I thought the op had been quickly outed as a troll and the thread then rightfully high jacked to do a bit of 650b bashing.
No need to bash 29ers as they are no threat. I did see one once though, may even have been the op, as he was not hanging about.

The reason why the 26″ is dead is because it has already died as far as R&D in bicycle Companies is concerned. This stopped on all 26″ platform bikes from the Worlds Largest Bicycle Manufacturers about 2 years ago. Of course you will see mostly 26″ bikes out on the trails as they have been the de facto choice since the birth of Mountain Bikes. 29″ wheel bikes have been a very slow birth and the Mountain Bike customer has become very conservative and protective of his/her sport over the last 10 years. Its taken a long time for 29″ to get to where it is today and it wasn’t until Fork, rim and tyre manufacturers got on board with it that it took off.
Its funny that people think the wheel debate is about marketing because many people in the Industry were more negative about having to stock more SKUs which is bad for business and hits your stock turn.
Now that the Industry is already geared up for a two sized approach to wheels its an easy step to question the logic of the 26″ wheel. The reality states that the 29″ has brought some good gains and that bigger COULD be better. However, if we can move 26″ a little bigger we get some additional benefit without too much of the negative…here lies the sweet spot….Perhaps!!
The fact of the matter is this….26″ is not being developed….26″ will only be offered as an entry level price point in most brands portfolio if they offer it at all and this will fuel the perception that 26″ is 1. old and 2. well..entry level. This will speed up the decline of this wheel size.
There is nothing wrong with 26″ wheel bikes. Somebody is not going to kick your ass because they have bigger wheels. The Industry is just evolving. Don’t moan about it….this is the founding principle of MTBing.

PP – your Kona needs these tires on it! (no connection at all to the sale, just came across it yesterday)

i felt no pleasure from passing the “26 ain’t dead” T shirt wearing rider in a race yesterday on my 29er

The fact of the matter is this….26″ is not being developed….

by the major manufacturers.

having said that, it’s just a wheel size, everything is changeable, handlebars, geometry, suspension…why not wheel size? I don’t get why people get so wound up by it.

Given the general reluctance of this forum community to embrace any other kind of Conspiracy Theories, this continually claimed wheel size ‘bike industry’ conspiracy by some here, seems a little…. Wrong.

Crippo +1

I’m seeing 26″ specific parts going a lot cheaper, especially the higher end stuff (new anyway). New black stanchioned RS 120mm SIDs QR15 £410 compared to £540 on CRC, 2013 AM All Mountains 40% off RRP etc. Even retailers seem to think it.

corners at higher speed

every ride is a race

If you don’t measure your fun factor by how many tenths you are off gee or hart, you may as well sit on the couch and play on the PS4/XBone.

😉

So every single (adult) bike I saw on yesterdays ride was a 26er. Are 29ers and 650b’s virtually non-existent? or are they so fast that I can’t see them?

thought the op had been quickly outed as a troll

101%

Well racing yesterday I’d say 80% of the bikes were 29ers, but that’s racing & trying to go as fast as possible rather than playing in the woods, so I guess if going fast is your thing choose a bigger wheel and who doesn’t like going fast and scaring themselves?

Well racing yesterday I’d say 80% of the bikes were 29ers, but that’s racing & trying to go as fast as possible rather than playing in the woods, so I guess if going fast is your thing choose a bigger wheel and who doesn’t like going fast and scaring themselves?

Slightly simplistic assessment of things but I admire your attempt to antagonise.

I always say ‘ah clown bike’ when I see a 29’er to the owner.

The owners always accept my comment. As they should.

google image search ‘clown bike’ and rethink this.

Well racing yesterday I’d say 80% of the bikes were 29ers, but that’s racing & trying to go as fast as possible rather than playing in the woods, so I guess if going fast is your thing choose a bigger wheel and who doesn’t like going fast and scaring themselves?

by that argument, DH racing is ‘the fastest’, and they are mostly on 26ers…

Until I can get a selection of tyres that suit me and my needs I will be staying put in my little out of date 26 inch world.

