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So you're out shopping for a new MTB. You've come across a particular kind of bike, it has 26" wheels, long stem, narrowish bars, it has steep geometry, poor position out of the saddle, not very capable, but it is efficient.
Lets pretend you're looking at getting into DH, it's not right, is it.
Then you realise you may want to pedal, but you want some DH capability, you're still not going to buy it.
Then you realise you're going to pedal a lot, accept you're compromising more on DH capability, may want to leave the ground occasionally, you look at "trail" bikes, these are still reasonably stable in geometry, usually have atleast 120mm of suspension, you're not going to pick the xc 26er because you're not giving up much in efficiency, but gaining loads in comfort/control with the 120mm trail bike. Or you could go the hardcore hardtail route, efficiency and dh capability.
Then you realise in fact you dont want to compromise on pedalling and efficiency, saddle will be up 100% of the time, wheels glued to the ground, but dont want to lose out too much in DH capability, the xc 26er certainly fits the efficiency bill, but there is another option, 29er xc hardtail. The 29er has the efficiency, it also adds handling stability, grip, carries more speed in the rough, smooths out some of the bumps. The 29er gives you the efficiency/comfort/capability, why would i buy a 26er hardtail instead?
You have watched world cup xc racers in action yes?
Then you realise you're going to pedal a lot, accept you're compromising more on DH capability, may want to leave the ground occasionally, you look at "trail" bikes, these are still reasonably stable in geometry, usually have atleast 120mm of suspension
Actually no, I don't expect you have. Light 26" bikes are VERY capable! I spent a lot of time off the ground when I had one. Now I get a sore back easily so use a light 100mm XC full sus instead, which also spends a lot of time off the ground.
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i recon for xc 29er is a no brainer unless you are a shortarse then its blatently too big a wheel size.
i`d like to try one.
oh and why are steep head angles accepted on 29ers but not on 26ers?
Because a slack 29er would be a barge
oh and why are steep head angles accepted on 29ers but not on 26ers?
The 29er wheel builds in more "trail", distance between steering axis and tyre contact patch, this stabilises the steering in a similar, but not the same way as a slacker HA on a 26.
I have a 26” wheel, 100mm fork hardtail as my only bike. There is some merits to various bits of the argument above but I like my bike and won’t be changing it. What you may have missed is that all the other various incarnations of bike: 29ers, long travel hardtail or FS are a bit more specialised, if you want one bike for all things then they all have their drawbacks. I ride c100 miles a week where 90% could be done on a cross bike but the bits I enjoy most are the overgrown pump track type trails such as lee quary, you wouldn’t want a cx or 29er there but a 100mm 26” hardtail is perfect. A hardcore ht or fs might be more suitable but then you are over biked 90% of the time.
I like the philosophy of a 456 – somewhere in that range of fork travel is probably the sweet spot for uk riding. As I commute on mine as well I am happy at the 4 end.
Yes, but no, but yes...
Buy what you want.
What you have described is choice.
As long as you inform yourself of the choices and go to a decent shop that doesn't just a) sell you whatever they have in stock or b) what they are promoting / trying to shift then its all good.