Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • Why Santa Cruz went 27.5………….
  • charliemort
    Full Member

    http://www.bikemag.com/gear/exclusive-video-bronson-santa-cruzs-new-650b-trail-bike/

    basically, because no one would buy a 26’er even though Santa Cruz can hardly tell any difference………. so it’t the market driving SC rather than vice versa (apparently)

    (Solo still looks nice though)

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    So it’s no worse than the old one? But it is more yellow?

    BearBack
    Free Member

    Its a good angle from SantaCruz… while other manufacturers get widespread grief for ‘forcing’ 27.5 on consumers and bike shops, SantaCruz choose the ‘we did it for our customers’ line.

    Looking forwards to what Specialized’s press release will read once they resign themselves to selling an inbetweener 🙂

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    theroadwarrior
    Free Member

    Shirley people are going to get bored of changing their wheel sizes soon and just go back to riding bikes??

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    stopped when he mentioned trolls- the start basically- it was clearly some marketing BS where he claimed he was not in it ffor the money etc

    Ps that would be anyone who asks WTF with the industry doing this shit

    I dont know anyone who rides who is begging for a 650 b or a 29 er tbh

    roverpig
    Full Member

    “if you can’t tell the difference, why do you care?”

    Err, because I’ve got a shed full* of spare 26″ wheels, forks etc that are now going to be no use for any new bike I might buy**.

    *Well actually I don’t, but I bet plenty of folk do

    **If you believe the “no more decent 26″ bikes are going to be made” mantra.

    MoseyMTB
    Free Member

    Well I will happily buy loads of great kit off the people who decide a different wheel size for them.

    Win win for me.

    fr0sty125
    Free Member

    http://dirt.mpora.com/featured/dirttv-enduro-world-series-rd1-punta-ala-bike-tech-video.html

    I remember watching this a couple of weeks back and when he said that 650b was worth 1 second per 3 minutes I was like well I guess it doesn’t matter to a regular rider if you go 26 or 650b as there are many other ways to gain that half of percent of performance.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    “new” is the advertising mans favourite word

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Err, because I’ve got a shed full* of spare 26″ wheels, forks etc that are now going to be no use for any new bike I might buy**.

    *Well actually I don’t, but I bet plenty of folk do

    Maybe true, but people spending £1.8k probably aren’t adverse to spending £500 on some forks, and rims and tyres are pretty cheep.

    And more importantly it’s yellow, I have no matching yellow kit! I’m going to need shorts, jerseys, backpacks, helmets, gloves, shoes! This is an outrage, I demand a return to late 90’s black anodised everything! I’m sure all this color is just marketing!

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Santa Cruz should have shut up shop along time ago. They havent made a decent bike since the original Chameleon/Blur/Bullit/Super 8

    chunkypaul
    Free Member

    650b will always be

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’m not a 650b convert at best but the product launch for the Solo nailed home to me just how uninteresting it all is… I saw the exciting new bike, i couldn’t tell what was supposed to be exciting about the exciting new bike, finally a nice person explained that it was a Blur with a bit of extra marketing woo. They really could have just put “650b” stickers on the old bike and nobody would know.

    discoduck
    Free Member

    I’ve come to realise that I’ve been into Bikes / Biking for quite some time !

    I’ve already witnessed Flouro bikes once, now they are coming back round again, likewise and i’ve said it before on here but there are those that will remember the Raleigh Bomber, which was basically a Clunker and the pre requisite to MTB’ing !
    That had wheels that were probably some where between a 26’er and a 29’er,

    I feel old, and confused ! i’ve been riding santa Cruz bikes for nearly 15 years, i’m not sure i like the awkward looking none drive side brace and if i dont gain any more speed by riding 26″ wheels then i’ll be happy in the knowledge that theres no where in the Country i’ve not been on my 26″ wheeled steed !

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    I have an Orange 5 it has basically not changed since i bought it so what incentive is there to upgrade..none till they changed the tyre size
    Its not like a non MTB nut is going to spend that price on a frame is it and the the new forks and wheel and tyres and neither will most unless they get convinced it will be better……now we know it is 1 second every three minutes.

    On the plus side
    Loads of cheap 26 er stuff as they upgrade and then in 3 years either some cheap 650 b or 29 er stuff second hand or we are back to 26 ” and we can just look on smuggly.

    It may be better it may not but for sure the industry needs something new and the later is the more important factor…its not like fat bikes will catch on is it 😉

    b45her
    Free Member

    well at least they’re honest, no one would be able to tell the difference between 26 and 650b if the bikes and tyres didn’t have 650b emblazoned all over them.

    ninfan
    Free Member

    Just looked in my shed

    4 pairs of 26″ wheels, 3 sets of 26″ forks, 3 26″ frames, about 30 inner tubes in a box, around a dozen 26″ tyres in varying stages of wear

    650b can wait 😆

    mattzzzzzz
    Free Member

    Probably more our cousins across the pond are pushing this more than we are, so wait a year or two and we will all be buying them

    BearBack
    Free Member

    I dont know anyone who rides who is begging for a 650 b or a 29 er tbh

    Probably more our cousins across the pond are pushing this more than we are

    Yep, particularly SoCal riders.. where, coincidentally, SantaCruz are based.

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    Products change and develop for many reasons, its not always because there is a clear desire from the consumers or even a clear benefit in the performance of the product. For those of us who have made the switch the benefits are clear, and on balance worth it, but I certainly wouldn’t say it’s a step change improvement, certainly not enough to sell your perfectly good 26er for. It seems to me that we’re heading for a two wheel size future. And it probably won’t include 26″.

