[Closed] Is 26er gear really worth peanuts nowadays?

How old is it? As with most things strip and sell if you can. 26 isn't that popular really and also now all getting old

Haven't been able to find any 26" 100mm QR forks for a while, been looking to upgrade my wife's HT and everyone seems to want £300 for a set of 4-5 year old XC forks.

How old is it? As with most things strip and sell if you can. 26 isn't that popular really and also now all getting old

As mentioned mike, I'm not selling, luckily got rid of my last 26er when it was still worth something. Just an observation from looking at the clasifieds.

Pretty much. I've a whole "old standard" bike to sell and can barely give it away. Maybe I just need to offer it in parts, then hope someone has a straight-steerer frame that needs forks, a bike that needs 26" wheels, a replacement frame etc. It's a faff with all the postage though. Then you also end up with a pile of parts you can't get rid off (one of the reasons I was able to build Moseys bike so easily).

Maybe hoarding and awaiting Classic/Retro status is the way to go 🙂

Pjay I have a set of fox forks 100mm qr if you are still looking

I'm hoarding. Madness to sell my 26er given current values. I pick up whatever I can and hoard it to replace 26" specific parts as they wear out.

26er wheels routinely sell for less than the hubs are worth 🙁 I was a wee bit slow clearing my 26er stuff after I sold the last bike, ended up giving away a frame to a stwer as it wasn't worth the hassle of selling, sold some nice carbon wheels for probably about half what they'd have sold for in 2014... Still got 2 really nice front wheels and a couple of tyres to "get rid of".

Still, in some ways it's good, you can build a really excellent bike for not much money now- the economics work great as long as someone else took the hit!

Still, luckily my new 29er stuff that I got last year is futureproof and the well-proven 100/135 axle standard will soldier on into the future...

Don't think it's that cheap for the decent stuff tbh. Tat is still tat but hope wheels, fox/rs/dt etc forks in good nick and good quality frames still seem to hold their money to a point.

There's a difference between mega cheap and not as much as the buyer thought.

Anybody got a 26 inch rear qr135 in good nick they are wanting to offload

Yes, this is the sad truth - as you say, the people who switched to 29"/27.5" quickly and sold off probably did OK.

My only advice to owners of 26" MTBs is that unless you're taking competition really seriously and you're sure bigger wheeled bikes will make you go quicker, then just get out and ride, and don't worry about the hype (as said here on this forum many times before).

The only thing that's stopping me getting too fed up about owning four 26" MTBs is that in about 4 to 5 years time, both my sons will be tall enough to ride them. It would cost me more to buy them cheapo MTBs new once they're bigger, than I'd get selling these old bikes. And I'd rather they rode round on high quality bikes (as long as they don't get them stolen outside the sweet shop !).

I'm after a decent set of light QR wheels for the wife's bike and they don't seem that cheap!

Have an ex Torq race team bike in 26" with great kit; it's light - 21lbs with sram 2x10 x0; fox kashima forks.
What's not to like?
Also have Indy Fab steel deluxe 29er frame and fork as rebuild project so I'm not obsessed by wheel size.
The bike world - off road specifically - must look like paradise to marketeers and they are playing it for every penny they can extract.
How many - or few - of the marketeers actually ride?

Marketing - I never knew how much I needed 'that' until you told me.

What a bag of bollox.

Probably, based on someone in our MTB group on Facebook asking if anyone's got a cheap MTB for a family member but stipulating NOT 26.

I'm buying 26" decent tyres to keep me going. I've got 4 almost new Maxxis Advantages hanging up just waiting. Got the last 2 foldy ones for £12.50 each, mint condition.
Thank you 29" & 650b!

EDIT, just read what Frankconway said, well said Frank, my sentiments entirely!

Saw a mint pair of ENVE 26" rims on King hubs, Sapim CX Ray spokes, all in barely used condition on eBay the other day...

£600 they went for!

