26/27.5/29 who won?
Discussion
I'm not here to start an argument but a few years ago I was out for a new bike and couldn't decide on which wheel size. I fully understand the pros and cons of each size so the only concern I had was if I was to buy a new bike would spares become obsolete within a few years of purchase? I checked a few websites and its seems like there are plenty of tyres and wheels for all the sizes. All this thinking started because my forks are shagged on my hardtail so when I started looking at new forks, the nice new bikes on the website look 
gazza285 said:
27.5 is for kids who aren't big enough to race a 29er and fashionistas.
Oh? I fancied a 27.5 full suspension. Mainly because the market seems to be going that way. There doesn't seem to be many (if any) 26" new full suspension bikes now?When I jumped on a 29" the wheels looked huge. I can't help think 29" is great for XC but the 27.5 has only been invented to make us part with more £££.
gazza285 said:
29er for rigid single speed, I'm still on a 26er for gears and front sus because the bike cost a fair bit. 27.5 is for kids who aren't big enough to race a 29er and fashionistas.
Oiii!Some of us are just short, damn it! Kids indeed! I'm 45 years old, FFS, and my feet wouldn't touch the ground on most 29ers...
yellowjack said:
gazza285 said:
29er for rigid single speed, I'm still on a 26er for gears and front sus because the bike cost a fair bit. 27.5 is for kids who aren't big enough to race a 29er and fashionistas.
Oiii!Some of us are just short, damn it! Kids indeed! I'm 45 years old, FFS, and my feet wouldn't touch the ground on most 29ers...
If 26" is being phased out then purchasing a new one now will just be throwing money away when you try to sell it as the second hand values will be far worse.
I have a 27.5 bike. I needed a new bike and 29" was too much of a jump and that left 27.5 for the reasons above and most of the bikes aimed at the aggressive trail/enduro market are 27.5.
Depends what use you want. Still think 29" would be good for XC and trail centres but if it's any thing more gravity based then a smaller wheeled bike will feel more comfortable.
I know my new bike is faster than my 26". But it's also carbon, better geometry etc etc. So it's not just wheels alone.
I have a 27.5 bike. I needed a new bike and 29" was too much of a jump and that left 27.5 for the reasons above and most of the bikes aimed at the aggressive trail/enduro market are 27.5.
Depends what use you want. Still think 29" would be good for XC and trail centres but if it's any thing more gravity based then a smaller wheeled bike will feel more comfortable.
I know my new bike is faster than my 26". But it's also carbon, better geometry etc etc. So it's not just wheels alone.
26" wheels
1996 Cannondale, it's just nice to keep some history, and still rides well.
Specialized Fatboy, silly big tyre fun machine, and a comfortable endurance race bike.
27.5" wheels
Pace RC127, running 140mm Fox Float 34's up front, right little hooligan, great for chucking round trail centres.
29" wheels
Pace RC129 running it as a fully ridid singlespeed, just perfect for slinging round the bridleways on the lincolnshire wolds, or cannock chase off piste.
Giant XTC this years xc race machine, not even ridden yet
1996 Cannondale, it's just nice to keep some history, and still rides well.
Specialized Fatboy, silly big tyre fun machine, and a comfortable endurance race bike.
27.5" wheels
Pace RC127, running 140mm Fox Float 34's up front, right little hooligan, great for chucking round trail centres.
29" wheels
Pace RC129 running it as a fully ridid singlespeed, just perfect for slinging round the bridleways on the lincolnshire wolds, or cannock chase off piste.
Giant XTC this years xc race machine, not even ridden yet
26" is virtually obsolete, I did think downhill bikes would stay 26" but even they have in the main been replaced by 650b. I've made the switch to 650b except for my down hill bike and perfectly happy. I don't like 29" though feels too barge like on tight turns, I can see it being obviously faster for open XC type riding though.
Overall I think 650b has won with the exception of for XC racers where 29" has found its niche
Overall I think 650b has won with the exception of for XC racers where 29" has found its niche
yellowjack said:
gazza285 said:
29er for rigid single speed, I'm still on a 26er for gears and front sus because the bike cost a fair bit. 27.5 is for kids who aren't big enough to race a 29er and fashionistas.
