650b or 29er –

What do you reckon is gonna be the next ‘standard’ and why?

Or will they all live in harmony? (Like the STW massive) 😆

29er is already standard in my opinion.

For a lot of main stream brands 29 is pretty much all you can get for 2013

Must have been a few in the industry glad that it was a 29 that won in Essex and not 650b

Personaly I love my 29er but have never ridden a 650b
Or maybe it N+1 time

the industry has to come up with a reason to buy a new bike, i am not saying that 29 and 650 offer no benefits but the cynic in me says that the driving force is the need to sell more bikes.

depends how much marketing budget is put into it

even the olympic xc, there was a whisker between 29er and 650b wheels, wouldve made little difference if the winner was riding 26, likely hed still have one
mtb (and cyclists in general) love to form cliques, dhers, xcers, fatbikers, ssers, 29ers, etc etc

i reckon there will be a push for 150-180mm 650b freeride/ enduro bikes in the next couple of years

Neither, 26″ is just fine…

check out the cube 2013 range, their 650b offering looks really really good.

You see ChunkyMTB… that photo shows the problem with 26″ wheels… they just make big frames look like clown bikes!

I am going to be in the market next year, and am thinking one of the bigger wheel sizes could get me money.

the driving force is the need to sell more bikes.

Is it though? Most people replace their bikes on some kind of rolling basis depending on budget. I bought a rigid 29er SS this year, I didn’t buy a 26″ rigid SS as well. “The industry” only sold me one bike, I just had more choice.

Personally, i’ve ridden neither but i have yet to see a 29er I like the look of.

650bers are much easier on the eye.

Not the be all and end all but if the 2 had equal pros and cons my next bike would be 650b.

Or maybe i’ll stick with the 26″??

The idea of not being able to switch spares is one of the things that puts me off…

spoon was your old 26″ rigid sser broken?

Is it though? Most people replace their bikes on some kind of rolling basis depending on budget. I bought a rigid 29er SS this year, I didn’t buy a 26″ rigid SS as well. “The industry” only sold me one bike, I just had more choice.

Call it planned obselesance if you like, 8spd became 9 became 10, you used to be able to get hold of 27 1.25 tyres and slowly they have disappeared. 26″ is becoming less common, in due course 26″ will become rarer to the point when it is unsupportable, or at least that i suspect is the plan.

spoon was your old 26″ rigid sser broken?

Fair point, but someone else is riding what was left of it so presumably either their old bike was broken, or they were new to MTB. And I bought the Swift 2nd hand. Either way the manufacturer somewhere along the line only sold one new bike (presumably to whoever I bought it off).

Call it planned obselesance if you like, 8spd became 9 became 10, you used to be able to get hold of 27 1.25 tyres and slowly they have disappeared. 26″ is becoming less common, in due course 26″ will become rarer to the point when it is unsupportable, or at least that i suspect is the plan.

An 8 speed cassette, still for sale, hardly obsolete despite 9 speed being 16 years old.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=5212&gclid=CJ-Sq5eX_LECFUFItAoduUsAqQ

good vid here 26,vs 29 article in the latest mag too

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/dirt-magazine-26v29-bonus-feature.html

Despite liking my 29er.
It has dawned on me my old 2003 sx still puts a smile on my face and gets used while many newer bikes have
Come and gone.

Think if I could only have one it would be a 29 er as it works very well on most rides

orangeboy

Must have been a few in the industry glad that it was a 29 that won in Essex and not 650b

And yet a 650b bike won the 2012 XC World Cup. It hardly needs any stronger validation than that.

Crikey. Chunky MTB’s tall

Oh yes I know but most people I see even those who ride a lot watched the Olympics but know nothing at all about the rest of the sport

andybloomer – Member

Crikey. Chunky MTB’s tall

It’s not mine, I was being sarcastic….

650b with skinnier tyres is all but identical in size to 26er with bigger tyres, i.e. 27″. At least 29er is different enough to make it worth having a second standard size, especially one whose rotational inertia handles well with taller and heavier riders.

However, if forks are made to fit both 650b and 26er you are at least guaranteed good mud clearance with fat 26er tyres.

