Help! 27.5 vs 29

[(Deon)]

To the OP though. If you're 15, how tall are you? I ask because you don't want to upgrade and then all of a sudden grow 5 inches and then be stuck with a bike that is both too small for you and then have to upgrade again.

 

If I were in your position, I'd keep what I had at the moment and concentrate in growing my skillset and technical ability, not to mention strength and cardio ability. The sixer will help you with that, due to the following reasons:

\

...

 

 

Personally if you're winning already, and are 15 y/o then I'd stay on the 26 and concentrate on improving your fitness, skill and power. The jump to a new bike may help you initially to better times but it won't do anything to help you increase your skills or fitness. Which is what you need at this stage.

 

Listen to Mayhem.

[MintSauce]

Baron, that's the biggest load of shaite I've heard in a while. The reason Schurter is so good is because HE IS SO GOOD. His technical skills are amazing, he is strong, powerful and the fittest of the lot.

 

To say that he wins because he is on 650 and the only way the others will be able to catch him is by switching from niner or sixer to 650 is completely irrational, not to mention blatantly untrue.

 

You've been sucked in HARD by the marketing material, dude. And next time you post a gem like that, just think about it for a second.

 

It's like saying Kallis has a better batting average than Tsotobe because he has a different manufacturers bat and bigger shoes.

 

 

And lets not forget that Nino rode a 26er while Scott had a 29er available. He refused to ride it because he didn't like it and stuck to the 26er while waiting for them to develop a 650b bike. What happened during that time? He STILL kicked arse on a 26er.

 

To the OP....if you're winning why do you want to change anything?

[Baron]

I agree Nino win because he is the best rider, but the bottom line is for his build the 650B is his choice of wheel size. Scott did not had a 650B at the time and they did tests and he was faster on the 650B, if not he would have stayed on the 26 inch wheel as he did not like the 29 niner, for average riders 26, 27.5 or 29 inch wheel will make very little difference, see it each week at club rides, but for guys racing to win, first test the differed wheel size and see what suit your build the best. I see small guys and girls sell their 26 inch wheel bikes and buying entry level 29 inch wheel bikes that is as heavy as a tank and at the climbs and technical sections they suffer just to say they ride a 29 niner, that is fall for marketing, but for a small guy like myself I will rather go for a lighter more nimble handling bike with the smaller wheels.

 

Checks the technical data from the research Giant did, I do not think their measurement of contact patch, and attack angle of the difference wheel sizes is not true.

Contact patch 26 inch wheel = 6cm. 27.5 inch wheel 8cm and 29 inch wheel 9cm.

Roll-over

Increased wheel diameter decreases the angle of attack (the angle in which a round object intersects a square object). This is a good thing. A 29-inch wheel rolls over a 6-centimeter square-edge obstacle 14% more efficiently than a 26-inch wheel

does. In comparison, a 27.5-inch wheel rolls over the same obstacle 9.8% more efficiently than a 26-inch wheel does

Another way to analyze angle of attack is the degree of impact—where 26-inch equals X degree, 27.5 equals X-4 degrees and 29 equals X-6 degrees. Again, a shallower angle is better—so 29-inch takes the win, with 27.5 exhibiting nearly the same performance but without the weight penalty.

[McD23]

Hey guys! I'm 15 and really competitive. I enter every race I can find and recently started winning most of them. Unfortunetely I'm still on a 26er. I really want to upgrade to a carbon 27.5 or 29er i've looked at a silverback syncra but I need more info, any advice?

If you winning most of them, why change the recipe ?

Have you tried finding a sponsor ?

[DJR]

Listen to Mayhem.

 

Yes, and soon he'll have to change his name to Reason.

[(Deon)]

Yes, and soon he'll have to change his name to Reason.

Ha ha! That's hilarious!!

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

 

 

Yes, and soon he'll have to change his name to Reason.

