Does it really matter.Just who cares about if there bike is that tiny bit faster.I just don't get it.Is it really that big of a deal.I though it was about enjoying mtbing not this bloody wheel size rubbish..
Rant over... 😉
Every time someone starts a thread about wheel sizes God stamps on a kitten.
Good work sicko.
Good.I hate cats.... 😀
Do they make different size wheels for MTBs now ?
Why did no one tell me ?
Ok. Who wants to point out the irony to the OP?
I won't even open a wheel size thread let alone post on one
Just to wind you up a bit further Rob, there's a third wheel size emerging now as well which seems to be gaining popularity - 26".
[i]I won't even open a wheel size thread let alone post on one[/i]
Ha ha! I see what you did there!
I've thrown both my 26" wheeled bikes in the skip cos theyr'e both now totally unrideable due to their wheel size. I can't afford new ones so I'll have to think of a new hobby/sport/outside pastime.
Never mind I've had 23 years of biking on 26" wheels so at least I've got the memories. *sigh*
Not me, I just can't get enough.
😛
Yes but which is best? Doesnt seem to be any info on the net.
More importantly what's next!
Personally I feel we need more threads about this. Its absolutely fascinating and I for one have noticed how my 26er and my 29er have got worse and worse over the last few months.
Can't stop, I'm off to search for more threads on this so that I know what to think.
Me. It just seems like naval gazing.
When I'm about to rupture my ring piece riding up a hill I don't think about what wheel size I'm riding.
When I'm negotiating a drop I don't think about what wheel size I'm rising.
When I'm swooping down a hill I don't think about what wheel size I'm riding.
I only think about what wheel size I'm riding when buy tyres and tubes.
.double post.
Well I for one might be up for a new bike next year so I really do want to get as many views and opinions as I can.
I find it really sad that after all those years (and 000's pounds) on 26" bikes, i am now being told by the industry that they are not really good enough any more.
But I do have a quick question if I may... Which would be quicker up a steep non technical hill - a 26lb 26er or a 31lb 29er???
Me. It just seems like naval gazing.
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I always find a 26/29er thread to read when I.m having trouble getting off to sleep 😆
sharkattack - Member
Every time someone starts a thread about wheel sizes God stamps on a kitten.
Tsk tsk... This is STW. You must know by now that God doesn't exist here
It gets pretty old, the whole 29er/650b being a marketing conspiracy, 29ers being the best, etc etc.
They're bikes, a sum of their parts, a good bike is a good bike, that's all there is to it.
I ride 29er and 26", they're both really good at what they're intended for. If a bike i want is 650b, so be it, it's not a sales point or deal breaker.
Ok. Who wants to point out the irony to the OP?
FFS i logged in to point that out ...
I ****ing love it.. there's nothing better than repeating the same old tired and not really very interesting at all debate over and over..
It's like that scene in A Clockwork Orange where they are conditioning Alex to dislike ultra violence..
I take strong stimulants to stay awake for days at a time, naked and sweating with every muscle in my body tense, spending hour after hour after hour looking all over the net for discussions on the wheel size issue, working myself up into a frenzy where I stride about the room roaring the words in the posts people have written on the subject at the top of my voice..
it's ace
😯 you are joking?29ers being the best
Not at all. These threads make me feel strangely.. alive?!
It's like that scene in A Clockwork Orange where they are conditioning Alex to dislike ultra violence..
yunki - you're referring to the 'Ludovico Technique'.
Why do you put two full stops after a sentence?
Why do you put two full stops after a sentence?
nervous twitch..
Fair.
700c is where its at.
700c is where its at.
What's it doing there?
I've been eating and stuff for the last couple of hours.
I can't be bothered to go back through the whole thread.
What was the decision in the end ? Which one's best ?
No bugger is going to shoehorn me into buying a 29/650b. Besides, being skint does help in these matters. Anyway, it's all about options, right? Please, listen to the people that know, sell off all your 26'' bikes, they are now defunct, you'll only be embarrassing yourself riding one of them things. Get shot of 'em, panic, now! 
What was the decision in the end ? Which one's best ?
The one you've not bought yet is the best - so you best go out and buy it.
Then you'll be super-bad-ass and be able to do nose manuals in to berms and stuff, prompting everyone to say you've got 'sick skillz'.
I hear that Spesh are developing the 'infinity' wheel format...
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I find these threads bring the web alive for me.
What we really need are proper manly sized wheels - the 635mm used by our great grandfathers.
The other sizes are for unbearded girls - where's the challenge?
Modern bikes are too easy.
Downhills with rod brakes in the wet will bring back the excitement to riding...
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sharkattack - Member
Every time someone starts a thread about wheel sizes God stamps on a kitten.
What size wheels is best for running over kittens?
@ OP Yep and which lights should I buy or which tyres should I use. I remember the old days when people just went out on their bike, rode around and had a good time, but I am a grumpy old git so just about everything is wrong with the world these days. 😉
What size wheels is best for running over kittens?
That surely depends on whether God has already stamped on them and you're trying to make them come alive.
