Are 29ers now the unwanted child of the bike world?

Well one of my two ‘out of date’ bikes is certainly retro* and is indeed ss.

*1990 steel framed Fisher.

From an industry point of view, I imagine there’s probably some cost saving or potential for streamlining. If they could eliminate 26″ and 29″ and only leave 650b and 650b+ then they’d potentially have to make less variations of frame, fork, rim, spoke etc etc.

That makes little sense… if they wanted to minimise variations in kit and frames then they for for 29er and 650b+ only.

bigjim

Not sure three sponsored riders winning counts as proof beyond doubt

The word you’re looking for though is dominating, not winning. But my point is this, the percieved benefits of 29 particularly in relation to XC can be negated by rider fitness and skill, so is there a benefit? Does it even exist at all if Schurter and Prevot are crushing everyone on 650b?

Accepted logic is that 29ers are best for XC and yet Prevot and Schurter crushed the field on 650b.

I believe I am right in saying Nino said he felt 29ers were fastest in test the swiss Olympic team did but it was impossible for him to get his desired position on one.

orld Cup overall, mens World Champ and Womens World Champ, all on 650b.
Not sure three sponsored riders winning counts as proof beyond doubt

I agree, however playing that game then Womens EWS champ is on 29er and Im sure she could be on the 650b version if she wanted to

Next year there will be a retro category for steel 26 er

I’ve got 2 of those! (Only 1 is SS though)

Starts training

Were you there this year ?

I agree, however playing that game then Womens EWS champ is on 29er and Im sure she could be on the 650b version if she wanted to

Yep, and I’m sure the Moseleys and Schurters of this world could also still win on 26″ and even 31″, exceptional top level athletes winning isn’t proof beyond all doubt that one wheel size is ‘superior’ to another. Curtis keene seemed to be doing better when he was on the 29er, I think Justin Leov won tweedlove EWS on a 29er. I’m sure someone somewhere is still very fast on a 26er, Graves was still winning on 26″ when most of the others were on 650b. Citing individual elite riders as proof x wheel size or bike is the best/fastest is meaningless.

I’m a distinctly average rider so I’ll take all the help I can get and for xc riding like many others I really like the feel of the roll over of 29ers, I have not felt a change in this feel since Schurter won on 650b.

Accepted logic is that 29ers are best for XC and yet Prevot and Schurter crushed the field on 650b.

Well Neff won almost everything XC on a 29er I think. Wonder how much choice PFP got from Liv/Giant given their push for 650b? I don’t think there’s actually a 29er in the Liv range.

Accepted logic is that 29ers are best for XC and yet Prevot and Schurter crushed the field on 650b.

Would seem to me to depend rather a lot on the course…?

I’ve tried a couple of 650bs and they just felt like 26ers to me. I guess thats the appeal?

29er for me I think, although my interest is 650b+ is piqued since I’m a fan of big, low pressure rubber.

There is so much focus on 650b at the moment I do worry that the more agro side of 29er riding will be neglected, and my next choice of bike, whenever that comes, will be restricted.

Manufacturers will only make what they can sell after all.

Back in March I was wondering if I was faster on my soul 26″ or Solaris 29″ so I did two days back to back at sherwod two laps of the red measured with a garmin 800 , average speed on the Solaris 15kph , on the soul 15.1kph so close as to be insignificant , but i have now sold the soul , I find a 29er less wearing over longer rides . As for the pros , I think it is as much about feel and confidence that a given set up offers , that then allows them to perform ? .

Would seem to me to depend rather a lot on the course…?

Does it? I’ve not seen any analysis of finishing order across the range of World Cup courses and how it’s influenced by wheel size being ridden, but I’d be surprised if wheel size was a significant factor.

Were you there this year ?

Ooh, no, not me. Competition ain’t my thing.

My 29er is unloved. I took the road bike today. I can hear it sobbing quietly in the garage.

As a hardtail/rigid rider 29ers really do make the most sense to me. I went back to a 26er (with 2.5in tyres) for a few rides last year and you can really feel the difference when things get rough.

However, if i was to buy a full suss (150mm+) I think I would probably end up with 650B.

Ooh, no, not me. Competition ain’t my thing.

In that case it is the perfect “race” for you

Its starts with them hiding your bike and one gets to have two beers per lap

I moved from 26 to 29 and love it but I’m not sure how much is the 40mm increase in travel, more aggressive geometry, wider bars, longer top tube, flat pedals and generally better quality parts and how much is the wheels.

but I’d be surprised if wheel size was a significant factor

On twisty courses, I find myself powering out of corners a lot to get up to speed. This is easier with wheels that are both lighter and smaller, I reckon.

