anyone considering 26ers still?

querhoch

Don't get sucked in!!

for years, decades in fact, 26" wheels have been perfectly good and now I see all these people saying 'oh yeah, theyre crap. 650b/29" will be better' as though you've been waiting for this all along. you havent, nobody has. this is the industry trying to push a new product that has invented a problem to solve that it fails to solve it completely so instead we have industry led literature telling us that the benefits are worth spending £100's on even though, EVEN THOUGH, the problem of our 26" wheels is largely an imagined one.

I doubt that many of us here are olympic athletes or even professional riders, so your biking, like mine, is lesuire based. if you want a new bike with bigger wheels then go ahead and buy one and I hope you enjoy it, but don't pretend that you need it or that it will make much difference to your skill and speed. theres a name for people who slavishly follow trends and buy new kit because a magazine told them too, and theyre called r**dies. don't be that guy.

devbrix

I'm lucky enough to have both a 26" full suss and a 29" hard tail. The bikes obviously do differ in character and I tend to ride the 26er when its going to be more technical, with lots of difficult climbs and muddy as it seems to copes better (although the 29er is fine as well). I take the 29er out for faster, flowing, flatter routes. On my local route, which is a mixture of terrain, they are each faster in some sections than the other but overall I am no faster on either over the whole route! Both bikes give different riding experiences and challenges but my life is no more complete now I have a 29er. I didnt buy the 29er due to the hyperbolae but so my wife and me could go out together at times and the 29er was a good deal at the time. I would try and avoid any marketing-induced neurosis or what some people have termed the 'fear of missing out' (FOMO); just get out and enjoy a ride whatever your wheel size, suspension, drivetrain, helmet, shoes etc etc.
Happy Christmas!

cycleclinic

For me I can see the point in 29er's but my wallet says no. I think most people know what works for them. When I break the my two MTB frames then maybe I will replace with a 29er. But as one is 10 years old and the other 23 years old I think it may be while.

The Rookie

querhoch wrote:

I doubt that many of us here are olympic athletes or even professional riders, so your biking, like mine, is lesuire based. if you want a new bike with bigger wheels then go ahead and buy one and I hope you enjoy it, but don't pretend that you need it or that it will make much difference to your skill and speed.

The larger wheels are either faster rolling or not, they won't roll faster for pro athletes and not amateurs!

querhoch

yes, but they wont roll faster without you putting more effort in. a lot of the hype revolves around the idea that having bigger wheels will make it easier to get around and thats just not true.

ilovedirt

The Beginner wrote:

querhoch wrote:

I doubt that many of us here are olympic athletes or even professional riders, so your biking, like mine, is lesuire based. if you want a new bike with bigger wheels then go ahead and buy one and I hope you enjoy it, but don't pretend that you need it or that it will make much difference to your skill and speed.

The larger wheels are either faster rolling or not, they won't roll faster for pro athletes and not amateurs!

They're not faster rolling, they just flatten out the bumpy stuff a little.

ddraver

querhoch wrote:

yes, but they wont roll faster without you putting more effort in. a lot of the hype revolves around the idea that having bigger wheels will make it easier to get around and thats just not true.

Except that it is - they flatten out some of the bumpy stuff making it easier and faster to ride for the same power. The question is do you WANT to make the bumpy stuff easier/faster?

There I agree with you, most of us actually like the bumpy stuff and don't care if it takes us another 5, 10, 15 whatever to finish the ride

CB75

The whole wheelsize debate is just getting boring now. Im 26er all the way. if something aint broke dont try to fix it. As for 650b this isnt an in the middle 27 and a half inch. Its more like an inch diffirence from 26 so whats the point?? the fact is something new will always come out and try to make headlines in the biking world. We now have electronic gear shifting, electronic controlled suspension. Tecnology and progression will always come up with something diffirent. I get annoyed not only with the wheel size thing but the fact there are so many diffirent sizes for almost everything on your bike these days. There are no standards anymore!

querhoch

its not the same pedal power to wheel ratio though. its not hugely different, but you cant get a bigger wheel rolling with the same power as you'd use for a smaller one. once its moving then its own momentum will carry it more efficiently than a smaller wheel, but you still have to get it moving first.

anyway, Im not buying one and thats that.

Briggo

CB75 wrote:

if something aint broke dont try to fix it.

So you still watching TV on your CRT TV?

querhoch

^irrelevant. technology improved and so CRT became obsolete. the same cannot be said of a new wheel size.

cooldad

Briggo wrote:

CB75 wrote:

if something aint broke dont try to fix it.

So you still watching TV on your CRT TV?

Yes, I am.

supersonic

If a 26 is 26, then a 29 ain't 29 either - is 28.5.

bennett_346

But when is a raven like a writing desk?