I’ve written in a previous post that I’m looking towards what will replace my 1.1/8 steerer Cotic Soul frame and forks.
I’ve been riding recently with new people and mates that I haven’t seen in a while. I thought I’d share some observations:
– Of those who don’t already have a 29er or 27er, none intend to swap to a new wheel size;
– All of them build their own bikes, replacing each part at a time (i.e. never buy a complete OEM bike);
– After some initial reluctance, at least two are replacing their current frames with new, full price, *not* clear-out/end-of-line 26er frames (where they have taper or 44ID head tubes);
– None of these 26er riders have owned another wheel size;
– All of these 26er riders started MTB’ing when only the 26er format was available.
Based on this completely unscientific sample, it seems to me that there’s going to be a sizeable demand for the 26er format for a while…in the aftermarket.