26,27.5 ,29???

scan

scan

iMTB Rockstah
Excellent study of the differences!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/how-does-mountain-bike-wheel-size-really-affect-performance-43481/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/artic ... nce-43481/</a>

[youtube]vhS1HfvBeYA[/youtube]

[youtube]kxfrykeSNCE[/youtube]
 
I have a low-mid level 26er hardtail in the garage that my youngest hardly rides anymore, and I take it out occasionally. Even with my limited skills, I like the fact that it's more maneuverable than the 29ers. It's a fun bike to ride every now and then, but I never thought of it as requiring "more upper body energy", though... As their conclusions indicate. Would I notice it over a longer ride? Not sure...
 
Maybe I''m being a dick about it? Maybe not? Sometimes I struggle with MTB with always being a competion when riding amongst friends, and then thier is Strava always creeping in ;) . I must be having fun to be riding alone, I'm pretty sure. Don't get me wrong, I like to ride with friends also, but riding alone for me removes the competion, unless of course a person is so copetitive that they compete feverishly with themselves! Everyone is different, I've always known that I am working a little harder riding a 26", so I come in second or last, I know I was working a little harder, a concept that does not bother me in the grand scheme of fitness. I try not to let it bother me if someone beats me or not, as long as I'm having fun. Fun equals in my mind more than a few seconds or, minutes 8-) . Racing I know is a different story. Thanks for the post Scan, that was very interestink.
 
herzalot said:
Step 23 - about 3 minutes in.

[youtube]WPVRU7jSYkQ[/youtube]

"Pick a wheel size - and be a dick about it"
Click to expand...

I made it to step 8, and then had to put it on the big screen for the wife to watch!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
hill^billy said:
Maybe I''m being a dick about it? Maybe not? Sometimes I struggle with MTB with always being a competion when riding amongst friends, and then thier is Strava always creeping in ;) . I must be having fun to be riding alone, I'm pretty sure. Don't get me wrong, I like to ride with friends also, but riding alone for me removes the competion, unless of course a person is so copetitive that they compete feverishly with themselves! Everyone is different, I've always known that I am working a little harder riding a 26", so I come in second or last, I know I was working a little harder, a concept that does not bother me in the grand scheme of fitness. I try not to let it bother me if someone beats me or not, as long as I'm having fun. Fun equals in my mind more than a few seconds or, minutes 8-) . Racing I know is a different story. Thanks for the post Scan, that was very interestink.
Click to expand...

When riding alone....or with others.....learn how to chase the rabbits ahead of you. Gets the competitive juices flowing. :thumbup:
 
mtnbikej said:
hill^billy said:
Maybe I''m being a dick about it? Maybe not? Sometimes I struggle with MTB with always being a competion when riding amongst friends, and then thier is Strava always creeping in ;) . I must be having fun to be riding alone, I'm pretty sure. Don't get me wrong, I like to ride with friends also, but riding alone for me removes the competion, unless of course a person is so copetitive that they compete feverishly with themselves! Everyone is different, I've always known that I am working a little harder riding a 26", so I come in second or last, I know I was working a little harder, a concept that does not bother me in the grand scheme of fitness. I try not to let it bother me if someone beats me or not, as long as I'm having fun. Fun equals in my mind more than a few seconds or, minutes 8-) . Racing I know is a different story. Thanks for the post Scan, that was very interestink.
Click to expand...

When riding alone....or with others.....learn how to chase the rabbits ahead of you. Gets the competitive juices flowing. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Ok, I will learn it.
 
When I don't have a bike, I could care less what the wheel size is so long as I'm out on the trail.

They need to have that guy do fat bike, 29+, 650B+, and 26+ to see which is the slowest wheel size.
 
Hey, I thought this was the one MTB site I could visit that didn't have The Wheel Size DebateTM running. As long as we can all agree that it really doesn't matter what size wheel yer on, it's all good 8-)


The competition thing hillbilly touched on is intriguing. Eh, get rid of all the riders, and you still have competition...racing the dark, racing the heat, racing to make it to your mother-in-law's on time, (racing rabbits, thx J), counting dabs, counting dismounts, counting cleans... These are the best competitions cuz nobody gets butthurt (well, let's ask the rabbits).

I run that fierce completion every ride, and sometimes in the company of other riders. But, I really could not care less what some other rider can do. It has no significance in my mind, unless I'm trying to help someone decide whether or not to try something. I just hope every rider has as much fun as I do. If fun were a competition I would be slaying pretty much everybody, yo. Thank goodness fun is just fun, and everybody invents her own version of it. Woooottt!!!
 
I thought it was a nice study with some real data. I really don't care so much about the competition thing. It's all about having fun and getting a good workout for me!!
 
