could have told them all about it 🙂

There was only a "war" because people get all protective over the type of bike they ride. Personally I hope they carry on building all of them...……….. Maybe even make a few more sizes, as it gives me an excuse to buy, "not another bloody bike"....

I'm a fan of all wheel sizes,as they all offer something a little bit different....

36er's are where it's at 😉

I'm 5'9" and I've got a 26er commencal meta am and a 29er cotic solaris. Love em both. Never ridden a 650b bike. Do I win anything?

how smashed in is that Xsara?

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I’m 5’9″ and I’ve got a 26er commencal meta am and a 29er cotic solaris. Love em both. Never ridden a 650b bike. Do I win anything?

Yes

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I've not ridden a 29er that isn't an xc bike - so my impressions may be wrong, but I found them very quick but un-involving to ride.

In the future I may give something the equivalent of my Soul & t-130 a ride to see how it feels, but currently I'm more than happy on 650b.

The issue with the initial push of mainstream 29ers a few years ago was that the majority seemed to carry forward 26" geometry at first so they legitimately felt dead. Gearing was also often wrong on low end bikes. Niche makers fared better and imo Trek were naturally the best big brand offer.

First 29er I owned was a Trek Stache (2014 29 version not 29+) and that was a sharp as any other bike at the time. Helped by the 51mm fork offset.

There was clearly an initial push back from this era a few years ago where 29ers seemed to suck at all bar roll-over and comparatively the 650b brought the trails alive. Weight penalty was also prevelant.

Now geometry has definately progressed to a stage 29ers from most brands are brilliant. But so are 650B as they too have matured.

For cross country their is little reason not to go 29er. For trail and fun then either 650B or 29 and ultimately which ever works for you but yea the good 29ers now are really good.

27.5+, now there is a dead duck...

This is from the perspective of a casual rider with friends and colleagues who spend loads on bikes and gear for recreational purposes only.

My only Mtb is a 29er hardtail with 120mm forks. I'm pretty short and it fits fine and it's good in the tech stuff I like riding. However, if I wanted something with more travel I'd choose 27.5 wheels as the stack height would be too high on a longer travel 29er.  I think there's room for both wheel sizes in the market. Maybe more companies will be making frames that fit both, like the new Kona Operator.

All I know is, whoever wins we lose.

At least 27.5 Fat seems to have been roundly ignored...

As long as DT Swiss still sells 26 er rims everything will be fine.

I enjoy biking all kind of different mountain bikes with very different wheelsets. Would be a bit boring to bike "only 29 er". My 29er is the winter mud bike. Love it in winter time.

Right now is all mountain time of the year. This means 27.5 and 2.6 rubber. And to "walk" my dog(s) an different bike with different wheel size is needed (of course. Small dog and big dog)....

andreasrhoen -

What about the EWS teams. How many of them run 29" wheels? And more importantly how many of the top/fastest bikes are 29ers???......

Right now, b+ wheels are stronger than 29 and running 2.8s on 29 would carry unnecessary weight. Done 29, enjoying b+ more (for now) with phenomenal fat tyre grip.

 was a sharp as any other bike at the time. Helped by the 51mm fork offset.

And then you get wind of the next trend being to diss the big offsets; small offsets and big trail have apparently become a thing (Chris Porter) but potentially because the target for these hoopy froods is Enduro dominance rather than "sharp" responses.

Maybe we should generally acknowledge that this "industry" is in the fashion business.

Done 29, enjoying b+ more (for now) with phenomenal fat tyre grip.

What all of them?

I bought a lovely bling set of Mavic crossthingys 27.5 last year (sale) complete with tyres. I removed tyres as I was putting chunkier rubber on and setting up tubeless.

Great I thought at least I’d have couple of 27.5 inner tubes for emergencies. They were 26” 🙁

Conning barstewards :-/

Afaik, the problem with 27.5+ is getting tyres with strong enough sidewalls that don't weigh a tonne.

though, I can see them being popular on e bikes where weight isn't a consideration.

i don't see rim sizes going bigger than 29/ 700c as it may involve too many compromises in geometry/ tyre choice.

i find half-fat to be super rapid without making any compromises.

as a lot of mtb's end up on the road, I see half-fat as the choice for urbanista's, savvy        to the increasing proliferation of potholes and tramlines.

I think that most riders, especially beginners aprreciate the stability of the bigger wheels.*

so 29 has won out, though it remains to be seen what effect a 27.5+ slick would have on the general mass of commuters/ weekend warriors.

*ultimately that was why mtb's were so popular in the day..wider handlebars than drop-bar bikes and the controls on the handlebars and not on the downtubes=safer.