There’s quite a few grown up wheel riders on STW, but out in the real world, I still see far more people still on training wheels.

I know looking at bikes that people may have owned for a few years is not an indication of what’s selling now, so, does anyone with inside knowledge of the bike trade know what the proportion of 29ers to 26ers being sold is ? Either complete bikes or frames ?

only an idiot or “look at me” wannabe buys them anyway don’t they?

a %age of all mountain bikes? including £300 bikes?

less than 1%, more like 0.1, if that, probably even smaller

OK, I’ll rephrase the question.
What proportion of new bike buyers are attention whores ?

Good point Warton, sub £300 bikes will follow whatever the established technology is.

How about “proper” or £500+ bikes then ?

isn’t all buyers who are male? afterall aren’t 26″ bikes female specific?

Not just for women, 26ers are ideal for short men under 5′ too.

Judging by comments on here, 29ers are for men who feel the need to prove that they’re real men, tounge-in-cheek or not…

The proportion of bikes sold in the UK that are 29ers is tiny. STW is completely unlike the real world market. In the US on the other hand, it’s quite different but they’re the country that truly believes that bigger is always better…

I still think it will be tiny. less than 1%.

Out of the hundreds/thousands of bike enquiries we get at work each week there is probably one a month enquiring about a 29’er

Judging by comments on here, 29ers are for men who feel the need to prove that they’re real men, tounge-in-cheek or not…

I’ve noticed this a lot, I’m 29er aware or curious but I have to chuckle at some people’s comments.

There’s quite a few grown up clown wheel riders on STW, but out in the real world, I still see far more people still on training sensible wheels

FIFY 😉

only an idiot or “look at me” wannabe buys them anyway don’t they?

Nail on head or unless your tall.

In fact, tall is irrelevant. Tall just means they look in proportion. People claim all sorts of benefits of 29ers for tall people but I’m yet to hear one that really stands any scrutiny.

Nail on head… 😉

Tall just means they look in proportion.

That’s what I was kind of getting at 🙂

Houns, what’s your work ? in a bike shop ? I just wondered why you refer to enquiries, not sales.

Thinking about this a bit more, it’s not such a simple question.
I would guess that the vast majority of bikes sold in the UK are sub £500 from Halfords or a supermarket.
Probably sold to people who think that more gears and more suspension must be better because they cost more.
Anything a bit unusual, like 2×10 or 29er is only going to appeal to people who know a bit more about bikes and take riding a bit more seriously.

Houns is in cycle to work isn’t he?

aren’t 29ers used for racing? most races i’ve been to recently are won by people on 29ers

aren’t 29ers used for racing? most races i’ve been to recently are won by people on 29ers

Those same people would probably win if riding a 26″

For every one person who wants a 29er because they win races, there’s going to be a hundred people who want an aluminium frame, 27 gears and full suspension because that’s what they expect for what they’re prepared to pay for a bike. They are probably not even aware that there’s a choice of wheel sizes beyond knowing that children’s bikes have smaller wheels.

So, to start again with a new question and trying not to open up the old debate about what makes a “proper” mountain bike(r).
What proportion of new proper mountain bikes sold are 29ers ?

What proportion of new proper mountain bikes sold are 29ers ?

less than 1%

Judging by comments on here, 29ers are for men who feel the need to prove that they’re real men, tounge-in-cheek or not…

i thought it was just the 26″ brigade that handed in their sense of humour when picking up their bike

it’s all just riding innit

Agreed, when working in a bike shop I remember 2 enquiries in 10 years about them (admittedly they were only really around for about 5 of those years).

They’re getting more popular, and I can see the advantages for some people/places. Doesn’t generally appeal to me though.

I suspect you may be right warton, I’d just like hear from someone who knows the real numbers.

A quick search shows 13 bikes in the Specialized range, with only 3 of those available as a 29er.
Specialized are probably the biggest manufacturer of proper mountain bikes. Even if you ignore the 3 downhill bikes, that still only leaves 3 out of 10 with no indication of how many of each model they sell.

I really don’t get the 29er specific forks which are 20mm less travel than their 26″ counterparts. More expensive AND less travel 😆

At least the SS rigid 29ers make the effort to ride a completely different type of bike. Masochists.

RD – maybe but I also reckon there’s a lot of TJ standard defense being used eg “I was only joking” – none so true as that said in jest an all…

If it helps the OP,Halfords,Tesco and Argos don’t sell 29ers,so a lot less than 1% I think.

The sales over here are pretty small but as someone said they are extremely popular in the states, Specialized have 22 29ers available in the states……

A quick search shows 13 bikes in the Specialized range, with only 3 of those available as a 29er.

Quick search FAIL. Spec’ UK lists 52 mountain bikes, of which 4 are 29ers. There are lots more in the US, but the UK doesn’t bring them in, which may tell you something about the demand for them. Or may not.

13 bikes on this page. Depends on whether you want to count a Rockhopper, Rockhopper Comp and Rockhopper Pro as one bike or three.

Clubber has got it, in the UK it is small. In the US they reckon it is going to outsell the sales of 26″ bikes within the next year or so. Personally I think they just look wrong, I haven’t see a 29er that I think is right regardless of how they are meant to ride.

I would try asking On One! They should be able to give an idea with them selling little wheeled bikes as well! 😆

People claim all sorts of benefits of 29ers for tall people but I’m yet to hear one that really stands any scrutiny.

Yes it is clearly madness. After all if wheel size was related to height, kids bikes would have smaller wheels…

But that’s to do with fitting everything into a sensible sized package/proportion isn’t it. Just because you’re bigger doesn’t mean you need bigger wheels or that they inherently work better if you’re taller. If it did, why 29″ – why aren’t taller riders going for 32 or 36″ since mid (and even small) sized riders seem to be managing fine on 29ers (though that really would be impractical for smaller frames)?

I think comparing me to TJ is a bit low

It wasn’t specific to you RD as I’m pretty sure you’re just winding up the haterz but there are plenty that I’m not so sure on…

13 bikes on this page. Depends on whether you want to count a Rockhopper, Rockhopper Comp and Rockhopper Pro as one bike or three.

I tend to count them as three, because they are 🙂 13 ranges, each of varying numbers of bikes.

We’ve sold more Fat Bikes than 29ers…..

is that because you don’t have any in the shop or don’t promote them like you would 26″ or the brands you sell don’t carry/import 29ers? not a criticism, just wondering

Halfords do sell 29’ers

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&categoryId=-1&langId=-1&action=listrefine&constraints=ese||i%3A1%3B2%3B%3B29%2Cer%3B%3A29%2C%3Aer%3B1%2C1%2C2%2C1%3B0+1||sea||29+er||tax||1||Bikes

Graham i work for C2W. Enquiries/Orders for 29’ers are very low

I just listed all the bikes Evans sell on order of popularity.

The first 29er is about 40 bikes down the list

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/complete-bikes/mountain-bikes?page=1&per_page=100

Under 1% seems fair to me

Its also worth bearing in mind that a huge propotion of 26 inch wheel bikes are used for jumping, 4X etc where the big wheel doesn’t seem welcome or appropiate