26" vs 700 wheels

colint

I'm looking for a cheap runaround / commuter that can take guards. Maximum distance will be 8 miles each way, most of which is on fire road / gravel path (wirral way if anyone knows it). Only be commuting once / twice a week and then general trips to shops, towing kids in trailer etc.

I was all set to get a Carrera Subway for £300, seems good value and not bad kit (I'll be putting it together myself rather than halfords doing it), but as an ex roadie I can't get the smaller wheel = slower out of my head.

I'm spending more time thinking about this purchase than a 2 grand carbon road bike !

My thinking is smaller wheel will be stronger and more stable when towing trailer, but what about the slower speed aaarrrrrrrrg

passout

Ribble to a winter trainer racer with guards at the moment with strong wheels. A steal at 409. Big wheels will be fine I reckon uless you go off road.

blorg

I am unqualified here as I don't have any bike with 26" wheels but I would be surprised if there was much of an inherent difference if you have narrow slicks, depending on the rest of the bike of course (weight etc.)

I'd look at the gear ratios rather than just worrying about the wheel size. If you can get an 11T on the cassette, depending on the front chainring you may have plenty of top-end gears. Check out Sheldon Brown's gear calculator to compare- a quick check shows that even 48-11 on 26x1.0 tyres is exactly equal to 52x13 on 700x23c for example.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

ride_whenever

there is no difference in spped inherently, bigger wheels maintain momentum better, but smaller ones accelerate faster. Bigger wheels are more stable and climb obstacles more easily. The main reason 26" is seen as slower is because mtbs use them and they do not have a geometry suitable for high road speed as you get too much wind resistance, plus they weigh a lot more.