At the moment only High Rollers seem to be available in dual ply flavour and they come at a salty price.

What about my poor 6yr old son he rode bits of cannock on his 18″ BMX with a huge a grin on his face, have I got to tell him it’s “more than dead!!”

Well racing yesterday I’d say 80% of the bikes were 29ers, but that’s racing & trying to go as fast as possible rather than playing in the woods, so I guess if going fast is your thing choose a bigger wheel and who doesn’t like going fast and scaring themselves?
by that argument, DH racing is ‘the fastest’, and they are mostly on 26ers…

True, this was XC racing but DH on 26″ was last year, let’s see what they use for WCs this season

Until some one on here genuinely can’t buy a 26″ part of the required quality this arguement is pointless.

The bike industry wants your money, just as it always has. They like coming up with new ways to make money. Get over it, just like you did when 20mm then 15mm axels, tapered head tubes, fat tyres that won’t fit in old frames, droppers that need to be 30.9mm+ so don’t fit your ‘standard’ 27.2mm became the latest ‘must have’. Hell, lets go right back to when 1 1/8th became standard so getting forks for 1″ or 1 1/4 became difficult. 650b is no different.

Oh, and if any one finds the box hora was put back in it might be an idea to see if he needs some water. 😆

so don’t fit your ‘standard’ 27.2mm became the latest ‘must have’.

Orange owner?

30.9 has been default for ever!

The only standard change that has impacted me is tapered head tubes and it was one of the reasons for a new frame. Every single other thing can be dealt with easily and cheaply.

True, this was XC racing but DH on 26″ was last year, let’s see what they use for WCs this season

It will be a mix of 26 and 650b with all but the top team riders on 26.

………………………………………….

^^^ That’s all I can be bothered to say on the issue.

Riding my bike is one of the few things that makes me forget all the annoyances in life – I’m not going to let it be sullied by irrelevant shite like this.

So, even if ‘the bike industry’ did drop one MTB wheel size, which turned out to be a BETA max size (24, 26, 650b or 29er…), there would always be bike companies building niche frames/rims for the masses who have stuck with what they always preferred.

How many “niche builders” are making suspension forks that
A)work
B)you can get spares for after 5 mins
C)don’t cost a years salary
?

This will be the limiting factor, it’s hard enough to find something decent with a straight steerer now & it’s not going to get better

hora – Member

I stopped reading at ‘Cannock Chase’

I think everyone knows my thoughts on Cannock.

You could ride 99% of Cannock on a CX bike.

Except you couldn’t hack it on your big bouncy Orange, so how will you be faster on a skinny tyred CX bike? Imagine what the pebbles would do to that! You’d die…FACT!

I don’t think that bigger wheels make you fatser / better automatically – there’s still a lot required from the rider (like the guy who got hung up on a rocky climb on his 29er on Saturday that stopped me in my tracks on my ‘dead’ bike).

I don’t plan to switch any toime soon but I tend to kepe frames for a while.

If people (with some effort) can still source bits for properly retro bikes, I’m sure most people will be able to keep their 26ers going for a while longer. And cheaper too if the tails of cheap forks etc are true.

i felt no pleasure from passing the “26 ain’t dead” T shirt wearing rider in a race yesterday on my 29er

So they were riding in a casual cotton t-shirt? Sounds like a fun category rider to me, not some elite racer who cares whether you pass them or not.

Well racing yesterday I’d say 80% of the bikes were 29ers

So, did you feel no pleasure in passing some/lots of the 29ers, who happened to choose to ride with different tyres/forks/whatever than you?

… suspension forks … This will be the limiting factor, it’s hard enough to find something decent with a straight steerer now and it’s not going to get better

One thing: the shift to tapered steerers offered little real benefit to 99% of riders, but forced lots of people to upgrade their frames in order to use new forks. A right pain, yes.