Oiii!Some of us are just short, damn it! Kids indeed! I'm 45 years old, FFS, and my feet wouldn't touch the ground on most 29ers...
Im not going to do road jumps and perhaps not the fastest but certainly not the slowest.
Not found any instances where the 29 is unable to turn etc,
Basically the bike manufacturers were struggling to sell any 26" wheel bikes back in 2000ish, so they came up with the great wheeze of the 29" wheeled bike. Roll out the marketing machine and suddenly everyone has to have one. A few years later and most people have 29ers so bike sales slow and out comes the 650b. Roll out the marketing machine again and it's now the must have and whooppy they sell lots more bikes .
If you could do a blind test I doubt that 99.5% of riders could tell the difference. And ask any frame builder to build a 29er for anyone under 6 foot and you will end up with a horrible compromise , not what specialized marketing bods will tell you but it's true.
If you could do a blind test I doubt that 99.5% of riders could tell the difference. And ask any frame builder to build a 29er for anyone under 6 foot and you will end up with a horrible compromise , not what specialized marketing bods will tell you but it's true.
26" - Definitely the looser.
650/27.5" - Seems to be the main wheel size for most new bikes, especially trail bikes.
29" - Best suited to XC, most definitely best/fastest for longer rides. Faster downhill in some circumstances, but depends on the actual downhill.
Pro enduro racers are split 50/50 27.5/29. Bigger wheels have more grip, but can be heavier and harder to turn.
But the average rider will probably be faster on a 29er.
650/27.5" - Seems to be the main wheel size for most new bikes, especially trail bikes.
29" - Best suited to XC, most definitely best/fastest for longer rides. Faster downhill in some circumstances, but depends on the actual downhill.
Pro enduro racers are split 50/50 27.5/29. Bigger wheels have more grip, but can be heavier and harder to turn.
But the average rider will probably be faster on a 29er.
Compared to my mates, all on 26, I was quickest on the twisty bits and slowest on the straights.
I got a 29er and lost a little speed on the twisty bits and gained some on the straights. Overall, I was quicker but as always, the bike was a step up so not a fair test (lighter and way better front fork)
The marketers message is whispering in my ear that the middle option 650b will make me super fast at everything!
I got a 29er and lost a little speed on the twisty bits and gained some on the straights. Overall, I was quicker but as always, the bike was a step up so not a fair test (lighter and way better front fork)
The marketers message is whispering in my ear that the middle option 650b will make me super fast at everything!
t and are only for wierdos.Who won?
27.5"/650b won.
26" isn't completely dead, but there are only a handful of new 26" bikes being made. They're being sold as an aggressive/fun bike rather than a 'fast' bike per-se as that what the market expects of it - see the Kona Process 167 for details. Most manufactures dropped 26" for their 2014 range, specialized who were more invested in 29" as 'the future' kept 26" alive until their 2015 range. You'll still be able to buy tyres / wheels for a while I guess, but there won't be many updates, any new tech will be 'ported' over from 650b designs, which will probably make is as bad as the first batch of 650b stuff that was 'ported' over 26" stuff, the other wheel size specific item is of course forks - Fox no longer make 26" forks, Rockshox do, but only on existing models, new models are 650b/29" only. 26" will become obsolete at some point, unless there's some late resurgence.
29" is a constant now, the market (Spesh aside) has decided that 29" suits XC riding and especially hardtails and it's probably right. Spesh still make comparative oddballs like the Enduro 29" and if you accept the character traits of 29" they're very good, if you expect it to have all the benefits and none of the drawbacks, they're probably not - except of course the Evil 'The Following' which is meant to be perfect in every way if you believe the reviewers, let’s hope they don't all fall apart and get disowned by Evil like, well, every FS bike they've ever made so far.
The vast majority of new bike will be 650b, 90% of new bike development is being focused towards 650b, the current crop of 650b bikes are already faster, lighter, stronger and more agile than the last crop of 26" bikes from 3 years ago, although how much of that is down to wheel size... I would guess very little, just design evolution.
