Is my 26" hardtail defunkt?

anyone want a set of mavic crosstrails in 26″ … I know, old dead
technology … 🙂

Seen some cracking frames going cheap lately, but all of which were large.
From this I can only deduce that the lanky brigade have openly embraced the wheel size revolution quicker than the rest of us normal size folk.

I built up a alu 26″ hardtail last month and very happy, if the wheel fits, ride it.

I have the same frame. It’s ace.

Likes a bit longer forks than 120mm, but if you don’t try any others you won’t notice.

Coincidentally, it’s got Crosstrails on it, excellent wheelset..

26″ is not dead. I raced my 26″ hard tail Lynskey in the local Super D race a couple of weeks ago as my FS needs a shock rebuild and has chain retention issues. 25th place out of 44 in the open class, just a minute off the top 10. 100mm fork to. 😀

Do you like riding it? If answer is yes, then on it’s not defunct. If answer is no that answer is yes. Or something.

Personally I’d love a 26inch ti hardtail with 120mm forks. You’re a lucky man

Forgot to mention it is a Single speed.

defunct
/d??f??(k)t/
adjective
no longer existing or functioning

the fact that 26 inch wheeled bikes exist and santa cruz syndicate are winning WC DH’s on them mean no, they’re not defunct, no matter what the magazines, marketing nobber’s or internet armchair experts say 😉

Seems to me wheel size is a bit like flares.

Are we sure that the OP is not trolling here? 🙂

FWIW, had a weekend up at Glentress a few weeks ago with a few mates. We were all riding 26″ bikes (mine a trail HT – prefer it to my 29″ xc race bike for playing about on.) I like checking out other people’s bikes on the trails and 26″ were by far the majority (maybe 9 out of 10 bikes) and no one laughed at anyone else (well at least not for their chosen wheel size!)

Bollocks!
Echo most of the other comments about 26″ wheels being more fun and more, um, visceral in feel. For me 29ers feel like eating comfort food all the time, whereas I feel the need for a bit of spice. My sole 650b experiment so far has been OK, but while the bike rolls well, it’s less manoeuvrable in a tight space and lacks the fun factor. That may be down to the frame, so I’m switching the kit to a Santa TR frame to see if that feels better (with the proviso that I can switch it back to 26″ if I want).

But a good 26″ bike remains good.

Re obsolescence or suggestions thereof, think music. Remember all the ‘vinyl’s dead’ guff in the wake of CDs, and then again once downloading became popular? And look at how cool vinyl is deemed to be now. All the best DJs etc………….

Hope that helps? No doubt somebody will shoot me down, accuse me of trolling, suggest that fat wheels are the future, but that’s debate.

Would you get an extra 3″ of ankle nettle clearance on a 29er?

Seen some cracking frames going cheap lately

Not surprised they’re going cheap if they’re cracked. 😉

I built up a 19″ Ti 456 in 26″ wheel flavour with Pikes and XTR kit in 2009, its kin brillo.

Have ridden it year in year out since and apart from the Pikes needing a service its still running well.

TBH I have 4 MTB’s all in 26″ flavour and despite being tall have not been really tempted to go 29″ as it would only mean another load of stuff to have spares for (its not like I’m short of 26″ spares either)

I suppose there’s 2 big things going on there… One is that the 650b push started with the most expensive bikes and the american market so that put hardtails on the back burner… But the other is all this “go 1.3% faster! Make the trails imperceptibly smoother!” doesn’t really sell for higher value hardtails where the entire point is to go slower and make the trails harder…

All my MTBs have 26in wheels. I haven’t noticed any of my ride buddies who have kept up with the latest trends going any quicker over gnarly bits. I’m afraid it’s just probably a marginal benefit with rolling resistance but this comes with other disadvantages ( you don’t get anything for nothing). The reality is probably the cycling marketing guys needing to sell bikes into a fairly saturated market in MTBs.

There have not been any really major innovations since hydraulic disks and the introduction of suspension. I remember years ago when “bar ends” came in that they were banned in some races as they were not widely available and it was thought they gave an advantage on climbs. The gear manufacturers have managed to keep turnover up by adding an extra gear every few years, so the frame makers said , why not. At least there is a limit to wheel size as I doubt that we will be back to penny farthings 🙂

I’m keeping with 26in wheels as firstly changing is expensive and the benefits of increasing diameter marginal, secondly I don’t want to get caught with the wrong tube size. If I was a World Cup Xc racer maybe I might have a 29″ bike but being a bit short and liking lots of frame clearance 26 in is perfect for me.

