How long will 26ers Last?

craker

Mine's lasted 13 years so far. Have I got to change it?

cooldad

Obviously yes, otherwise people will point at you and laugh.
And know you are poor.

stuisnew

cooldad wrote:

And know you are poor.

Probably rich if he isn't buying a new bike every couple of years!!

booldawg

So shall I cancel my Wiggle order to buy their entire stock of 26" tubes?

adamfo

I came across this picture the other day. The black bike is a Canyon Nerve AL + 26" with the new Canyon Spectral 650b that replaces it in green. Appears to be in scale, the XT chainset etc. align.
Not a whole lot of difference in wheel size. I'm sure the new Spectral will be a better bike only because it's a new design.
This year they introduced the carbon Nerve which is a 26" so it does appear they have been caught out a bit with the industry in general changing over to 650b for mainstream models. All of Canyon's DH bikes remain 26" for 2014.

rockmonkeysc

It's not often you see such a major change in product design which isn't lead by customer demand, the manufacturers have decided for themselves that this is what we are having.
I can't see 26" downhill bikes disappearing anytime soon though. If it worked factory teams would all be on them already.

oxocube1

I agree with SS here. I personally think, and have done for the last 6 months or so, that 29ers will phase out at some point in the next few years, not completely, just a lot less popular than they are at the moment. I reckon they will only be used for disciplines such as XC racing. I think 650b will become the dominant wheel size due to the 'best of both worlds' advantages. I'm pretty confident that 26" wheeled bikes will ever be extinct because of the number of bikes currently out there with them. It's become far too big of a 'standard' for it to disappear.

Oh and quick note to OP, please don't call them 26ers! It's 26" and 29ers. Just a pet hate of mine!

cooldad

26er26er26er

oxocube1

cooldad wrote:

26er26er26er

Grrrrrrr! haha!

97th choice

If 29ers give the claimed performance advantages over 26/650b wheels then surely the demand will remain - e.g. Competitive XC. I think what we might be starting to see is an acceptance that bolting 29ers wheels on everything isn't always going to work.

Unfortunately that appears to have been replaced with bolting 650b on everything.

adamfo

supersonic wrote:

scarbs85 wrote:

supersonic wrote:

I think 29 ers will die soon.

Giant have dropped 29ers now, will be none in their range next year -

Not true. The Giant 2014 catalogue is full of them !

What percentage of US MB sales are 29ers, 80 % ?

kajjal

Just bought the wife a new 26er at a good price in the sales. Not too sure what the concern is, unless you break wheels and forks on a regular basis. My last set of wheels lasted many, many years without issue as did the forks.

supersonic

adamfo wrote:

supersonic wrote:

scarbs85 wrote:

supersonic wrote:

I think 29 ers will die soon.

Giant have dropped 29ers now, will be none in their range next year -

Not true. The Giant 2014 catalogue is full of them !

What percentage of US MB sales are 29ers, 80 % ?

I meant 2015 as 2014 is already here in bike terms.

felix.london

Kajjal wrote:

Just bought the wife a new 26er at a good price in the sales. Not too sure what the concern is, unless you break wheels and forks on a regular basis. My last set of wheels lasted many, many years without issue as did the forks.

tyres.

Thewaylander

I predict a manic rebellion of 26" fans who hunt on the trails killing all the hippies on strange sizes for sport...

kajjal

felix.london wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

Just bought the wife a new 26er at a good price in the sales. Not too sure what the concern is, unless you break wheels and forks on a regular basis. My last set of wheels lasted many, many years without issue as did the forks.

tyres.

I have a set of those spare

coulddobetter

Pretty fed up at being unable to watch mountain biking films on my betamax

Mojo_666

When everyone stops making 26" wheels, tyres forks etc some bright spark will realise that there is gap in the market and fill it.

rockmonkeysc

Im pretty sure that as long as there is a market for the manufacturers will continue to make 26" tyres. They have the tooling and it makes money, maintains market share so why would they stop?
Unless people start scraping their 26" bikes there will be demand and therefore supply for years.
26" will probably just miss out on new developments.

Stevo_666

I reckon we'll just have to do more downhill - as they'll probably keep 26ers in production for DH bikes for longer

rockmonkeysc

Stevo 666 wrote:

I reckon we'll just have to do more downhill - as they'll probably keep 26ers in production for DH bikes for longer

And what's wrong with that?

Plyphon

It's alright next year a pro enduro rider will go back to 26" then all the magazines will start saying "26" really makes the bike more flickable and makes the trail come alive" and all will be back to normal.

felix.london

Kajjal wrote:

felix.london wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

Just bought the wife a new 26er at a good price in the sales. Not too sure what the concern is, unless you break wheels and forks on a regular basis. My last set of wheels lasted many, many years without issue as did the forks.

tyres.

I have a set of those spare

= 1 seasons riding for me

felix.london

Stevo 666 wrote:

I reckon we'll just have to do more downhill - as they'll probably keep 26ers in production for DH bikes for longer

Sounds good to me!...but I'm betting by this time next year most of the World Cup riders will be rocking 650b

Thewaylander

felix.london wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I reckon we'll just have to do more downhill - as they'll probably keep 26ers in production for DH bikes for longer

Sounds good to me!...but I'm betting by this time next year most of the World Cup riders will be rocking 650b

Not convinced by this, only way it will happen i think is if its manufacture not rider led. Look at the new GT this year still 26" and thats an all new machine.

lawman

felix.london wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I reckon we'll just have to do more downhill - as they'll probably keep 26ers in production for DH bikes for longer

Sounds good to me!...but I'm betting by this time next year most of the World Cup riders will be rocking 650b

This. If Stevie Smith had won worlds on his special prototype, you can bet all the teams would have 650b bikes by the start of next season. Lapierre, Scott, Intense and others are already running them, and given the styles of Minnaar and Peaty, I'm surprised Santa Cruz haven't tried it out yet.

As far as I see it, on paper they make a lot of sense. I like the speed, easy rolling and stability of 29ers, but they're not that fun to ride. There's no doubt in my mind that 29ers are the fastest over a lot of varied terrain in the right application, but I want to have fun as well. 650b sits closer to 29" so you should get some benefit, but keep the playful nature of 26ers. Obviously frame geometry has a lot to do with it, and 650b seems to mirror 26" bikes as opposed to 29ers that require very different geometries. I'm looking forward to trying out 650b and I think it could be the best of both worlds, I'm certainly not opposed to change, anything that improves a bike is a good thing in my book!

And Waylander, I'm willing to bet GT made the Fury alloy rather than Carbon so they can easily change the geometry and/or wheelsize. It wouldn't surprise me if they're testing a 650b Dh bike now with a view to using it next season, especially after the success Dan has had on his 650b enduro bike.

felix.london

I reckon the manufacturers are pushing for it already but the riders are digging their feet in mainly because of tyre choice. Once these boys and girls can get their preferred tyre in the bigger size I think it will quite quickly move up to the larger wheel. Could be wrong...

Stevo_666

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I reckon we'll just have to do more downhill - as they'll probably keep 26ers in production for DH bikes for longer

And what's wrong with that?

Absolutely nothing. It's what I want to do.

projectsome

depends on how shops and manufacturs sell them really. If they're offering something with similar specs but for a better price then I know what I'd be getting but then would I really want to go for something that I'm not used to? I'm not sure I like change. unless it's monetry

The Rookie

lawman wrote:

650b sits closer to 29" so you should get some benefit, but keep the playful nature of 26ers.

650B sits closer to 26" (at 27", 29er being actually 28.5") but I suspect this was a typo?