The shift towards 29" wheels...

joshy2

Has anyone noticed that manufacturers seem to be shifting towards the 29" wheel size over 27.5"?

E.g. the Scott Spark, Giant Trance, Trek Fuel Ex - those kind of XC/Trial bikes all used to either be in 27.5", or the range was split between models of both, but are now all or predominantely in 29".

These other similar bikes are all 29" too:
Ibis Ripley
Merida One Twenty
Evil The Following
Intense Sniper Trail

Does anyone know what the sudden shift in preference?

steve_sordy

# It could be driven by customer demand (not you obviously). In other words the 29ers sell better for those manufacturers.

#They might make more money from 29ers. If they have more 27.5 bikes left over to be discounted at the end of the season, it would not go un-noticed.

# It could be driven by what the professional riders are doing, because whether "we" (meant in its broadest sense) admit it or not, we are influenced by what we see others do if we believe that they are better at it than us or if we admire them.

# It could be driven by feedback from their test riders. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. If your test riders are proving that 29ers are faster across, uphill, and downhill than 27.5 wheels, then what would you do?

# It could be driven by manufacturing cost. It is more expensive for manufacturers to have a range with several wheels sizes, than to just have one. For example: If they buy just one wheel and tyre size, they will get a better price from their supplier than if they split the volume over several sizes. In which case they have to make a choice.

I'm not saying that any of the above is true. I'm giving some explanations of why you might be seeing more 29ers than before. Assuming of course that what you notice is happening actually is happening. Did you notice any 29ers being replaced by 27.5 wheeled bikes, or did you not look? I haven't either (noticed or looked).

PS: I have nothing for or against 29ers. My last two bikes were 27.5 and my current bike is a 29er (my first). I could have had the same bike in a 27.5 with mid-fat tyres, but decided to go for 29er on the (arguably) flimsy basis that I liked the test ride and I'd never had a 29er before.

robertpb

Also there's a lot to be said for herd mentality, fashion and blind panic.
Back in the mid eighties my friends and I had all different sizes, 24", 26", 650b and 29"
it came out that the 650b was the most do it all size even though the 29 was faster in some conditions.
In fact I am going for a ride with the guy who built bikes to take all these wheel sizes in early December.
My 24" wheel bike is without doubt the easiest to get around tricky stuff, that was built in 1986 and is a one off build, the 650b just rolls so well over ground.

dannyd123

please take my survey
thanks
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2GMP8KT

steve_sordy

Give us a clue what it is about please. I don't want to waste my time on things I have zero interest in.

The Rookie

Maybe as more people try 29ers they decide they are a good thing.

XC bikes are an obvious for 29ers, Trail less so but still its not clear cut in favour of any particular wheel size, 29ers do need a slightly more aggressive approach in tighter corners, but once you get used to it I haven't find it an issue.

In fact the only significant negative really is when trying to put it in a car!

figbat

steve_sordy said:

Give us a clue what it is about please. I don't want to waste my time on things I have zero interest in.

I took one for the team here - it's about bike locks; how and when you use them etc.
I didn't fill it in - there was nothing in there about matching locks to wheel size.

joshy2

Thanks all, that all makes sense.

Another trend I noticed is the return of 120mm travel. I feel like for the last 2-3 years bikes had either been 100mm XC focused or 130mm trail focused, but now the Scott Sparks have returned to 120mm (having gone from that to 130mm for the last few years) and the new Trek Top Fuel range is 120mm, up from 100mm.

I guess maybe the same answers above apply here.

Josh

The Rookie

So my 2013 T129 was ahead of it's time?