26ers have been dying for while which major brand is producong high end 26ers. It niche brands or cheap frames. It does mean that 26ers will beckme collectable now well the good one will be just like rides from the 80s and 90s are at the moment. So it not all bad.

I think it’s a shame that bike riders / buyers are being slatted for buying any other size than 26″ wheels.
Surely people buy what’s available. If all the manufacturers are winding up the supply of 26″ wheel bikes the sensible thing to do is go with, keep an open mind, try a few new bikes and buy which you like.
Same as everyone did before when buying 26″ wheel bikes.
This comes from someone that rides 27.5 FS and 26″ hardtail.
I’d live to try a 29er maybe a fast racy carbon hardtail or a codeine etc to see how they feel compared to what in used to.
Realistically there always hype, but it really can’t all be hype. Not everyone that buys a new bike is a sucker to a mag article. Some are. But not all.
Same as it ever was.……

I would not worry about 26er rims beong hard to find for the forseable future as disc brake rims dont wear out. it is rim brake 26er rims that are becoming extint. So give it 10 years and the same will be true of disc brake 26er rims. So the famine is not here yet but for forks all that will be left is cheap nasty stuff. Thwre are too many 26er bikes about for tyres to be become hard to find but i do expect over the next few years the number of models to decrease

NorthCountryBoy – Member

Realistically there always hype, but it really can’t all be hype. Not everyone that buys a new bike is a sucker to a mag article.

As the chap from Santa Cruz- who led the 650b thing- said, they did their research and most requests for a 650b bike came from people who’d never ridden one.

So were those people open minded or suckers?
I guess it depends which side your coming at it from.

Neither tbh. Remember, that was before the media blitz. Truth is, 650b was pushed hard by the industry but riders didn’t need to be hard-sold it, people rage at The Industry but we did it to ourselves. 29 inch created an appetite for change… But most people, they want novelty not meaningful change, 650b perfectly delivered that perfectly. New shiny things to ooh and aah at, without the fear factor.

Largest bike manufacturer in the world does not make any 26″ bikes any more apart from 2 kids entry level models. The bulk of their range is 27.5″ and some higher end 29″ for the racing crowd.

Most customers coming into our shop are not concerned about 27.5″ its still a mountain bike, if they like the look of the bike and the price is right (it often is due to the manufacturer’s purchasing power) the customer is happy and soon out riding in the dirt.

When the largest manufacturer is focused on the mid size wheel, the rest of the market follows suit. Its neither good nor bad, its just a change in specification.

I ride a high end,carbon fibre race 29’er and can honestly say its the best mountain bike I’ve had, its incredibly quick yet huge fun to ride as it has a nimbleness that most would not associate with a 29’er.

Its not made by the largest manufacturer either. If the time came to get another FS I would be more than happy with 27.5/650

I’m retro. sweet.

I’m not worried about getting 26″ rims, if it’s looking dodgy I’ll order a couple, same with tyres. After that it’s fork lowers and that is the only 26″ specific parts. My frame will take 650b if needed with a couple of mods to the shock and fork.
The frame is coming up to 2 years old an will probably be changed at 3 years for a 650b frame. If I had bought 2 months later it would have been 650b.

On the

Tried several 29ers which were awful! Surprising as they are basically fatter cross bikes.

3 days out on the 29r round some trails I’ve hit hard on the Blur LTc, there were a lot of PR’s on strava when I uploaded in up, down and technical trails. It’s impressive for a 100mm XC bike