650B...ollocks?

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

So how come I can see a second rim behind the 26er almost dpwn to the tyre if the tyres are the same size? Doesn't quite make sense!

The camera wasn't level with the bottom edges of the rims when the photo was taken- so you can see over the top of the first rim.

In the side-on pic, you can see that the wheels aren't perfectly straight to the camera which is giving the impression that the 650b one is really thin. But yep, tyre sizes do vary, as anyone who's ever used a Maxxis or Conti knows.

The Rookie

That is no parallax error that is clearly 2 different height tyres......making the whol effort rather pointless as all it tells you is some tyres are different sizes and not the effect of the wheel size change, after all, which is the rim we can see that we shouldn't, is it the 650B or the 29er? If you can't say for sure the excercise is pointless!

EH_Rob

Making a scale diagram out of the picture might be more helpful for a comparison, as the picture does seem to produce more questions than answers.

One of the main ones that springs to mind is 'how has this generated a 5 page thread?'.

lawman

Bottom line - if you like the bike and it rides well and fits all your criteria when looking for a bike who gives a shit what wheels it has?! Some of the arguments in this thread are hilarious, there's far, far more to a bike than wheel size.

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

That is no parallax error that is clearly 2 different height tyres.....

I honestly have no idea why you think that. You can't tell in the pic either way. They might be for all I know (in fact from measuring tyres, there's a better than even chance they are, since for one thing so many claimed sizes are just wrong, and for others claimed width tells you little about height) but it's not "clearly" anything!

The Northern Monkey

I want a myriagon wheel...

TBH, for me the biggest thing is manoeuvrability. A 29er looks soo cumbersome (not to mention ridiculous), that I can't see* them being much fun on a fun technical trail (trail jumps, drops etc etc). The frames are so bloody big to compensate for the extra room required.
But, I can see the appeal for XC. If a bigger wheel smooths out a trail and helps the lycra brigade keep their cadence up then fair enough.

650b seems to me like a fashion thing. Not ready to jump on the bandwaggon (mainly because it involves spending ££ and isn't compatible with any of my bikes).

* I haven't actually ridden a 29er, but still haven't been convinced that there is a reason for me to.

97th choice

lawman wrote:

Bottom line - if you like the bike and it rides well and fits all your criteria when looking for a bike who gives a shoot what wheels it has?!.

^ this

There's too much crap bring written by people who haven't ridden them, and there's probably a corresponding amount of crap from people who have bought them un tested but are secretly regretting it.

Kowalski675

I realise I'm just a newbie and haven't been around much, but the handful of times I have been on the trails, despite all the magazine hype telling us 26ers are dead and we must move on, I've not seen a single rider on a 29er or 650B yet.

ddraver

Monkey man - Test one one day, it's a bit of fun and couldnt hurt.

The Northern Monkey

ddraver wrote:

Monkey man - Test one one day, it's a bit of fun and couldnt hurt.

Never say never! Will do one day I'm sure, but in no rush.... probably when then next bike is due!

The Rookie

Kowalski675 wrote:

I realise I'm just a newbie and haven't been around much, but the handful of times I have been on the trails, despite all the magazine hype telling us 26ers are dead and we must move on, I've not seen a single rider on a 29er or 650B yet.

Must be a Yorkshire thing, I see loads of 29ers, and while 650B is new and rare, I doubt if you saw one you'd realise it was a 650B anyway......

supersonic

I rarely see 29ers either.

Kowalski675

The Beginner wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

I realise I'm just a newbie and haven't been around much, but the handful of times I have been on the trails, despite all the magazine hype telling us 26ers are dead and we must move on, I've not seen a single rider on a 29er or 650B yet.

Must be a Yorkshire thing, I see loads of 29ers, and while 650B is new and rare, I doubt if you saw one you'd realise it was a 650B anyway......

I was in Lancashire on Sunday, lol

The Rookie

Aye but thee be another one oh them there northern folk......and Lancashire is oop north....

Some of my group rides I go on 26ers are in the minority.

Kowalski675

Blimey, comparing Yorkshire folk to Lancastrians - wars have started over less, lol...

cooldad

Plenty of both down here in the affluent south. Goes with the Audi.

The Rookie

Thats why I have a 26er, so retro I still have a BMW!

thelonegroover

3 out of 8 of our group have 29ers. One person is on his 2nd.

Thewaylander

supersonic wrote:

I rarely see 29ers either.

I cruised past a bunch on them on way round whites on the weekend, still look like a bunch of tree huggers to me.

Ouija

I'm in Dalby forest every day. Nearly every 5th bike i see is a 29er.... (probably southerners on a day trip).

The Rookie

Did a mental tot up, last group ride I was on (Midlands, so neither norf nor saff) we had 18 bikes, 8 were 29ers and one a 69er.
Just to add extra spice, one was a fatbike, suspension wise we had 1 FS, 9 HT's and 8 rigids, gear wise we had 10 SS, 1 1x and 7 fully geared.

bails87

The Beginner wrote:

Did a mental tot up, last group ride I was on (Midlands, so neither norf nor saff) we had 18 bikes, 8 were 29ers and one a 69er.
Just to add extra spice, one was a fatbike, suspension wise we had 1 FS, 9 HT's and 8 rigids, gear wise we had 10 SS, 1 1x and 7 fully geared.

Bunch of perverts

Thewaylander wrote:

I cruised past a bunch on them on way round whites on the weekend,

Wow, they really must be slow! :twisted:

EH_Rob

The Beginner wrote:

Did a mental tot up, last group ride I was on (Midlands, so neither norf nor saff) we had 18 bikes, 8 were 29ers and one a 69er.
Just to add extra spice, one was a fatbike, suspension wise we had 1 FS, 9 HT's and 8 rigids, gear wise we had 10 SS, 1 1x and 7 fully geared.

you should talk to someone about your problems.

Northwind

The Beginner wrote:

Did a mental tot up, last group ride I was on (Midlands, so neither norf nor saff) we had 18 bikes, 8 were 29ers and one a 69er. Just to add extra spice, one was a fatbike, suspension wise we had 1 FS, 9 HT's and 8 rigids, gear wise we had 10 SS, 1 1x and 7 fully geared.

I think the forum you're looking for is Singletrackworld

The Rookie

Hey don't pick on me, mine was the 1x, HT 26er......

Two of them also own CX bikes, though they only appear for rides when we pre-agree an easier route for them (when I wheel out my Retro for fun).

Most the group prey at the altar of N+1......I'm almost an outcast with only 4 bikes...

Thewaylander

bails87 wrote:

Thewaylander wrote:

I cruised past a bunch on them on way round whites on the weekend,

Wow, they really must be slow! :twisted:

Nah they were just trying to make them go round a corner and couldn't figure it out :P

b45her

The Beginner wrote:

Did a mental tot up, last group ride I was on (Midlands, so neither norf nor saff) we had 18 bikes, 8 were 29ers and one a 69er.
Just to add extra spice, one was a fatbike, suspension wise we had 1 FS, 9 HT's and 8 rigids, gear wise we had 10 SS, 1 1x and 7 fully geared.

yep you'd definitely fit in well with the STW folk where machoness is measured by how unsuitable for proper offroad use your bike is. tell them you ride a rigid, fixie, 29er fatbike (preferably a jones or something else equally hideous) and your gang will be worshiped like gods.

supersonic

In this months WMB, there was a 2k FS test - had 26er, 650 and 29ers - will not reveal what won ;-)

Kowalski675

That's not due out for a few days, you have it on subscription?

97th choice

No, he's omnipresent.