DH world championships and not one 650/29er on the podium, and the course was a bit more feminine/pedally! Haha!

Come on all you wagon wheel trolls, what ya sayings? 😆

They are the future.
Just not yet.

Can only see one troll on this thread so far 😉

And on the XC podiums?

MMmmmm, Wagon Wheels 😀

What about the ‘titting about in the woods’ podium?

Ah yes but pussy wouldn’t be interested in xc or endurance as he isn’t fit enough to pedal. He can just about manage to slowly roll down hill whilst pretending to be gnar and shred. Oh and troll, but i suppose mashing a keyboard with chubby little digits doesnt take much skills either 😀

pussywillow=awesome

Giggles at Tazzy’s post.

I might be missing something, but aren’t Wagon Wheels smaller than 26″ wheels?

Only a bit bigger than a digestive these days.

Ohhh jamiedodgers… Nice (see what I did there)

When does school start again?

omg! OMG!!! Does this mean I won’t win the DH world champs next year? does it?.. DOES IT???
I only got a 29er to win, I mean I know I’m 47 and a bit chubby but I was led to believe a 29er would make it possible..
I’m so gutted 😥 its so not fair…

Phew !!! Was gonna throw a small fortune at 650b for no benefit… Now I won’t bother 🙂

Is anyone actually naive enough to believe that wheel size can make such a difference?

The only way to troll! 😆

Interesting too that given all the hype of 650B for Enduro, the 2 top overall placed riders (and now fixed in their positions as nobody can catch them on points) are both on 26″. Ooooops, that’s gonna cause a few headaches in the marketing department……. 😉

Is anyone actually naive enough to believe that wheel size can make such a difference?

Well, yeah, obviously the riders who chose the larger wheels thought it would make enough of a difference.

Is anyone actually naive enough to believe that wheel size can make such a difference?

That’s exactly what I tell the laydeez.

…and by wheels I mean p[NOPE!-MODS]

Is anyone actually naive enough to believe that wheel size can make such a difference?

I am.. 🙁 I was gonna be world champ, another shattered dream..
Now I’ve got to go, I’m sending some money to my Nigerian friend to get my lottery winnings.. 😀

Why is it only now that 650B/27.5″ wheels are being hailed as the greatest advancement in mountain bike history?
Smaller (less influential) companies had tried to put out 650B bikes about 4-5 years ago but had very little interest.
Now the big companies are telling us how good they are and everyone is listening. The power of marketing perhaps?

Is anyone actually naive enough to believe that wheel size can make such a difference?

Only the manufacturers 😉

troll on…………respect to the world cup downhillers but they will ride what their sponsors tell’em

khani on the money……..at 47 glad I rode my wagon wheels yesterday, surprisingly faster down hill than I was on 26er…………

most importantly I smiled. giggled, scared my self silly and sat happy at the top of the next 3 mile climb…….still not in the top 100 in strava though 8)

I thought this was gonna be about chocolate biscuits, not boring wheels again.

Well, yeah, obviously the riders who chose the larger wheels thought it would make enough of a difference.

Are you psychic? They just might not be that naive.

I thought it had been stated that dh was staying with 26ers, enduro /trail was 650b and xc 29er.

These silly wheel arguments just go round and round…

These silly wheel arguments just go round and round…

*insert meatspin video here*

Yup sticking with my 26 inch wheels. On the flattest dh track (its not even a proper dh track, its not far off being an enduro level stage) on the world circuits….the 29ers and 650bs couldnt get close.

I remember half you guys saying a while ago that this was where the big wheeled bikes would prove their dominance.

Riders will ride what the company can offer….to win. A lot of the major companies have 650b and 29er bikes that would suit that track….gwin couldve ridden an enduro 29…he didnt. Brendan could have gone 650b, gee could have. Etc etc

Maybe its just that 29ers are for n00bs 😛 and 26ers are for those who haz got skillz yo

The two riders on bigger wheels who were most likely to make an impact ended up both crashing in the first corner.
(I’d put that down to bad luck rather than wheel size)

Nah, I’d put it down to not feeling ‘at one’ with a new wheel size ;o)

Nah, I’d put it down to not feeling ‘at one’ with a new wheel size ;o)

I’d put it down to the trails coming to life… with a thirst for blood!

Here’s something to appease the big wheel haterzzzz

It’s not ideal for the marketing guys that the new all singing all dancing wheel size doesn’t have much to show in the way of wins in Enduro and downhill.

“New 650b wheels! The pro’s don’t win on them, but us marketing guys assure you they are faster!”

D’you know, I swear I just saw Ellie riding a fatbike on Countryfile; full on wagon wheels front and back on the beaches of The Gower 😯 Looked like a Surly Pugsley.

The thing that annoyed me a bit during the live stream of the downhill was the commentators constantly talking about the riders on different wheel sizes and one of the commentators stating that the 26″ was going to be dead after the event with 27.5 replacing it.

About 5-10mins later the fastest time was set on a Yeti SB-66 running 26″ wheels. Proving that 26″ was far from dead and being replacing by 27.5″.

Anyhow, it is a stupid debate and while I laughed when the 29er (must have caught too much grip) going into the corner and the rider went down, I was still glad that he was ok as it could have been nasty.

And isn’t one of the main reasons we watch because we enjoy the racing and want to see the riders do well and not get hurt..? (just thought I’d throw that out there)

The Roots and Rain figures probably aren’t complete but considering how few 650b bikes there were in the race, having 2 in the top 6 is hardly a bad result is it? Especially considering that the hardware’s still catching up, and how few of the real top contenders were using them- Stevie Smith aside, you’d not really tip Nick Beer or Blenky for the win, frinstance, let alone Bingelli and that other feller.

And leaving everything else aside, the most likely wheel size to win was always whichever one Greg Minaar had on his bike…

having 2 in the top 6 is hardly a bad result is it?

It’s not great when both are riding custom bikes for the race and Graves turns up on his trail bike with old fashioned wheels and gets third.

But why didnt so many others choose to ride their 650b prototype downhill bikes eg scott, gt etc? Why wasnt graves running the new sb75? If 650b was so much faster why have the syndicate team not been testing prototypes at least in practice?

Occams razor says its because theyre slower. Sorry but this has made up my mind, the bike industry is prizing my 26 inch wheels out of my cold dead hands. They’ll be getting no money out of me until there are no spare parts left for my bike. No wheel, frame or suspension upgrades anyway.