If you were buying a new bike now you'd have to buy a 650b or 29" if you plan to keep it for more than a year.
But... as someone else above said, there are things called 'plus bikes' now - designers (and marketing teams) have managed to sell a lot of new bikes by changing the diameter of the rims, what about their width?
They claim that by upping the width of the tyres from a range of 2.1 to 2.5 up to 3.0 they've created grip/resistance sweet spot using alchemy - because it's meant to offer both - very low psi, very wide tyres which offer lots of grip as you'd expect, but somehow doesn't mean they drag - witchcraft!
You wouldn't think anyone would buy into it, but then, there's form for this sort of thing - when 29" came out, a few people bought into it and shouting the virtues of bigger wheels from the rooftops, but admitted there were some drawbacks, so the industry decided - well, let’s go for a half-way house between 26 and 29 and tell everyone they have all the benefits of both, with none of the drawbacks! Perfect.
Fatbikes might yet be the 29" of 2015, ushering in the half-way, best of both worlds Plus bikes of 2017.
27.5"/650b won.
26" isn't completely dead, but there are only a handful of new 26" bikes being made. They're being sold as an aggressive/fun bike rather than a 'fast' bike per-se as that what the market expects of it - see the Kona Process 167 for details. Most manufactures dropped 26" for their 2014 range, specialized who were more invested in 29" as 'the future' kept 26" alive until their 2015 range. You'll still be able to buy tyres / wheels for a while I guess, but there won't be many updates, any new tech will be 'ported' over from 650b designs, which will probably make is as bad as the first batch of 650b stuff that was 'ported' over 26" stuff, the other wheel size specific item is of course forks - Fox no longer make 26" forks, Rockshox do, but only on existing models, new models are 650b/29" only. 26" will become obsolete at some point, unless there's some late resurgence.
29" is a constant now, the market (Spesh aside) has decided that 29" suits XC riding and especially hardtails and it's probably right. Spesh still make comparative oddballs like the Enduro 29" and if you accept the character traits of 29" they're very good, if you expect it to have all the benefits and none of the drawbacks, they're probably not - except of course the Evil 'The Following' which is meant to be perfect in every way if you believe the reviewers, let’s hope they don't all fall apart and get disowned by Evil like, well, every FS bike they've ever made so far.
The vast majority of new bike will be 650b, 90% of new bike development is being focused towards 650b, the current crop of 650b bikes are already faster, lighter, stronger and more agile than the last crop of 26" bikes from 3 years ago, although how much of that is down to wheel size... I would guess very little, just design evolution.
If you were buying a new bike now you'd have to buy a 650b or 29" if you plan to keep it for more than a year.
But... as someone else above said, there are things called 'plus bikes' now - designers (and marketing teams) have managed to sell a lot of new bikes by changing the diameter of the rims, what about their width?
They claim that by upping the width of the tyres from a range of 2.1 to 2.5 up to 3.0 they've created grip/resistance sweet spot using alchemy - because it's meant to offer both - very low psi, very wide tyres which offer lots of grip as you'd expect, but somehow doesn't mean they drag - witchcraft!
You wouldn't think anyone would buy into it, but then, there's form for this sort of thing - when 29" came out, a few people bought into it and shouting the virtues of bigger wheels from the rooftops, but admitted there were some drawbacks, so the industry decided - well, let’s go for a half-way house between 26 and 29 and tell everyone they have all the benefits of both, with none of the drawbacks! Perfect.
Fatbikes might yet be the 29" of 2015, ushering in the half-way, best of both worlds Plus bikes of 2017.
Remember, those who've talked about resell values, that 26" will be retro soon enough and like vinyl, Rubik's cubes and Pac Man machines...everyone will want one. My Mongoose Supergoose III that I had back in mid 80's is trading for £1000s now. Wish I'd kept it. Keep your 26er Or just buy a bike you like and actually ride it!
Or just buy a bike you like and actually ride it!Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff