[Closed] RIP 26"

I have ridden both 29 and 26 recently. My first go on a 29 was a fully rigid single speed and it was brilliant! so fast up hill, rolled over all the roots and rocks I thought might send me over the bars no problem and generally coped with everything I thought I needed suspension up front for. I was impressed. It was bloody harsh though.

Then I got a go on a Yelli this weekend and went for some fast times on various bits of trail I know well (Strava content beware!) and I went faster everywhere but in all honestly I was trying harder and it was a perfect weekend for it! It went over rocks and roots nicer (Not necessarily faster) and cornered well with predictable slides where I thought maybe a 26 would have washed out. This was first thing in the morning and was fun but not wow this is the future fun..

That evening i went and did the same trails on my 26 (C456) and was near as damn it the same time down everything, I can't say I noticed much more harshness in ride and got to the bottom just as out of breath as the 29.

So in summary. I'll most likely get a 29 single speed rigid for most of the riding round the surrey hills and hold on to the C456 for everything else.

Not tried a 650b so can't comment.

FWIW ^^ i know this rider, this rider got skills, this rider would be fast on a baking tray.

what size baking tray?

Non stick ?

I like bikes. They go as fast as I pedal them.

As to the pressing baking tray issue - non stick 10 inch round for me with a sprung clip on the side to get the sponge out. All other trays are wrong and to be discontinued.

Expect massive Yorkshire Puddings. Ace!

Any baking tray, read his post, size doesn't matter!

As to the pressing baking tray issue - non stick 10 inch round for me with a sprung clip on the side to get the sponge out. All other trays are wrong and to be discontinued.

This is clearly a tin. Tin's are unrideable unless the press tell us they are better.

oliverd1981 - Member

So when I run 2.5's instead of 2.1's I'm already 650bing? (until they go bald anyway)

See, if I was pushing 650b, this is the truth that'd bother me- with 29ers, it's a big difference, you can't really predict how it'll feel til you try it. With 650b, it's a small difference, everyone who's ridden small 26 inch tyres and big 26 inch tyres knows exactly how much difference it makes, and therefore knows it's ****-all, and lost in the noise.

I can't remember anyone ever saying they preferred bigger 26 inch tyres because of the better roll-over, that's a comment reserved for wheel sizes... But the difference is the same.

Oh and cheers Mattjg, for the compliment and the bikes!

560b Northwind? Is 650b over already? I can't keep up! Have all those gullible fools that bought into 650b been shafted yet again by the industry great and good?

So what do we call a 650 front 560 rear bike then?

65056

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome

560b

26,27.5, or 29? Do i care? no. My bikes last me for 10+ years so if 26" goes i'll take advantage of the clearance prices of tyres and tubes and deal with changing my bike in another 10 years.

Non-ninja edit!

Seeing as you mentioned Yorkshire puddings - whats best, tin or tray.

Am wanting big ones.

Tray - tin is just skill compensation.

I just bought a 26" hans dampf for 20 bucks. sweet. let the trendies pay through the nose for the new stuff.

I live near Malaga where there are roughly 50% riding road bikes and 50% riding mtb's.Everyone seems to have the latest Fox front forks and many full suspension.Thing is that here people are not all 6ft plus so 95% ride 26ers.In my LBS today he has 21 mtb's with 26" wheels and only 3 29ers.As for 650B's they have never even heard of them.The market for cycles is much bigger here than the U.K so chances are nothing much is likely to change.I rode the competition course where the BBC soap Eldorado was made today and it is hard enough with small wheels so dread to think how a 29er would cope.

Which baking tray for Spanish rocky technical courses ?

rode the competition course where the BBC soap Eldorado was made

Those aren't rocks - they're the crumbled dreams of so many soap stars

I rode the competition course where the BBC soap Eldorado was made today

Now just waiting for 25" wheels to be made for especially for the vertically challenged as another marketing gimmick.

