Wheel size?

Schoie81

Hi all,

Unfortunately I'm looking for a new MTB (someone nicked mine... ) Just a quick question about wheel sizes. Mine had 26in wheels, which from memory seemed to be pretty much standard when I bought it, but now there seems to be lots of bikes on the market with 27.5inch or 29inch wheels on them. Just wondered what difference this makes to the ride and what are the pros and cons of the bigger wheels?

Thank you.

CitizenLee

The industry is pushing 27.5" hard as the next Holy Grail as 29ers appear to flex too much and are not so good on the tight twisty stuff, and apparently 26" are too slow now, so 27.5" / 650b is meant to be the best middle ground of fast rolling but still strong. However, in reality I think most normal people won't notice the difference between them and 26", and any difference they do notice is probably more down to the rest of the bike being different.

Going for a new bike then 27.5" bikes are now the lions share of what's available, but that does mean some great deals to be had on 26" bikes too.

Best thing to do is see if you can test ride some bikes.

Schoie81

Thanks CitizenLee, so if 27.5 is 'the norm' (if such a thing exits) these days, does that mean consumables ie. tyres and tubes in 26inch and 29inch are likely to be more expensive with 27.5inch being where the most competition lies?

Will see if I can get some test rides sorted at my LBS.

The Rookie

27.5" (or correctly 27" as they are 1" bigger than 26", not 1.5" - just to clarify the marketing side!) are still more expensive than 26", how long that will last (and whether 650B stay 'flavour of the month') who knows!

CitizenLee

26" isn't going anywhere so parts and spares shouldn't be a problem

Antm81

There are a lot more options at 26". 27.5 tyres are rarer right now and things like tubeless kits are almost non existent.

I've ridden 26", 27.5" and 29" bikes. Got told 29 would be great for me due to my height but I didn't enjoy it, I love my 26" trance, however on my new 27.5" trance I've not noticed any loss of manoeuvrability etc. but it does roll better and feels like it just wants to go faster all the time.

At the end of the day thoughi wouldn't be choosing a bike or a wheel size on either cost of tyres etc or other peoples recommendations, I'd be testing them and find out what I enjoy personally as we all prefer different things.