650b with skinnier tyres

does anyone actually ride with skinnier tyres though?

TINAS, not saying you can’t get it, just gets harder. and the quality, as in how high up the range, drops.

Try finding 8spd Dura ace STis. you may be able to find a pair, just gets ever harder.

Don’t forget that whilst 9spd has been around 8spd groupsets are still made so there has to be a cassette.

ChunkyMTB – Member

andybloomer – Member

Crikey. Chunky MTB’s tall

It’s not mine, I was being sarcastic….

almost the Edinburgh defence

You’re all so behind the times. Here’s the new standard:

Try finding 8spd Dura ace STis. you may be able to find a pair, just gets ever harder.

True, but if your STI’s are broke then that’s the biggest chunk of money in the groupset. By the time I’d worn out the chain and cassette I think the pitch cost about £80 for an XT mech and shifter to go 10s, and I needed a new mech anyway as the old one got mashed at Stainburn, so really it only cost me a shifter and some bad luck (and maybe a handfull of rides before the chain and cassette got beyond worn out).

does anyone actually ride with skinnier tyres though?

26 is 559mm diameter
650b is 584mm diameter

A fat 2.2″ tyre like a Rubber Queen is ~62mm tall. A typical claimed 2.2″ tyre is ~53mm tall. Look at big 2.4″ tyres and you’re at ~67mm, whilst 2.0″ are ~48mm. So there’s 28mm difference in diameter due to tyre profiles, and commonly 18mm between the tyres I often see. 29er tyres tend towards skinnier profiles than 26er tyres – I don’t know what the 650b trend is.

700c (29) is 622mm diameter. 650b is not a halfway house, especially as rotational inertia has a squared relationship with diameter.

Aren’t you glad you didn’t ask this on that race? 😉

Must have been a few in the industry glad that it was a 29 that won in Essex and not 650b

The women’s race wasn’t though was it?

I’m sure there could be some slight advantages to either of these standards but the main driving factor is industry hype trying to sell more bikes. Pretty obvious really.

I do find my 29er suits my riding better than my 26
But I have lots of Tarmac miles I’m between the fun bits

And as much as a 29er is 622 your average 29 tyre will have a far higher profile than most 622 tyres

For xc raceing though I still use my 26 as I’ve not found an advantage by going 29 for that

I’ve been banging on for years about 29ers whilst the grumpy naysayers said nay. And now its standard.

One thing to take from this is that different wheels fit different applications and different folk. Roll on the 30.5er surly krampus . And I still want a black sheep 36er.

chiefgroove you need help!

are you doing the next enduro1?

I think it will be a long time before we have a “Standard” wheel size again – then again it’s better than most standards in bikes as all wheels are still round with a 10% variation in size. Makes headsets look standard 🙂

There are too many of us legacy users to ditch 26″ rims in a hurry.

I’ve got a 29 at the front and a 26 at the back but I’m struggling as to where to fit in a 650b.

I’ve been banging on for years about 29ers whilst the grumpy naysayers said nay. And now its standard.

Industry hype purveyor is pleased when said industry hype succeeds (then says ‘I told you so’) 🙂

i feel sorry for all the 29er owners when in a few years time 650b is the standard and they realise they are stuck with betamax 😉

Singletrack in 5 years may be full of what rims for my bike none makes aims for anymore 🙁

The new standards are simple:

26″ for juniors, shorter adults and DH Bikes
650b for medium size adult HTs and medium travel FS Bikes
29er for taller riders, long distance mile munching XC Marathon types,

Think above sums up what will prob happen better than most

yeah I think thats reasonable.

26″ will have to stick around because some riders are shorter than others.

700c (29) is 622mm diameter. 650b is not a halfway house, especially as rotational inertia has a squared relationship with diameter.

Just to point out that inertia will go up in a linear proportion to wheel size as the wheel will be rotating at a lower RPM for a given ground speed.

So rim circumference actually ends up being the key feature (I visualise it as unwrapping the rim and accelerating it along it’s length). Circumference is pi*dia, and a 29″ rim is ~11% larger than 26″, so inertia goes up by ~11%.

26″ will have to stick around because some riders are shorter than others.

It’ll stick around because it’s the most common size in the world.