Without wishing to be rude, how tall are you Toys19?

No rudeness, I'm 167cm, or 5ft 5 3/4, but I have short legs 27 ish inside leg..

I asked cy about 29ers (like the solaris) he pointed me towards the soul or my current BFe.
It worries me that people think 26er tech will become deprecated as TBh I love MTB and it is a big part of my life. I dread not being able to enjoy it as much as I currently do, just because of the whim of a marketing dickhead.

Toys19 - I wouldn't worry - there will be plenty of riders who see 26ers as being more "core". They are more fun, turn quicker etc. So i doubt, in the next 15 years the supply of 26er tyres and rims will dry up.
And if it does , there will be someone old skool offering stock.

TBH - it makes a lot of sense - taller riders having 29ers, mid/norm size 26ers , and maybe those of a more compact stature should be having 24 inch wheels and tyres developed ....

I asked cy about 29ers (like the solaris) he pointed me towards the soul or my current BFe.
It worries me that people think 26er tech will become deprecated as TBh I love MTB and it is a big part of my life. I dread not being able to enjoy it as much as I currently do, just because of the whim of a marketing dickhead.

Smaller UK Bike Brands will continue to make 26" frames if there's demand which I'm sure there will be judging by our historical stubbornness in not confirming 😀

Wheels can be built as long as rims and spokes are available, and almost all other parts will continue to be cross compatible. The only problem might be forks if Fox, Rockshox, BOS, Marzzochi etc drop 26" but again I think that's unlikely if there's a demand for them; they may just become more expensive if produced and sold in smaller numbers.

dood you have nothing to be worried about at all, seriously, chill out

[quote=toys19 ]Without wishing to be rude, how tall are you Toys19?
No rudeness, I'm 167cm, or 5ft 5 3/4, but I have short legs 27 ish inside
I'm only 5'7" and ride a [b]Medium [/b]El Mariachi - there are two sizes smaller than that, and that's with 29er wheels. I don't think you've anything to fear if 650B suddenly becomes world-conquering.

excessive worrying, is it a small person thing?

On my ride last night with a group of riders mainly riding 26er's, I ride 29er's by the way, the thought came to me as I was negotiating a very tricky rocky steep climb that I was actually struggling turning my gate front wheel onto my chosen path. I missed it so had to ride over the rocks instead so! if I had that slightly smaller front wheel, 27.5", would it have made negotiating easier? A 26" front wheel would have been better at that precise moment in guess!
I might buy a 650b front wheel and give it a go for those technical rides and then lift the stem 35mm!
What do you think?

I've only just got used to big wheels (26") after coming from BMX I certainly ain't ever gona go any bigger!!!

It's not 27.5

650b is closer to 26 than 29
Can't be arsed to look up the iso numbers again
But 650b is a whole 18mm bigger than 26

The whole point of capitalism and marketing is they're supposed to mean that companies survive by meeting the needs of their customers...
So it'll be a pretty poor show if those of us who're perfectly happy with 26 inch wheels have to buy whole new bikes on the whim of the manufacturers...

[IMG] [/IMG]

It really is a non-issue. The size difference is akin to when I moved from Speed King 2.1 (which measure less and are low profile) to XR4 2.2 and then Rubber Queen 2.2 (both measure just over and are tall profile). 650b forks are perfect for running 26" wheels with big tyres without them clogging in mud.

All the tooling for 26" wheels and tyres already exists and you can bet that very little will be scrapped, in preparation for either owning the 26" niche, supporting 26"'s continued popularity or being ahead of the pack when 26" becomes the new big thing! 😉 And frames suit very low production volumes so however small the niche someone will be filling it.

The forest where Eldorado was set has a course about 3km long.single track and all up and down with tight turns.Most people come from the U.K for the downhill stuff.Here we do mostly gravel track cross country and uphill stuff with a bar somewhere on the route.