650b or 29er and they'd have fetched at least double!

[quote=esselgruntfuttock ]I'm buying 26" decent tyres to keep me going. I've got 4 almost new Maxxis Advantages hanging up just waiting. Got the last 2 foldy ones for £12.50 each, mint condition.
I'd have given you a pair for postage.

Ah well....

I'd have given you a pair for postage.
Ah well....

I'll still have them Colin. Seriously.

I stuck them on Moseys bike 🙂

I have my 2013 26" full susser up for sale, it's in good nick and a decent spec. Tbh, if I don't get £700 for it, I'll keep it. I have 2 other 26" bikes, so I can use its parts or my 2 daughters might get use of it in years to come.

I'm surprised that when I look at the 2017 27.5" equivalents, they are no lighter and don't have significantly different geometry...

But I guess fashion sells and the MTB community fell for the marketing hook, line and sinker.

Saw a mint pair of ENVE 26" rims on King hubs, Sapim CX Ray spokes, all in barely used condition on eBay the other day...

£600 they went for!

650b or 29er and they'd have fetched at least double!

Do people actually spend £1200 on used wheels or is that just what they get advertised for?

I reckon £600 is very good since I would've expected anyone with that sort of cash for wheels to have upgraded.

I do think you're either better off changing your kit regularly to or just sticking with what you have for a long time. Most out of date stuff tanks in value.

I'm surprised that when I look at the 2017 27.5" equivalents, they are no lighter and don't have significantly different geometry...

Why are you surprised?
Nobody actually believed all that crap about 'we need a new wheelsize to move design forward' did they?

I fear the marketing men have won..

Yep, this was always the plan, but it isn't simply wheel sizes, over the last 3-5 years or so the frequency with which new (less backwards compatible) standards are rolled out has accelerated significantly.

The number of new parts and/or adapters I would need to fit half my existing bits on a new frame simply makes buying a new frame pretty uneconomic when compared with just getting a whole off the peg bike next time.

But then that's what the bigger players in the industry want, selling more assembled bike bumps volumes throughout their supply chains and helps them buy in bulk, driving down costs, increasing margin. But they're going to have to keep doing it..

The last thing they want is a return to the "good old days" (five years ago) when you could simply buy a bare frame and 80-90% of the parts you already owned would fit straight on it...

It's probably going to hurt smaller 'boutique' outfits a little, still so long as it ensures Specialized, Trek and Giant's future it must be a good thing... Right?

gerti - Member

I'm surprised that when I look at the 2017 27.5" equivalents, they are no lighter and don't have significantly different geometry...

650b adds weight. On geometry though I haven't paid that much attention to 650b bikes but the bigger-slacker-longer thing is definitely making a difference to bikes. It could have been done with 26 (it's also being done with 29) soit's not a benefit of 27.5, hey, maybe it would have happened faster... But geometry [i]is[/i] changing.

[quote=Northwind ]On geometry though I haven't paid that much attention to 650b bikes but the bigger-slacker-longer thing is definitely making a difference to bikes. It could have been done with 26 (it's also being done with 29) soit's not a benefit of 27.5, hey, maybe it would have happened faster... But geometry is changing.
Pretty much nailed it.

Geometry was changing anyway.

Yep, this was always the plan, but it isn't simply wheel sizes, over the last 3-5 years or so the frequency with which new (less backwards compatible) standards are rolled out has accelerated significantly.

650B - pointless toss sold to idiots by shysters.

🙂

Trouble with 26er high end kit is if you are that serious about equipment you won't want to be buying out of date technology, no matter how good. I am surprised that any 26er wheel sells second hand for 600 quid, even if its enve.

I have a 27.5 and a 29er (my dh rig is 26er but don't count that!). My 26er anthem was the best bike I've ever ridden.

tpbiker - Member 
XTR wheelsets for 150 quid

To be fair, XT/XTR wheels have always been relatively cheap anyway. Don't like them due to cup & cone bearings, but makes the hubs cheap and thus wheels cheap. Okay £150 for XTR is very cheap, but then talking classifieds/ebay/etc so assume second hand. I wouldn't pay much for second hand wheels whatever the size.

