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[Closed] RIP 26"

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NW we're at cross-purposes somewhere ) or I'm not that clear, as ever.
ie I meant if you take a 26" frame, simply lengthen the stay and / or move the brigdes to fit in a bigger wheel (as someone suggested) you have a poor 650B bike. If you use swappable dropouts you can make one pretty much 'optimised' for both, by adjusting a few things via axle position. It's not a lot to account for really. You could do that via a new fixed DO rear end too, I assumed you meant longer only, it's vertical adjustment that's needed.


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 11:15 am
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It'll be 25mm longer or thereabouts... the difference between a 26" rim and a 650b rim.

Surely that's the diameter. You'll want half of that, 1.5 inches / 2 = ~19mm?

True... I was terrible at Maths at school 😆


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 11:49 am
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[quote=Toasty ]It'll be 25mm longer or thereabouts... the difference between a 26" rim and a 650b rim.
Surely that's the diameter. You'll want half of that, 1.5 inches / 2 = ~19mm?
Still wrong. The actual diameter of the wheels is only 25mm different,
[img] [/img]
so the answer is 12.5mm.


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 11:52 am
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So around 1cm. I WINZ 🙂

Which is basically good news for 26" diehards as they can just use 27.5 forks.


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 11:57 am
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So not a huge difference that the rider will really notice and it can be 'corrected' with options if needed.

This just helps spread the cost of having to replace frame, wheels and fork at the same time as not everyone will want to replace everything they have at once (nor will some be able to afford it).

For the record I have no issue with any of the wheel sizes, horses for course as they say, if I have to eventually go 650b then I will but currently 26" works just fine for my needs.


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 12:01 pm
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1cm! Really


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 12:30 pm
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Glad to see this is still going 🙂

I think that this 27.5in revolution is going to happen (whether we like it or not - and I speak as someone who's just bought a 29er... and who owns about four 26in bikes) rather quickly. Quicker than suspension forks caught on, quicker than disc brakes and quicker than 29ers.

I spoke to a bike designer today, he reckoned that every bike they make over £400 will be 27.5in next year.

Having ridden a 26in bike with 27.5in tyres crowbarred in, I can confirm that it turned a good handling machine into a tippy-feeling, tall bike that no longer went round corners very well. It was enough of a change to really ruin the handling. It's less of an issue with a hardtail where dropouts can be changed to keep the ride height the same with the taller wheels.

As people have rightly pointed out, the new wheel size is only an issue for people in the market for new bikes. It doesn't make 26in less awesome. And you're going to be able to still get 26in stuff for years yet. After all, you can still get 27.2 seatposts, eight or nine speed cassettes and V-brake pads in EVERY UK bike shop. The 26in bike isn't going anywhere soon. The 27in bike, meanwhile is arriving soon, whatever we think...


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 4:32 pm
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chipps - I work here

I think that this 27.5in revolution is going to happen

Did you think the 29er revolution was going to happen? Still waiting for that one, is it cancelled, or just paused til after the 27.5 revolution?


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 4:37 pm
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I'm waiting for the trend a few months/years after the 650B takeover for people fitting 26in wheels to stock 650B frames to increase agility, lower the BB for stability and reduce weight 😉


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 4:51 pm
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Having ridden a 26in bike with 27.5in tyres crowbarred in, I can confirm that it turned a good handling machine into a tippy-feeling, tall bike that no longer went round corners very well

Of course, what 26" bikes is designed for bigger wheels!? It's a daft concept. That's why makers are bringing out new bikes around the 27.5" wheel.

the new wheel size is only an issue for people in the market for new bikes. It doesn't make 26in less awesome.

+1, but why is it an "issue"?

personally, I probably wont buy another 26" wheeled bike, but I'll happily ride the ones I already own because they are ace.


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 4:53 pm
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I'm waiting for the trend a few months/years after the 650B takeover for people fitting 26in wheels to stock 650B frames to increase agility, lower the BB for stability and reduce weight

There's already a thread on mtbr about 26ing a bronson 😀


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 4:58 pm
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The 27in bike, meanwhile is arriving soon, whatever we think...

the public wants what the public gets eh?
well, NIMBY


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 4:59 pm
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but why is it an "issue"?

Because it adds more complication to what for many is already a bewildering purchase


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 5:03 pm
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I was out last night for the weekly night ride with a local group. We ride twisty and quite techy woodland singletrack, mainly cheeky trails. Out of 20 or so of us there were a complete mixture of bikes, both 26" and 29" representing all categories of each - full-suss trail bikes; long-forked, race, singlespeed and rigid hardtails; steel, Alu, carbon and titanium frames; retro rides right up to £3-4k dream bikes. There isn't any piss-taking about what each other chooses to ride, and wheel size is hardy mentioned apart from the odd bit of banter.

We weren't on the same ride were we?!


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 5:13 pm
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Because it adds more complication to what for many is already a bewildering purchase

I don't see the complication as significantly different from the myriad of other "choices" in a bike's design: wheelbase, headangle, front and back centre, BB style, suspension design, shocks, the list is long.

If you like the look and the ride (for your preferred riding style) just buy it.


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 5:23 pm
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Chiefgrooveguru... We weren't on the same ride were we?!

I think we might have been if you were out in Stanmer Woods 😀


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 7:59 pm
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I think we might have been if you were out in Stanmer Woods

Which bike were you on? Orange Soul and lurid yellow (NB: bike!) helmet here! Great ride wasn't it?


 
Posted : 26/04/2013 9:10 pm
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chiefgrooveguru - Member
I think we might have been if you were out in Stanmer Woods
Which bike were you on? Orange Soul and lurid yellow (NB: bike!) helmet here! Great ride wasn't it?

Brilliant ride, some of you guys were flying on Thursday, I was on the blue Tallboy 🙂


 
Posted : 27/04/2013 8:45 am
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I don't see the complication as significantly different from the myriad of other "choices" in a bike's design: wheelbase, headangle, front and back centre, BB style, suspension design, shocks, the list is long.

I [i]could[/i] argue until the cows come home about which choices are more relevant than others and which - for a big part of the bike-buying market - simply don't enter the decision making process. I'm not going to argue that because it wasn't really my point anyway. All the choices you list are relevant to some degree or other and now we have ANOTHER choice that we are led to believe is VERY relevant. I realise many don't agree, but I think too much choice can be detrimental.

If you like the look and the ride (for your preferred riding style) just buy it.

My mission is to keep making the point that you simply can't test ride all the various styles of bike out there and certainly not on all the types of ride you might do, so at some stage the shortlist needs to be drawn up based on other factors. "Look" is a great one 🙂 but so many of us rely on the media to persuade us which way to focus. For us types of buyer, the 650b bandwagon is viewed with some scepticism.


 
Posted : 29/04/2013 11:13 am
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I think that this 27.5in revolution is going to happen .... quicker than 29ers.

Surely the 27.5" wheel revolution is, by definition, going to happen faster than the 29" wheel revolution? 🙂


 
Posted : 29/04/2013 5:27 pm
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good god is this still rumbling on?


 
Posted : 29/04/2013 5:52 pm
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