New to MTB - Wheel size advice

Jon_1976

I'm looking at buying my first mountain bike soon, mainly for cross country (undulating terrain with a few 'steep' climbs thrown in) and a little road use. I definitely won't be doing any downhilling or anything technical so I've been looking at hard tails . Mainly the Boardman Team and the Cube Acid, both of which are 750b but are are available in 29er. I was originally set on 750b but thought I'd ask for advice from people who far more knowledgeable on these matters first.
So should I go for 750b or 29er?
Thanks

cooldad

The correct answer is yes.

The actual choice seems personal (depending on what the recommender rides in many cases)

29er was the next big thing, until 650b came along.

Some of us still struggle along on 26ers

Angus Young

You need to ride both to see if you can tell the difference and figure out what that difference means to you. Personally I've not been keen on the 29ers I've ridden, but others love 'em. As cool dad says, a lot of recommendations one way or the other will simply be an expression of the advisor's preference. The only answer is to ride them and see what clicks with you.

kajjal

Very roughly speaking the larger wheel size gives a smoother more controlled ride but is a little less manoeuvrable with a little less feedback from the trail.

It is really down to personal preference and the trails you ride. I changed from 26" to 29" wheels and for XC mountain bike riding and trail centre riding. I find it suits me better as I am more interested in smooth speed than jumping around all over the place. Nothing wrong with my 26" wheel bike and I was perfectly happy with it.

rockmonkeysc

It's more about the complete package than just the wheel size.
Ideally you need to get a few test rides and see what bikes you like.

kajjal

RockmonkeySC wrote:

It's more about the complete package than just the wheel size.
Ideally you need to get a few test rides and see what bikes you like.

This is the best way to choose, choose the overall bike.

coulddobetter

Get a 26 it's going to be cheaper cos no one ( except people like me who aren't swayed by hype) wants them any more.

Jon_1976

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure about test rides, the local shops round here only offer little spins around the car park. So I wouldn't be able to gleam much from that. My brother in law has a 29er but he is a 6'3" (I'm only 5'10") and his bike looks huge. Might see if he'll let me try it and see if its not overly big for a test ride. The 29er was only a plan B anyway. I did borrow a 26" hard tail from my sister but only used it for road whilst my road bike was being repaired at the time. Seemed ok.

cycleclinic

26er are fine. Just finished my new 29er and rode on sunday at the shouldham warren race, it's a rigid bike but handles the rough trails as well as my hardtail 26er but it was definatley quicker up the hills that ight be down to the stiffer frame and stiffer wheels. The other reason is the front wheel did no ride up either so I could sit down on a steep climb and spin up the climb rather than stand over my front wheel.

That does not help you decide between 650B or 29ers but I do not find the 29er any less manuareble than all the 26ers I have ridden.

tangled_metal

I've read stuff on the three wheel sizes that compared ride factors between them such as manoeuvrability, the way the wheel rolls over obstacles, etc. I think the science of it has 26" being best for some aspects but worst for others. Similar with 29ers. The 650b is not halfway in between the two. Reality manoeuvrability lost is less than 25% iirc compared to 26" but it's speed etc is something like only 25% lower than 29ers. To sum it up the 650b in tests is only just behind 26" for what the smaller wheel size is strong on. It is also only just behind the 29er in what that's strong on. If that makes sense.

I took it as 650b is the best performing wheel size for most people. However you are riding it so it's down to what works for you. If you can't test ride them properly then you have to take a gamble. You can always sell and get n another later on with a hit on the deal.