A second thing: if you have got a 26 frame that’ll take a tapered steerer, you can just whack a 650b fork on it if you can’ find a 26 one. You might need to make do with 10mm less travel to keep the height the same, but no big deal really.

So they were riding in a casual cotton t-shirt? Sounds like a fun category rider to me, not some elite racer who cares whether you pass them or not.

Yes we were all in the fun “race” anyone in a “race” who doesn’t care if someone passes them shouldn’t be in a “race” surely?

So, did you feel no pleasure in passing some/lots of the 29ers, who happened to choose to ride with different tyres/forks/whatever than you?

I felt no pleasure in being over taken & a lot of pain trying to hang onto wheels (some of which may have been 26″ but none belonging to slogan T shirt wearers) I’m still rubbish on 29ers!

ok its a light weight hard tail but it just doesn’t seem to stop rolling

I have a light XC race bike just like that. It’s 26″

Hold on! Me me me! Back when I was fit and fairly fast, I occasionally raced in a t-shirt. Does that prove that 26″ is faster or slower?

I’m still rubbish on 29ers!

arnt they meant to be easier and therefore faster??

I just sit on the fence and have one wheel of each on my ride to work bike:

diamondback2 by Avon Tyrrell, on Flickr

diamondback by Avon Tyrrell, on Flickr

asterix – Member

I’m still rubbish on 29ers!

arnt they meant to be easier and therefore faster??
i know, i am THAT rubbish

Back when I was fit and fairly fast, I occasionally raced in a t-shirt. Does that prove that 26″ is faster or slower?

Was it a purple tie dye? 😉

Back when I was fit and fairly fast, I occasionally raced in a t-shirt. Does that prove that 26″ is faster or slower?

Was it a purple tie dye? 😉

ive got both but non of my “29er” pals can touch me on my 26 when were at trails centers. horses for courses OP. 26 wont be dead until the 26 fairy takes them all to mtb heaven.

and for the niche-mungers now that fat bikes are mainstream there is only one choice

36er? Pah – mainstream and old skool. What you need is one of these 32ers:

On my way to work this morning, I passed by an ’89 Rockhopper chained to a lamppost. Now that Rockhopper was made of steel, was fully rigid, had canti brakes, square taper cranks, a threaded headset and 26″ wheels. It’s kept going for quarter of a century and from the looks of things will keep going for a long time yet. The owner will still be able to source replacement tyres, headsets, bottom brackets and cables for a long time yet.

Why should I worry myself over whether I’m riding the very latest piece of cutting edge technology? I like riding my bikes, period and that is enough for me.

The owner will still be able to source replacement tyres, … for a long time yet.

Decent quality ones from his LBS? Good luck with that!

For those who don’t understand, this is the issue with the 650b “revolution”

Decent quality ones from his LBS? Good luck with that!

Strange that the Specialized Concept Store at Covent Garden still stocks 26″ tyres, then?

If 90% of mountain bikes out there aren’t 27.5″ then someone is going to manufacture and sell replacement tyres…

Strange that the Specialized Concept Store at Covent Garden still stocks 26″ tyres, then?

Yes, incredibly strange when Specialized still have 26″ bikes in their range. Are you deliberately missing the “for a long time” bit from what I’m replying to, and the “decent quality” bit from my reply?

For those who don’t understand, this is the issue with the 650b “revolution”

^^^^ this.

For the hard of understanding, it’s not the introduction of a new wheelsize that’s causing the upset, it’s the “we’re not supporting 26 inch anymore even though it’s what you all have and you’re happy with and means your whole bike will have to be ditched because you can’t get spare wheels or forks for it anymore, even if you don’t want to spend cash on a whole new bike, or, in the middle of an economic crisis, don’t even have the cash”

The apparent lack of real different in the new wheel size is not why people are upset, it’s being forced into buying something they don’t want…

Could someone put one of these soon to be obsolete 26rs in the sale section please, preferably a Stanton Slackline or a Cotic Soul. I am more than happy to risk not being able to buy tyres in 5yrs time if they are unwanted and almost being given away.