What will it ride like?
BB too low?

I’m willing to bet that nobody has ever tried it.

Worth doing it if only to be the first, eh?

Asked same question on Friday, general consensus was 12.5mm lower BB, I reckon you might be able to make that less with some 2.4 Rubber Queens or similar.

It’ll be awesome – it has to be lighter than the mutant alternative.

Pretty sure Seb Kemp rode a 26″ Bronson prototype in the Trans Provence.

Gotta ask, why?

rOcKeTdOg – I demo’d a Bronson whilst on Holiday in Arizona and I loved it.
I can’t afford new frame forks and wheels so thought I might be able to push the credit card (and my luck with the other half) to buying the frame and sticking my 26” wheels and forks on for the foreseeable.

12.5mm not all the world is it? Should feel pretty planted I imagine.

Ooh, there’s an idea. I have a Bronson coming next month but could always keep my 36s and DH wheels to turn it into a dual purpose machine!

Someone did it on the mtbr forums. Can’t remember the conclusions but 26 was found to be lighter and nimbler at the expense of some rollover ability.

Bet it’ll explode in a ball of confused niche-ness

Put some 24 inch wheels on your current bike to get a rough idea of the effects/differences.

OP – you will absolutely die! No actually I’m sure you’ll be fine, just pump your tyres up rock ard 😉

Fit a pair of those new Surly 2.75 tyres and it’ll be exactly the same.

Why not just get the new blur?

Geometry will be more 26″-specific, and it’s a brand new release.

Why not just get the new blur?

Isn’t the Blur shorter travel?

It does beg the question that if every manufacturer starts following suit and only makes 27.5 or 29 frames, what do all the 26er’s do if they can’t afford a complete build?

I know I’ll only want to be doing frame upgrades in the next 2-3 years as cant afford the forks/wheels like the OP.

Would I be able to fit 650b’s to my Trance 29er? Would I die?

I’d like to try 650’s in a tallboy lt but I wouldn’t try them in a trance 29er, Tom. I found the cranks clipping rocks once or twice on the trance as it is, so it would probably be a bit of a mare. Amazing bike with the right wheels on,though!

As far as I know the new blue is the TR, the LT which is only 10mm shorter than the bronson is still available and rides really well. Pick up an out of fashion bargain.

Brian Lopes ran an Ibis Mojo HDR 650b with 26″ wheels at the recent Air DH race in Whistler. Accordingly to lopes this was to lower the bb in order to improve cornering and jumping.

And for some reason that makes me feel like punching myself in the nose repeatedly.

As far as I know the new blue is the TR, the LT which is only 10mm shorter than the bronson is still available and rides really well. Pick up an out of fashion bargain.

IIRC the LT’s gone from Santa Cruz’ website, which implies it’s out of production. Only the new TR on there.

If you have 34’s just buy 27.5″ lowers and fit them it’s a straight swap, saves buying a new fork.

After my similar post on Friday I emailed Greg @ Turner bikes about doing the same on a 650b Burner his reply was:

OK, odd question for you and I’m sure you won’t recommend
me doing it, but I’m looking to upgrade my current 2010 5 Spot and get a new
5 Spot or possibly a Burner. My question is if I don’t have the cash to
upgrade my forks and wheels immediately can I use my 160mm FOX forks and 26″
wheels on a burner frame without it riding like a pig? I thought if I put
large volume tires on it it might be OK, what’s your stance on it?

Hi Paul,
With the longer fork and some big tires you should be fine running 26″ until
you can get the 27.5ers.
Thank you for your support of Turner bikes.

Greg

So there you go, straight from the horses mouth!

Emailed SC and this is there stance.

‘Hi,
Not compatible. There will be BB height and potential fork clearance
issues.
Make sure you run the correct 27.5″ fork and Wheels.
Thanks for your interest in Santa Cruz, and let me know if you have any
other questions.’

I’m going to stick with Greg’s answer!

disconoir – Turners answer seems logical.

jimjam – Member
Brian Lopes ran an Ibis Mojo HDR 650b with 26″ wheels at the recent Air DH race in Whistler. Accordingly to lopes this was to lower the bb in order to improve cornering and jumping.

HRD is a 26″ bike anyhow, the 650 compatibility is just a bodge to the frame.

Yeah not sure what the fork clearance issues would be on a Bronson, any idea?

So bike companies all decide to go 27.5.
We all known it’s to sell frames, wheels,tyres and forks. Nothing really to do with if it’s better or not. It’s a financial thing.
They put R&D into the new size so need to recoup their costs.
I cannot see them validating any warranty should you brake the bike using wheels that are the incorrect size. No matter what the email from Turner says.

zelak999 – Member
Emailed SC and this is there stance.

‘Hi,
Not compatible. There will be BB height and potential fork clearance
issues.

Fork clearance issues using a 26″ wheel on a 26″ fork? I suspect it’ll be just fine.

 

There will be BB height and potential fork clearance loss of fork wheel sales issues.

smaller wheels means more Clarence for forks surely? Bb height as stated above. … 12.5 mm…. I’ll take a ruler and measure the next log before I try to roll over it.

But my biggest worry is this. ..

Bet it’ll explode in a ball of confused niche-ness

But I was thinking more of a implosion and could maybe create wormholes on the trails and riders following you could get trapped in a parallel universe. So think about others first op. 😀

IIRC the LT’s gone from Santa Cruz’ website, which implies it’s out of production. Only the new TR on there.

Out of production but still plenty of stock around

It does beg the question that if every manufacturer starts following suit and only makes 27.5 or 29 frames, what do all the 26er’s do if they can’t afford a complete build?

If most manufacturers have gone 650b there will be a profitable niche to fill selling 26″ frames. Nothing to worry about.

Also been considering the same

Thought the reply from SC was a bit weird.
There will be no clearance issues using a 26 fork with 26 wheels.
The worst I can imagine is the 12.5mm lower BB ‘issues’ and possible issues with the geometry not being quite what SC intended with the Bronson?

Axle to crown on a Float 36 160 26″ is 17.4mm less than A-C on the standard Float 34 150 650b. 650b wheel is 12.5mm larger radius. So your front end will be 5mm higher than stock. Your back end will be 12.5mm lower than stock. That means your BB height will be about 7mm lower than stock.

Suspension set-up, tyre profile and tyre pressure variations are enough to make that lower BB height almost irrelevant. Big tyres and a little less sag than normal and you’re back at the stock BB height.

also with 26″ wheels you’ll have the ability to turn to pick 23% better lines, rather than tramlining that you’ll certainly get with 27.5″ wagon wheels 🙂

chiefgrooveguru – Member
Axle to crown on a Float 36 160 26″ is 17.4mm less than A-C on the standard Float 34 150 650b.

Do you mean 17.4 mm more? or am I being crap at maths…

But will the 0.3% fasterness documented by Nico still be experienced or not?

I don’t know if I’d take the risk, personally.

I can’t afford new frame forks and wheels so thought I might be able to push the credit card (and my luck with the other half) to buying the frame and sticking my 26” wheels and forks on for the foreseeable.

Since you can ‘afford’ to do neither, wait until you can and then buy all in one go?