Nope 27" is where its at!700c is where its at.
Muke.Exactly.
It's just all a bit too much.Should i start another thread.
Which light weight bog roll should i put in my back pack.
Just ride the bloody things... 🙂
Just ride the bloody things...
Yes, but on a bridleway or trail centre ? Which is best ?
All new Boardman MTBs are 650 or 29er, so it isn't going away...
Well, that's up to us, isn't it?
All you have to do is not buy one.
29 in? 650b? No such wheel sizes exist. only 26 in. which I have on my bike.
Nope 27" is where its at!
O.M.G. - a NEW wheel size to argue about! 😯
It's around this point someone normally posts that YouTube vid of the 36'er riding up those flaming stairs...
It's around this point someone normally posts that YouTube vid of the 36'er riding up those flaming stairs...
havent seen that, link pls 🙂
I over took a 27.5" wheeled Saracen on a 29er in a race today & I'm a rubbish rider, what more proof do u need 🙂
I came 9th of 9 in a wee race today on my 26" wheels. Everyone else had 26" wheels........
How unfashionable were we............ 😳
Me.
It does make me chuckle that MTB mags can test ride £6k bikes - 650b wheels. Unsurprisingly enough they get great reviews and therefore 650b is the best thing ever. The key bit in it for me is that it is a 6k bike FFS it should be an awesome ride. Wheel size doesn't come into it.
26/29 both have their place. In the end a well designed and engineered bike is going to ride well. It will be fun to ride and people will enjoy them. That's the idea isn't it?
In the end a well designed and engineered bike is going to ride well. It will be fun to ride and people will enjoy them. That's the idea isn't it?
New here?
The wheel size debate is the only interesting thing in mountain biking really. Everything else is just trivia.
Still to hear where the real origin and reason for change was... lots of speculation and guessing, but no facts ..
Just checking through my notebooks.
Some useful facts for the wheel debate
26 x 1.25 (599mm) old USA sports bikes
26 x 1 1/4 (597mm) proper fast 26" - old British sports bikes
26 x 1 3/8 (590) proper gents 26" - old British roadsters
26 x 1 1/2 (584mm) foreign muck aka 650B
26 x1 (571mm) can't think of a use for these except on a head down bike.
26 x 1.75 (559mm) USA kids bikes
and there may be another 26" size - old UK carrier bikes - can't find the details - I think they were E.A.1
But everyone knows that a gentleman would not be seen on anything less than a 28 x 1 1/2 (635mm), so the wheel debate is just the lower orders squabbling... 🙂
Surely wheel size is a great reason to invoke the n+1 rule?
I did an experiment I actually rode my bikes a bit this weekend, but I deliberately chose not to give a flying monkey's bollock about the size of the wheels while I was riding.
The bikes certainly had wheels, which appeared to make them more capable of rolling along than if they had not had wheels, the wheels that were fitted went round and round and round just fine, and progress was generally good, I never found myself cursing the wheel's diameter.
The limiting factor was still the meat sack a'top said bicycles...
Conclusion? Bicycles need [U]Round[/U] wheels, that is all...
I have a rear wheel that isn't round and it still works, in fact it clears mud really well.Bicycles need Round wheels, that is all...
The bikes certainly had wheels, which appeared to make them more capable of rolling along than if they had not had wheels, the wheels that were fitted went round and round and round just fine, and progress was generally good, I never found myself cursing the wheel's diameter.
Yes, but did the trails come alive?
It's all very well to say wheel size doesn't matter, you won't be so smug when they explode under you.
This thread isn't clear as to which wheel size is best. Anyone know?
For the first time ever the Skills course I was coaching this weekend had 2 26", 2 650B and 1 29er - the full mix! There's usually a mix of 29ers and 26, but this was the first time I've seen 650B's out in the wild.
I'm still undecided....
I had a look around one of the larger bike shops in town today. Some 2014 Specialized, Giant, and Trek bikes. All of them 29ers with 2 "27.5". "Cos that's what it said on the tyres."
The sales monkey was trying to get me to sign up for a Giant demo day next month. He looked a little shocked when I said there was nothing really floating my boat. Then he used "that" phrase. Something about "alive". He did look a little embarrassed with him self.
this kitten iz wear its 'at
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I'm still undecided....
Perhaps you should start a thread on the subject to gather other's opinions.
Bump.
Bump.
29ers are best at riding over them 😳
What we need is adjustable wheel/tyre diameters, then we can do away with those troublesome gears 8)
We know who won this
What confuses me is what helmet I should wear on which bike? If my 29er is faster than my 26" bike I should wear a better helmet but then it rolls over bumps better so does this negate the need for a better helmet.........:?
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Just saying
from the people who bring us "the rules" more doom and gloom for 26", i think they are wrong though
http://www.velominati.com/racing/full-circle-the-evolution-of-mountain-biking/
rOcKeTdOg, that article uses the word "rig" in the first paragraph.
I refused to read any further as a matter of principle.
I think I'll start riding a trike. 29" front wheel, 26" rear left and 650b right rear. All the bases covered.