So if your course is twisty, it might help to have smaller wheels.

Bike biz marketing is aimed squarely at the masses and they just happen to be all over 650b/+ right now.

Those that know, know that evo 29ers are weapons for downhill and aren’t bad at going back up either (the slack, long, low, but short-at-the-back ones anyway).

This breed of 29er will stay underground for now, which is not such a bad thing, but it won’t disappear.

On twisty courses, I find myself powering out of corners a lot to get up to speed. This is easier with wheels that are both lighter and smaller, I reckon.

So if your course is twisty, it might help to have smaller wheels.

I think you’re right but I think it’s also just something you get used too and it evens out after a while, more or less whn the ‘new bike wooooo!’ excitement dies down.

That said it’s taking a long time to die down with my new 29er hardtail – just feels absolutely right for me. Dare say there is a 650b out there that’d feel more or less the same, but I can’t test ride everything.

I’ve got one 26″ and one 29″, a soul and a scandal.

The scandal is more fun and playful, and you can wrangle it more whereas the scandal has a more perched on top feel, which is fine for smooth xc and easy off road, but I’m not so keen on the rough stuff.

Regarding racing, I’m totally down with the possibility that the benefit of big wheels is less for better riders… Elite enduro dudes can just hover down the trails. But for me, it makes a big difference in steamrollering into things. I’m a wee bit faster overall but mostly I can ride the same sections in better shape, much less fatiguing over long stages/sections.

What works for pros isn’t the acme of what makes a good regular person bike, that’s basically just advertising. IIRC 29er remains the most winningey wheelsize for EWS though 😉

core – Member

The scandal is more fun and playful, and you can wrangle it more whereas the scandal has a more perched on top feel, which is fine for smooth xc and easy off road, but I’m not so keen on the rough stuff.

I think you might feel teh same with a 26er Scandal, mind- I went from a 26er Scandal to a Soul and that’s exactly how it felt.

My 21lb carbon 29er xc race bike feels much slower than my old 26er anthem which was also heavier…

so much so that I regularly stop to check if the brakes are rubbing…unfortunately they aren’t.

the wheels, despite not being overly heavy or cheap just feel far more sluggish than a 26er.

the wheels, despite not being overly heavy or cheap just feel far more sluggish than a 26er.

I think my new bike feels slower. But Strava and my regular riding buddy tell me otherwise, he’s of the opinion it’s cheating 🙂 (till he buys one of course)

29ers have a bit of a roadie image with the shared wheel size and the fact that plenty of skinny wheelers bought into them at the start whilst the rest of us wanted to wait and see how things panned out.

Hence lots of roadie based jokes towards anyone on big wheels which has created a bit of an image problem. I’ve.never gelled as quickly with a bike as my Codeine and never had one fit so well, but I’ll still take the piss out of anyone riding one (myself included).

I’ll be gutted if they disappear.

I don’t think any of the main 3 sizes will disappear ( in terms of parts at least ) , we used to just buy a “mountain bike” , and ride every thing on it , now we have the chance to buy so many fantastic bikes that have really been thought about in terms of their area of use , Even if I still like riding my 26″ fully rigid (only to work though)

29er HT to start with made my 26fs feel like a slug, so much so I’d loathe going out on it. Now got a 29er FS and bifocal is it fast. Only really notice the big wheels on tight nadgery stuff but speed and roll-ability more than make up for that. 29 all the way for me.

650b is for people that can’t ride 29ers properly……….(that’s a joke everybody, each to their own as far as I’m concerned)

……. 650b/27.5 sell well, so okay, lets smash them together and cash in.

………..

From an industry point of view, I imagine there’s probably some cost saving or potential for streamlining. If they could eliminate 26″ and 29″ and only leave 650b and 650b+ then they’d potentially have to make less variations of frame, fork, rim, spoke etc etc.

Except for the fact that the reasoning behind 27+ is exactly that it will fit in a lot of existing 29″ frames…

I had a chat a few months ago with the shop manager of one of London’s main chains and he said 29 had never taken off as much as had been hoped – hence 27.5 being introduced with so much hype – closer to the 26 that we all knew and loved but with the easy rolling advantages of 29…

I wouldn’t underestimate the growth of road combined with people feeling less wealthy than they used to either – this will have swallowed up demand for N+1 that 29 represented when it came out.

