26er Versus 29er: The Shootout You've Been Asking For Posted Date: 1/3/2013

[Chubba]

Great review of 26 vs 29.

 

http://mbaction.com/Main/News/26er_Versus_29er_The_Shootout_Youve_Been_Asking_Fo_4713.aspx

[deca300]

29er is awe =)

[Dr Drey]

Niiiiice

[Sidewinder.]

So sick of these threads now. Ride. What. You. Like.

[Chubba]

So sick of these threads now. Ride. What. You. Like.

 

Maybe you need an antibiotic? Don't.Read.It.Then.

[Trivium]

I like my 26" bikes, they feel better for me personally and I feel that I have control over them.

[Bianchi]

Great review of 26 vs 29.

 

http://mbaction.com/...ng_Fo_4713.aspx

 

But we already know who's going to win. 29" all the way.

/runs to my 29" to ride faster than the 26" guys who want my head.

[DR ◣◢]

Yawn. Another thread to help people justify them buying the wrong bike.

Edited January 6, 2013 by S.I.R Maxxis

[DIPSLICK]

Everyone sooooo grumpy tonight, ever noticed how many grumpy answers you get on Sundays when you post??? As I said before, if we were all the same imagine how boring life would be

[M L]

Since I have driven my dad's giant 26er I don't quite know what the big 29er hype is about (I was also on that band wagon), I would not mind swapping my 29er cannondale for a very nice dual suspension carbon scott

Edited January 6, 2013 by wheelerdealer

[nickc]

Thanks Chubba - one of the better comparisons out there.

[Big H*]

Butt.......... The twenty naainer is 0.90718474kg heavier?????

[Schwynn]

Come on guys, the bike companies must also make a buck now and then. Imagine all the 26ers got rid of their bikes and bought 29ers, that is good business right?

He,he

[Eldron]

Nice comparison - I liked the surfboard analogy and the new to sport but 29er but experiences hand will battle to decide bit was also a newish take on an old stereotype.

 

Being an early adopter I was a complete 29er fanboy for many years but have slowly adopted the "horses for courses" attitude. The best bike for a specific job is..well..specific to that job.

 

My ideal stable:

Marathon and stage race bike: Hardtail 29er. If I had comfort issues or didn't come from a "Im fookin hard" roadie background probably a 29er duallie. I'm doing J2C this year on a 29er hardtail.

XCO bike: Tough call - course dependant I think. Given that I do XCO and marathon and only want to own own bike to do it all I'll take the 29er hardtail. I'll be racing the same 29er hardtail at world xco champs in PMB on the same bike (with some XCO oriented tweaks).

SSer: Gotta be a 29er. Rigid front of course. Ironically I choose the steel 29er because it's a bit more forgiving but prefer a rigid front. Silly eh? Steel frame soft - carbon fork hard. Yeah it's dumb.

Fun trail/DH bike: 26er duallie. No question here. Flickable, fun and changes direction on a dime. No slowing down for the rough stuff.

 

You'll notice there is no 650B bike in the stable. I really can't see the point of 650B bikes - they're marginally bigger than 26" and nowhere near as big as 29. The only application I see for 650B is a cost effective way of getting (slightly) bigger wheels on your 26er bike without having to buy a whole new bike.

[Witkop]

Marketing is an amazing science. The importance is on selling new things the whole time. Tweak the technology, change the design, add a feature, make the wheels bigger ext ext ext.

 

This "marketing war" happens in every endevour and sport. In sailing it got so bad that they created the "one-design" class of boats to ensure that sailors skills were tested rather than their high tech boats. In the olympics lazer class all the boats are identical.

 

Maybe the answer is for a manufacturer to start a "closed-class" of race that is limited to one model of bike, so as to reduce technological impact?

 

So the question is not whether a 29er makes you a faster rider but rather "does a 29er make you a better rider? or does it make you a sloppy rider?"

[Iwan Kemp]

Quite a rubbish "versus" article. Where are the facts and figures rather personal preference or taste? You know an article is rubbish when a bike with a 70 degree head angle like this bike

http://mbaction.com/Uploads/Public/Images/tests-test/Shoot%203.jpg

 

...gets a comment like:

“This feels like a hardtail downhill bike,” said one crewer after his first descent on the SL 29.

 

Why not get two of the world's best-known most-respected riders, Brian Lopes and Hans Rey, to do a versus test? True as bob the 26" will win so far it won't be funny. But that will only be because it SUITS THEM.

 

Aaaagghhhh...why bother...

Edited January 7, 2013 by The Crow