Thing with 26er wheel stuff is it's either second hand / dubious ebay source and risk your life with whatever condition/quality of the stuff and no warranty, or an increasingly difficult hunt to find anything new. Even wheel builders are dropping 26 stuff (justridingalong - no 26 DT hubs any more and not much other 26 choice either).

I stuck them on Moseys bike

So I couldn't have had them in actual fact? 8)

You could have, if you'd asked before I built Moseys bike...

I'll let you know when I get it back. If the lazy sod doesn't get on it soon, they'll not even be worn 🙂

650b adds weight. On geometry though I haven't paid that much attention to 650b bikes but the bigger-slacker-longer thing is definitely making a difference to bikes. It could have been done with 26 (it's also being done with 29) soit's not a benefit of 27.5, hey, maybe it would have happened faster... But geometry is changing.

This is why I love the Rocket26 I picked up here last year: when it came out four years ago it was crazily long/slack, now it just looks normal.

Sold my last 26"wheeled bike a few years ago a ti on one 456.
I could see it was going to just drop value the longer I kept it.
It was a nice bike. The thing was it wasn't just the wheel size of new bikes. It's everything, all those small detail improvements.
I got some pikes for my full suss bike. Wow those make the talas fox feel a bit dated. Yes no chance of upgrading with a straight steerer.
A dropper is pretty much standard now on my bikes. Not so much choice in 27.2mm
Bought a cheap used on one parkwood to try the 29er thing.
I like it it's good
Anyone wants to hang on to a nice 26er good luck enjoy. But don't blame the cycle industry for constant innovation.
The only constant is change. It's up to you what changes you choose for yourself.

And fwiw I don't miss my 3x9 even if it was xtr. 😉

The wheels on the bike go round and round, round and round......doesn't matter if they're 24"/26"/27'.5"/29" with or without boost or plus or any other extraneous description.
26" will be the new standard so essel will then be able to sell of his stock at massively inflated prices and retire to the Yorkshire Riviera.
Aaah, having just rubbed the crystal ball I see an emerging market for a 861c size for cyclo-gravel and wall of death; let me call my tame marketeer and watch the money roll in.............

Anyone wants to hang on to a nice 26er good luck enjoy. But don't blame the cycle industry for constant [s]innovation[/s] fashion changes.

Fixed that for you.

justridingalong - no 26 DT hubs any more and not much other 26 choice either

Surely that's a function of there not being any real benefit to a 26er hubs? Were 29er specific ones not just brought in to handle a bit more torque apparently (even though we all weigh different amounts etc.)?

edit - I was going to say that a few years ago when I first tried a 29er front wheel only I was totally decided on a 29er being my next bike, but then 26ers became sooo cheap second hand that other wheel sizes are never going to make sense unless you're utterly loaded.

I have several nice 26" that I will be keeping as a like riding them still despite what the mags say.

But I need some new xc forks with straight steerer tube and its either shed loads for a new set or still hundreds and hundreds for pot luck second hand ones. As choice is limited

See here [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/next-hipster-trend ]Next Hipster Trend[/url]

Essel you didn't fix anything. Buy and ride whatever bike wheel size you like. Keep you bikes as long as you like
You can do the same with your shoes too.

I have a 26" long travel steel hard tail and a rigid 29er, horses for courses, I think the 27.5, the plus size is just markrtin, does the average rider really see the difference.
As regarding new wheel sizes etc, met three youngish guys top Llandegla the other week on e bikes, what is the point if you dont like riding bicycles then buy a motorbike ahh wont be able to ride round Llandegla though, however the track to the masts is so cut up now it probably has been ridden by weighty e bikes

Wheel size makes no difference to my pace or fun on any of my bikes but a shortage of straight steerer decent forks will be the 26ers undoing for me.