You can get a very good road bike for £2k and cost of upkeep is far far lower than an MTB – parts last longer and you don’t have to drive for miles to go for a ride which saves ££ on petrol.

I’m just about to buy a brand new 26 inch bike.
Straight, narrow steerer too.

I think touring rims will be available for a while, as will decent steel road forks.

Sam – Member

Except for the fact that the reasoning behind 27+ is exactly that it will fit in a lot of existing 29″ frames…

Don’t worry, they’ve invented a new axle size to stamp out this sort of madness

Managed to pick up a new Specialized Camber Evo 29 for Abigale down from £2200 to £1350. Some great deals out there.

I love my Transition Covert 29er and simply don’t recognise or notice the much lauded downsides of the larger wheels. Maybe that is more of a reflection on my riding skill than anything, but I love it anyway and the only bike on the horizon I can see tempting me away from it is the Rocket 29er (C’mon Cy!! just do it). I actually think that it is a horses for courses sort of thing and we’ll probably end up with two or three wheel sizes for different sectors of the sport. It is unlikely that 29ers will take over DH unless the nature of DH courses change to favour the larger wheels, but it seems pure XC has now settled on the 29er wheel size. And for those two extremes of the sport it makes perfect sense.

But there is another point of view depending upon how cynical you are on the bike manufacturing industry. 29ers were being pushed by manufacturers trying to exploit the benefits of the larger wheels (trying new things, pushing the envelope etc, that’s what they do), but the public were sceptical, thought they knew best, and didn’t accept them dismissing them as a marketing exercise aimed at parting ‘gulliable’ cyclists from their hard earned cash (shock horror, manufacturers trying to sell their wares!!). This was, in fact, a gift to the manufacturers as they are now able to push the interim 650b’s and once the public accept the notion of larger than 26″ wheels and appreciate the benefits, and maybe adjust their riding style to suit the larger wheels, they can press ahead again with 29ers in a few years, so instead of selling you 1 bike to get to 29″ they’ll sell you 2 bikes. Who’s the winner there?

Out on the trails i’ve certainly noticed an attitude change. I’ve been riding 29ers for 3.5 years now and initially people I got chatting to out on the trails were sceptical and dismissive, these days they seem far more interested and curious and the negative comments around the different look of the bike (clown wheels etc.) have turned into compliments of the look of my bike. Maybe it’s just people being polite, but I sense a change in attitude towards the larger wheeled bikes. So I say if there are great 29er deals around then take advantage while you can, if for no other reason to give them a try. Give it a few years and you might very well be back in vogue.

Don’t worry, they’ve invented a new axle size to stamp out this sort of madness

Well, you just need to find a good bike manufacturer which doesn’t go in for that sort of pointless frippery… 😉

Still love my 29er hardtail, I’m getting a new full sus next year which will also be a 29er. I tried them out long after the fad phase, so by that point they had sorted out the geometry and ride. I’m totally sold on the clown wheels now.

I think the only thing holding back sales (if they have dropped off) is that it isn’t a new thing any more. That and the preaching naysayers who still haven’t tried a good 29er still obsessing about 12.65% drop in “flickability” 🙄

New Pivot 429,Yeti SB45, Pyga Stage / Stage Max all look alright to me – suggests 29 ain’t dead to me……

my 26er is still going so I’m hoping they don’t get totally killed off by the time I go for my next bike in a few years time, I want a HT with big wheels and 1×11 as that makes sense for my riding needs

I would imagine that if no manufacturer plonks the right thing on the market I’ll build myself (I think I may do this anyway)

I must admit I was slow to adopt the wagon wheels as I pretty much believed the ‘they are only for xc’ or ‘they only suit those really tall riders’ (I’m 5’11 and a half).

When I did actually try one I ended up buying a similar model. It was intended to be mainly for mile munching xc duties but it ended up being my go to bike.

I’m now on my second 29er ht and although similar to the first, they are still very different. I seem to get on with all the big wheeled bikes I’ve tried(not just the 2 I’ve owned).

They feel very natural to me. So I will stick with them as long as they can be found.

I tried a 29er (Orbea Occam 2016) for the first time at the weekend, been on 26er’s for the past twenty odd years. Handled just as well in the twisty stuff and downhill is so much more stable. It has the ‘new’ geometry and I loved it so much I have ordered one. Pick up from slower speeds is noticeable but the wheels on the demo were heavy. Be great with some carbon rims……so I’ll get top money for my turner nitrous frame with 1 1/8 headtube and 135mm rear end?.