    Wheel size alone does not define a good bike. There are some shit hot 29ers out there ad well as some crap ones. As is the case with 26ers and 650b’ers

    coolhandluke
    Free Member

    650, poke it!

    br
    Free Member

    But its not 27.5, but 27…

    butterbean
    Free Member

    If you go into a shop that is at the Santa Cruz end of the market & have a chat with them you will have an eye opener.

    Enquiries for 26″ wheeled bikes have literally fallen off a cliff over the last few months. The demographic of these shops is very different to the people on here.

    Again, the article that Chipps posted on here is on the money. People (of any note) arn’t designing, or developing any 26″ bikes any more. Bikes that had been signed off for 2014 production that were 26″ have been pulled & redesigned for 27.5″.

    It’s already happened. Quite frankly, it’s amazing, considering how f*cking useless the bike industry is at doing anything with any haste.

    And yes, the difference is mininal. I have a 26″ Specialized Butcher Control 2.3 on front of me inflated to 30psi. It’s diameter at the highest point is 27.1″. I also have a 27.5″ Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35″ on the same rim (obviously a 27.5″ version) also inflated to 30psi. The diameter of that is 27.6″ at the highest point.

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    rOcKeTdOg said: On June 9, 2013
    RIP 26? you will be remembered fondly, we had some fun times together, go now and play forever on the dusty singletrack in the sky *wipes away tear*

    JCL
    Free Member

    I also heard a 3 model, 4 size, 26″ carbon main triangle moulds worth major $ were trashed at the last minute.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    They’re going to regret this in the end I think – assuming they push for BOTH 650 and 29, they’ll end up with frames that can easily take both wheels and adjustable travel shocks so your 29er short-travel bike can also be a 650 longer travel

    only one frame, 1 fancy fork & shock and 2 sets of wheels – ace

    Houns
    Full Member

    I like choice. I don’t like being bullied in to buying a bike with a wheel size I don’t want.

    My tired old SC Blur LT frame will be upgraded later this year, I don’t want to be forced to buy 27.5″. We all know that in a few years when the market slows down again that a brand new super awesumz wheel size will come out. This will be pushed by the press, manufacturers will only produce this size, we will have no choice but to eventually upgrade to this size and spunk loads of cash on doing so.

    Only good side about this is that I’ll probably be dead when the industry decides that 72.3899921″ wheels are where it’s at

    ninfan
    Free Member

    We all know that in a few years when the market slows down again that a brand new super awesumz wheel size will come out. This will be pushed by the press, manufacturers will only produce this size, we will have no choice but to eventually upgrade to this size and spunk loads of cash on doing so.

    Yup, but we’ll be back to 26″ again – you can see it now, “stiffer, stronger, lighter, more responsive, faster accelerating – its a revelation”

    messiah
    Free Member

    I’m thinking of buying a 27.5 frame to run 26 wheels in… the 2.4 and 2.2 Conti RQ tyres I like are so faffing huge they may as well be 27.5’s. By running a 27.5 frame I’ll get the bottom bracket back down to a more sensible height than when running these tyres with normal 26″ frames which were/are designed for smaller tyres.

    Probably won’t be a Santa Cruz; although at last they have decided to build frames with decent lenght top tubes so thay may fit me now 🙄 :mrgreen:

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    I’m (back) at the point where I’m looking at all the nice bikes on display. Wheel size is not in the equation.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    My tired old SC Blur LT frame will be upgraded later this year, I don’t want to be forced to buy 27.5″.

    Just get the new 26″ wheeled Blur LT with some new tweaks for this year.

    They are still selling and releasing 26″ bikes in the areas I like (TR/LT/Nomad/Heckler) the 650 seems to compliment that and means that if it dies as a fad then they can go back fairly easily.

    catvet
    Free Member

    There will be no 26 ers soon just as Orange have ditched the Five 26 er, all companies will go the same way, save up and buy into one of the 2 new wheel sizes 27.5 or 29, game over.

    Paceman
    Free Member

    I’m pretty sure Orange are selling the Five in all three wheel sizes for 2014.

    However in the long run I reckon we’re going to end up with adjustable geometry frames / forks coming out that will work with both 650b/27” and 29er; i.e. you change your wheelsize for intended purpose, sticking the 29er wheels on for marathon/race with smaller lighter tyres, and the 650b wheels on for all-mountain/enduro use with bigger tyres on and more mud clearance etc. The technology exists already for this and it seems to me we’re going to have to accept it like it or not.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    There will be no 26 ers soon just as Orange have ditched the Five 26 er, all companies will go the same way, save up and buy into one of the 2 new wheel sizes 27.5 or 29, game over.

    Why though, my Pitch is now nearly 3 years old, it’s not worse than when I bought it. It’s actualy better with a few upgrades. I’ll keep riding that and it’ll remain just as good for the next 5 year when I expect it’ll eventualy die either of catastrophic failure, or just not being worth paying for shock serviceing and bearings that’ll probably be cost more than the frames worth by that point.

    I may get a 650b bike in the meantime, but dear god I won’t make such a fus about it as some people on here make about not getting one!

    I reckon we’re going to end up with adjustable geometry frames / forks coming out that will work with both 650b/27” and 29er

    Can’t see it hapening, the forks would be the wrong offset for starters. Why would I want a frame, that’s too light to really want to test it downhill, but too heavy for XC, and takes an hour and a bit to swap over parts, change shocks, adjust geometry each time I want to ride it?

    PJM1974
    Free Member

    I do wish that bike companies would stop – literally as well as figuratively – reinventing the wheel.

    Having said that, 27.5″ appeals far more than 29″.

    dantsw13
    Full Member

    Sod performance – my 26″ Heckler fits in the back of my XC90 with the wheels on – but only just. A 29’er or 650b probably wouldn’t.

Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)

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