I dont know but it has cost the bike industry a sale. I was planning on changing my full sus this year, but with all the uncertainty and speculation as to what will or wont be here in 2 – 3 years time then I have decided not to bother. There is nothing wrong with my current bike, just fancied a change, so I will carry on enjoying that and wait for the dust to settle.

Unlike most of you sceptical lot, who blame the manufacturers for pushing consumers to spend more money, I actually think its the reverse. I think there are many bike companies out there who are worried about missing sales because people will simply overlook them if they don’t have a 650’s/29-er’s in their range.

Even the over-abundance of these threads kind of highlights this point. The fact that we’ve got so worked up about this means that most of us, even sub-consciously, downgrade bike companies in our minds if they don’t have other sized wheels in their range.

I’ve just read an Orange 5 and Hevkler 650b review/comparison.

My interpretation was that “..if you move this way, that way, forward a bit, pump here, pedal there, but not this that or those, they are betterer.”

Or in laymans terms you/the reviewer spent so much time justifying 650b everyone forgot to enjoy themselves.

And on that note, I’m out.

wheel size being related to frame size

Nah. No logic to that imo. Frames for fit, wheels to bias a bike’s character. For the 80% of us in the middle area of the proportions range, we can use whatever wheels we like; the frame puts the tyre contact patches and the rider, the only things that really matter, in the right places for the riding you want to do. Or not, if the frame’s a wrong n.