I am perfectly happy with my 26er, it's only 2 yrs old and I intend to carry on being happy with it and get my money's worth out of it for a few years yet.

I remember when skinny 700c Mavic MA40's were rerolled and rewelded for 26" MTB's so we could run a rounder tye profile and lighter wheels (and break our thumbs fitting tyres). Someone will always be able to do that for us with a longer circumference rim if we choose to stick in the past.

I got fed up with tech and standards running away from me and my paperboy wage when I first started this MTB thing. For that reason I have always been a late adopter and watched things from the sidelines usually only going for a 'new' standard in it's 3rd years incarnation or more. From recollection in 1994 I decided my new bike had to have an aheadset and SPD's. Then in 1996 I got a suspension fork; 1997 V brakes and 8 speed; 2003 I went full-suss and 9 speed; 2005 disc brakes; 2009 HTII.

I am now too set in my ways to worry and have left the race. Sticking with my 9 speed, 25.4 dia, 660mm wide, Beetamax, 26", 32mm, 6-bolt, IS mount and non-dropper standards for the forseeable future. It is/was all good top end kit and I'll still enjoy myself. Maybe if I begin to fall off the back then I'll have to join in a new standard or two but I may just blame it on my age and get try to get fitter.

Tomorrows World did get a few things wrong you know!

So when I run 2.5's instead of 2.1's I'm already 650bing? (until they go bald anyway)

2.5s? Pah - I've got a 26x3 tyre here which has a larger rolling diameter than any available 650b tyre. In fact it's pretty close to a narrow 29er. Mind you I did use my words carefully - I didn't suggest it was actually mounted to a wheel (it's heavy and slow and I'm not a fan).

It's not 27.5

650b is closer to 26 than 29

The ISO sizes are 559, 584, 622. It would be far more accurate to describe 650b as 27, but then on the same basis a 29er is only actually a 28.5er (that's the nominal tyre diameter of each wheel size when fitted with a 2.0" tyre). OTOH if you're starting from a 29er, then 650b is 1.5" smaller than that, so 27.5 would be accurate - it's just that what we call 26 is actually 26.5 (those are all the nominal tyre diameter of each wheel size when fitted with a 2.25" tyre, which is after all more like what most people ride nowadays).

excessive worrying, is it a small person thing

Its hard to know which caused what in this case. Does the worrying make you short, or the shortness make you worry?

Whichever came first, tho on further research I find people of all statures can worry. (Sorry about that, was a silly comment).

Seriously I don't think people who love their 26ers have any cause for alarm, millions have been made and millions of people love them. I also don't think being below average height, as I am myself, is any bar to riding bigger wheeled bikes.

It really is a non-issue. The size difference is akin to when I moved from Speed King 2.1 (which measure less and are low profile) to [b]XR4 2.2[/b]

Excellent - I shall be riding 650b at an event next month then.... 😆

http://www.wightmountain.com/wordpress/?feature=tation-ullamcorper-suscipit-lobortis-nisl-ut-aliquip

“a 650b bike doesn’t feel like you’ve stolen your dads bike when you were 8 like a 29er!!”

time to do something else:

Bez - Member
You ride a bike, right? You'd like more pleasant and less dangerous places to live? You'd like to reduce the burden on the NHS? You'd like to help local economies and small traders? You'd like to be able to take your kids out on a ride from your door to the park or the shops?

Then please sign this and tell everyone you can about it:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49196

This report is the best opportunity we've had - or will have - for some time to transform cycling in the UK.

Even if you're sceptical about petitions, why not sign it? Can't hurt. If it becomes huge it'll send a signal. And it won't become huge without your name on it.

Hmm looking at macavitys link it makes you wonder. They say 650b allows you to yse normal forks (except rockshox) . I wonder if this is a bit of work by the bike companies to reduce their compatibility issues. Ie getting on the big wheel bandwagon, but choosing 650b over 29ers as not much needs to change?