Are 29ers really dead

But 29er can backflip 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ExcEoNX1JE

bikeind – Member

We have certainly kept an eye on this thread in our shop and there is some valid points here I must say

Still no sale of 29ers this week in one of our shops have sold a few 26 though so there is still life there I admit and the subsidence of non 29er sales shows this year .

I will go which ever way makes the industry the bike shop where I work tick over nicely in all honesty

Bmx’s. They have small wheels and are fun to ride. Strava does not show how much of a good time you are having

As above, whatever you buy will be replaced sooner or later.

Bought my 18″ Five two years ago. A month later they start offering a 17″ frame which really would have been my ideal size. It didn’t bother me as I enjoyed the bike I had.

Two years later I have no bikes with 26″ wheels, just two great 29er’s…..what next?

Just ride what you enjoy!

From my experience going from 26 hardtail to 29 was a huge improvement.
Riding my 26 suss next to my 29 suss the only real difference is the amount of grip the front wheel has. It feels like you can go into any corner as fast as you like and get away with it.
My 29 weighs a pound more than my 26 which I think is impressive given how much more the wheels weigh.

They may ride well but the look crap who wants a crap looking bike !

orangeboy – Member
Most of the mtb we sell are 29 but as a specialized dealer choice is a little limited
As that about all they offer above £500

Very true, but that has meant my wife and daughter got upgraded bikes which were relative bargains from our local Spesh stockist purely as the bikes were 26ers!

Another thing that gets me about the press coverage is that it seems to be focused on how 650b bring many of the benefits of big wheels without the negatives. If that’s the case, why only talk of killing off 26ers? Why not say it’s killing both by being best of both worlds / all rounder.

^ not trolling, genuine question that came to my mind when reading one of the mtb mags.

Against all my in-built prejudices, I recently bought an ex-demo 29er by accident. I was expecting to not like it, but actually my feelings are very mixed.

It seems to cover ground more quickly – hard to compare with the same variables of course, but consistently I ride at a higher average speed. It corners way better than I thought it would, and is handy on roots, rough stuff etc.

On the downsides, it slides hopelessly in muddy conditons (probably tyre choice), I could do with a wider gear ratio and worst of all it makes my 26″ bikes feel really weird for the first half an hour or so. But after that it makes me realise just how much fun they are.

So in all honesty, the jury’s out, to my surprise. Extrapolate that (as if I am the only rider in the world!), and you should have 26″ bikes surviving, if it’s a true consumer-driven market.

First they came for the singlespeeders,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a singlespeeder.

Then they came for the fatbikers,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a fatbiker.

Then they came for the 29ers,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a 29er.

That’s me buggered on a singlespeed Surly Krampus then 😉

TBH, 29ers were niche for a few years, and then became mainstream.
They won’t die as they have too many adherents, they just might become a bit more niche again.
27.5 is a great marketing and sales exercise for the bike industry, as like any industry their sales feed off the ‘next big thing’ and people needing/wanting to upgrade.

If one day at Swinley was anything to go by, sales of 29ers must be pretty good, saw maybe 10-15 in 4 hours there.

I may or may not be representative of what’s going on right now in the “aftermarket”.

I have a 2010 Mk2 Cotic Soul as my MTB and a 2012 Cotic X as my roadie / workhorse.

Three months ago, I needed some new forks for my Soul. I surveyed the market and found that most forks were available only with a taper steerer. I found that the Mk3 Soul had now gained a taper steerer tube and wider seatpost. The cost of new forks, Soul Mk3 and seatpost was well over a grand; for a bike with little discernable differences to my current Mk2 Soul.

This prompted me to look into a Solaris, which would require new forks, seatpost and wheels in addition to the frame itself. While this option would at least give me something “different”, the cost of this little lot would have been over £1.5k for my preferred spec… before I even started thinking about different tyres, bars, chainset and cassette setups.

Both options were clearly an alarming pecuniary prospect – and then there was the uncertainty of 650b on the horizon.

I then took another look at what was available for my current Soul… Okay, so the Mk2 Soul doesn’t allow for taper steerers, but there’s nothing else really to write home about that’s better on the Mk3.

I then found some totally bargainous Fox 32 120 RLC QR15 forks *with straight steerer* to plug into my existing Soul. The beauty of Fox forks is that the steerer can be changed to a taper if I want to in due course. I also committed myself to a respray of the Soul once the summer season is over. Hey presto – a fully modernised classic is re-born.

I didn’t get around to answering the 29 / 27.5 / 26 dilemma, but I did at least sidestep the question for the time being.

The net result is that the bike industry has missed out on at least some of my spending for the time being. I’m probably also a better person. 😉

I don’t actually seem to be able to find very many 650b bikes for sale at the moment, of the major online bike stores, some list none, others 1 or 2, some more, but very few about in general – suppose that will all change next year, but there are also less decent hardtails on the market I think…….

GT’s most expensive 26″ wheeled bike is going to be £500 next year I’m told.

I think for a 26″ hardtail you’re going to be seeing mostly steel for new bikes, they will be the new niche

hardtail

…

steel

….

new niche

You’re kidding, right??

in 26″ wheel variety……