It is according to the bike shop I walked into yesterday to have a nosey about in. The bike shop guy asked if he could help and I told him I quite fancied a new hardtail as I’m getting back into biking after a couple of years layoff. When I told him I wanted to use some of the stuff that I’ve got lying about, he looked at me if I had called his maw a hoor and told me none of the stuff would fit. All the standards have changed, and I should just go for a complete 650b or 29er.

‘Surely I can get adapters’ I asked. Not really he replied.
Me- ‘I prefer 26″ and I don’t see any benefits’
Him – ‘Well thats not true- I’m x seconds faster since I got my new 650b bike, so its definately better’
Me- ‘That’s new bike syndrome and you’ve probably got all new kit’
Him- ‘Well the bike is a couple of pounds lighter and its got new forks, but I would still say the wheels make the difference’
Me- ‘Thanks for your help, bye’

It was interesting to hear his opinion as it sounded like he had been completely brainwashed by sales and marketing. I just built a new f/s and I was running it 26″ for a couple of weeks until I received my 650b wheels. To be honest I prefer 26″ for twisty singletrack and can’t tell the difference anywhere else.

The bike industry is trying to push 650b as a way of boosting new bike sales and over the next couple of years very few big bike brands will sell 26″. However you have places, like here, where people like to be ‘niche’ such as fat bikes, ss, rigid, retro etc and 26″ will still have its followers and there will still be the small indys supplying the demand.

So if you still enjoy riding your 26er continue doing so.

I’ve seen the grand total of exactly one single 650b out in the wild. And that was last time I rode in UK.

The defunct wheels on my obsolete dinosaur of a 26er (that i bought new a couple of years ago) still turn, and are still circular, despite marketing departments virtually telling me they must be square or something.

26er… makes the trails come alive

Who?

@northwind I was thinking of Giant, who having piled into 29 and seem to be phasing it out in favour of 27.5

Him – ‘Well thats not true- I’m x seconds faster since I got my new 650b bike, so its definately better’

That always amuses me seeing that only a very small percentage of bikes sold actually get raced. If they could quantify fun then I doubt there’s anything in it. I blame Strava 🙂

Giant

I thought Giant were pretty clear. 29er for xc racing, 650B for pretty much everything else. Ok, their marketing spin on this is a bit rubbish, but as a business decision is seems reasonable.

Edit… oh maybe not, notice the XtC Advanced is only in 27.5 now. Weird. Going to annoy a few racers that.

jambalaya – Member

@northwind I was thinking of Giant, who having piled into 29 and seem to be phasing it out in favour of 27.5

They’ve still got a decent sized 29er range… Agree though they have backed right off after their early push, in fact they went insane and decided to launch their 650b range by declaring all their 29ers to be shite 😆 “Did you buy a 29er Anthem X? Do you love it? You’re a MORON! Buy a 650b one. TODAY!”

Unless the OP’s post was a joke, people really are falling for all the marketing BS aren’t they.

Yes/no

Yes if your budget is BSO level

No if your budget is for high end xc/trail bike as there are not many available to buy in 2014, even less for 2015

If you have a 26″ with all the bells & whistles now hang on to it as you’ll not be able to replace/upgrade it soon unless you go bigger wheel.

The defunct wheels on my obsolete dinosaur of a 26er (that i bought new a couple of years ago) still turn, and are still circular, despite marketing departments virtually telling me they must be square or something.
26er… makes the trails come alive

Go buy a 2014/15 model of that bike if you can

Excellent replies and really helpful chaps, thanks.

Lol very funny thread. I haven’t looked at the bike forum for ages and after the first few replies thought I must be waaaaay out of touch haha.

I’ve just built up an Armadillo and it’s great fun…… even with 26″ wheels !

Cheers Mark pics will follow >>>>>>> over there, just been busy 😉

650b – pointless toss sold to idiots by shysters.

Ahh, that feels better.

26″ wheels and…..

wait for it…..

a triple chainset…..

Untitled by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

One for the good guys STR, good aggression.