So they concluded that they're all roughly the same speed, unless you're racing and ~2 seconds a lap matters, or you're doing some marathon/endurance ride in which you bring so little food/drink that you'd want to be extremely efficient with your energy...

Honestly, I chose to stick with 29 since I ride recklessly at times so I crash a lot, and injuries are no good. That bit of safety keeps me riding. I'd ride 26 if I still bounced back up off the ground like I was made of rubber, like when I was younger.
 
Regardless what the performance figures are, the industry push for the 27.5" wheel size is so massive compared to the 29er 10~15 years ago. When I see 27.5" BSOs at Walmart, Target, etc, it's certainly a sign that 26" is "dead."
 
There were a lot of complaints with how brands' "me-too" 29ers had various issues, and those brands were struggling to address them. They reasoned that it was not possible, or there was too much compromise in other performance factors. They did accept that 29" wheels had undeniable benefits. Consumers themselves got the ball rolling with 650b, working with small brands to get bigger wheels to fit existing products.

To get 650b into the mainstream, there was sort of an industry collaboration, though not really formally. Small brands threw their chips in with big brands' hands, basically going in if a certain big brand supported the new wheel size, like Fox. Pushing for better economies of scale drove 26 to its status of being made obsolete. Economies of scale also ruled out novel ideas the solved model line up structure issues, such as having a full range of sizes for a model, but with smaller sizes having the slightly smaller wheel size.

Basically, rather than compromise with smaller sized 29ers made to try and fit a significantly sized customer base whose heights range from 5' 3 to 5' 8, with compromised geo that can't find enough clearance for the bigger wheels and everything else, they chose to slightly upsize the 26" wheels, and market that you get more than half of the benefits of 29er, but less than half of the negatives, and can use a lot of what was learned making 26 so designing is easier, as opposed to wracking brains with extensive R&D to solve the challenges of making 29 wheel work well.

There's 29ers that work really well, solving much of the issues, but there's only a handful of them. You can't really remain brand loyal if you want a truly good 29er. A lot of failure happened, but it's not full of bad, as the 29er revolution drove innovation in the parts that bolt onto the frame to solve many of the remaining issues. Special shaped saddles that clear the rear wheel allowing shorter seat tubes and more wheel travel, zero stack headset cups to reduce the front end stack to allow more of an aggressive stance, wheels got thru axles, carbon rims, and better hub geo, forks got stiffer with 34/35mm forks being made lightweight and suitable for 120mm bikes, stems and handlebars started to come in more varied lengths and rises/drops, 1x for XC became more acceptable, Shimano revised their FD for more clearance, short travel bikes became more acceptable for what used to be 26 "AM" territory, and so on.

Despite 650b/27.5's superior economies of scale and lower R&D costs, it's sad that prices on them are as high as ever, despite 29ers being more costly R&D wise, and with more costly parts that aren't mass produced on the same scale, due to the demand for customization to suit individual customer needs. I will always support the better product and 29 happens to be where it's at for me, luckily for me being barely in the okay height range at 5' 7". There's no convincing reason to pay the price they want for 650b models; seeing all these proudly designed 29ers getting discounted to compete with 650b only helps me stay 29. Turner discounting his CZAR from $3000 down to $2200 is a sign of the times. I do have my attachment to 26" wheels, but the big 29er wheels just offer a dramatic improvement that can't be matched.
 
Varaxis said:
Honestly, I chose to stick with 29 since I ride recklessly at times so I crash a lot, and injuries are no good. That bit of safety keeps me riding. I'd ride 26 if I still bounced back up off the ground like I was made of rubber, like when I was younger.
Click to expand...

If you crash a lot, and you are riding your 29er, then it doesn't sound like it's the extra "bit of safety" that you claim it is - or are you implying you crash a lot, but you would be crashing even MORE (or more severely) on a bike with smaller wheels?

BTW and for the record - I've been accused of bashing 29ers. I do not bash 29ers. I might tease their owners a little, but I realize that they are monster trucks and are superior for covering real estate and flattening trails. And there are a few phenomenal 29ers that cater to the dark side (Dan's Enduro being lead among them). So keep on ridin' them wagon wheels!
 
I had been thinking about getting another 29er simply to run 650B+ tires. :lol:

I've always correlated the speed someone rides at more to the confidence the bike gives them rather than wheel size. Despite riding bikes that a technologically superior, I have been significantly slower since I'm simply not as comfortable.

I was much more comfortable riding my wife's 14.5" 26er Giant Pistol down technical terrain than the 29er I once briefly owned.

Even in the video, they state that the riders weren't as familiar with the new wheel size. Unfamiliarity, can REALLY slow a rider down.
 
29 for me. Mostly because I have had one for 3 years. But also because I have tested many 27.5 and not one of them has said buy me! Seriously couldn't find anything that stood out and make me want to switch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top