OK, looks like my old forks might be worth something 🙂

Surely you could just run 27.5 forks at a push? Or are they also tricky to get in straight steerer?

I have several nice 26" that I will be keeping as a like riding them still despite what the mags say.

Thinking seriouslyt though I picked up one of the last gen 26" frames it's about 4 years old now, warranty goes for 1 more year. Second hand prices on 4 year old 650b kit isn't setting the world on fire either.

i have a carbon 26 whyte that i love but the fox 32's were knackered and i was havin a real problem findin straiht steerer forks for less than the bike cost. However i found a chap who replaces the stanchions for around 110 quid by return post and this miht just help me keep the bike for another 8 years or so.
uess which letter isnt workin on keyboard

Do people actually spend £1200 on used wheels or is that just what they get advertised for?

I'm going to assume you're not the target market with that comment... Took some King hubs on 650b ENVE M60's in PX the other day, sold em for £1400. Buyer is ecstatic with his new wheels, they're in nearly new condition, and he saved 50% off the price of a new pair!

Another friend just picked up a set for himself, beat the seller down to £1200 (basically cos it's January, and nobody has any money, and he waved £1200 cold hard cash under the sellers nose) from £1400.

Sold my old ENVE AM (older model rim) 29er wheels on King hubs for £1150 last year, buyer was ecstatic with them!

I've seen them fetch upwards of £1800 on ebay though, at the height of summer and with original receipts etc.

So yes... They do...

I reckon £600 is very good since I would've expected anyone with that sort of cash for wheels to have upgraded.

Good for the buyer, I winced for the seller! Those hubs are £750 for the pair new now, easily worth £400 in good condition on their own, so the £850 each (when new) rims effectively went for only £100 each! They looked like they'd not been ridden from the photos!!!

It's probably going to hurt smaller 'boutique' outfits a little, still so long as it ensures Specialized, Trek and Giant's future it must be a good thing... Right?

This...

In spades...

And people wonder why I hate Trek and Spesh so much (and increasingly Giant too these days)... I sell bikes all day long for a living, but it pains me knowing that some of the brands are only pushing new "standards" purely so they can sell something new to the same customers every couple of years!

650b adds weight. On geometry though I haven't paid that much attention to 650b bikes but the bigger-slacker-longer thing is definitely making a difference to bikes. It could have been done with 26 (it's also being done with 29) soit's not a benefit of 27.5, hey, maybe it would have happened faster... But geometry is changing.

Agreed

I did exactly the same... Made the conscious decision in 2013 to sell (almost) all of my 26" stuff and go 29er. Have had a go on many good 650b bikes since, but wouldn't buy one. They don't feel significantly different to 26" wheels, and I definitely prefer the bigger hoops these days.

Anyone wants to hang on to a nice 26er good luck enjoy. But don't blame the cycle industry for constant innovation.

I agree about the innovation point, one thing that didn't really need innovating (considering there was already the 29er choice) was the wheel size IMO.

The only constant is change. It's up to you what changes you choose for yourself.

And fwiw I don't miss my 3x9 even if it was xtr.

Quite... Front derailleurs on an MTB! 🙄

😉

Wheel size makes no difference to my pace or fun on any of my bikes but a shortage of straight steerer decent forks will be the 26ers undoing for me.

It was the rarity of straight steerer 26" forks already in 2013 that made me make the conscious decision to sell up all my 26" there and then. I had 2 bikes, both really needed a new fork, and choices were already very limited by that point. Does anybody still make one new now?

As for your other point. I believed wheel size wouldn't make any difference to my speed, but that actually bigger wheels might decrease my fun potentially. Fortunately I was wrong on both counts, Strava proved instantly that I was quicker on 29ers, and I've since had a string of 29ers that have also been huge fun to ride too...