 

Oi'! Take it easy on the cripple. I brought the beer after all.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I agree Nino win because he is the best rider, but the bottom line is for his build the 650B is his choice of wheel size. Scott did not had a 650B at the time and they did tests and he was faster on the 650B, if not he would have stayed on the 26 inch wheel as he did not like the 29 niner, for average riders 26, 27.5 or 29 inch wheel will make very little difference, see it each week at club rides, but for guys racing to win, first test the differed wheel size and see what suit your build the best. I see small guys and girls sell their 26 inch wheel bikes and buying entry level 29 inch wheel bikes that is as heavy as a tank and at the climbs and technical sections they suffer just to say they ride a 29 niner, that is fall for marketing, but for a small guy like myself I will rather go for a lighter more nimble handling bike with the smaller wheels.

 

Checks the technical data from the research Giant did, I do not think their measurement of contact patch, and attack angle of the difference wheel sizes is not true.

Contact patch 26 inch wheel = 6cm. 27.5 inch wheel 8cm and 29 inch wheel 9cm.

Roll-over

Increased wheel diameter decreases the angle of attack (the angle in which a round object intersects a square object). This is a good thing. A 29-inch wheel rolls over a 6-centimeter square-edge obstacle 14% more efficiently than a 26-inch wheel

does. In comparison, a 27.5-inch wheel rolls over the same obstacle 9.8% more efficiently than a 26-inch wheel does

Another way to analyze angle of attack is the degree of impact—where 26-inch equals X degree, 27.5 equals X-4 degrees and 29 equals X-6 degrees. Again, a shallower angle is better—so 29-inch takes the win, with 27.5 exhibiting nearly the same performance but without the weight penalty.

 

Sorry Baron, wrong again. Scott phased their dozers out completely. Niño didn't want to change to niner cos he didn't like it. So they were in a way forced to amend the bike into a custom build, and fit him into their marketing strategy (big wheels are better) - taking him away from the sixer.

 

Scott no longer make a 26" spark or scale.

 

Point remains that he doesn't win because he's on a 650, and he didn't really have the option to stay on 26 as it was no longer available.

[HeyYou]

Firstly, it's nice to hear of a 15 year old enjoying the sport and even nicer to hear your winning.

 

But, it's always a good idea to leave a good thing alone.

Don't try to fix something that is working, most often it stops working!

 

In other words, if you are winning, don't change anything, just keep winning.

If you stop winning, then try something different, but small changes at a time, so you can keep track of what works and what doesn't.

[26er]

If you are looking at a hardtail,go for 29",if you are going for a full suspension,look for a decent 26",,great deals out there at the moment,I would personally go for the 26" if I were you,the quality of bike you can get,will by far exceed a couple of mm...

[Lone_Ranger]

Depends on what terrain you're riding as well. If you're riding gravel roads with longish flat sections, the 29er might give you a bit of an edge. If you're doing technical, singletrack riding the 26er might give you the edge.

 

Re the 27.5, I think its a bit of a compromise being marketed as the next big thing. And you know what they say about compromises, It's a solution where all parties are equally unhappy. Think about it, if they can stop manufacturing 26ers and 29ers and instead make only one frame, lots of the manufacturing / research costs are halved. One frame, one manufacturing line, one geometry.

 

As to the OP, I'd stick with 26er until you're 18 at least, cos by then you know more or less how tall you're going to be. And all the money saved in those 3 years can be put into a top of the range 26 / 27.5 / 29, whatever suits your height / build at that stage.

[gtr1]

Gotta agree with a lot of the comments above. Why change something if you are winning on a 26'er ? When you get to a point that you feel you can't compete with your peers anymore because of the 26'er, then consider your options. It will make the change worthwhile.

 

Also all depends on the bike geometry and the terrain you racing in. I wouldn't change a good thing.

[Tuxstir]

I would upgrade the components that would make your current bike better to ride, ie the wheels and suspension, I'm assuming you have a standard factory setup bike, with standard wheels,

There is nothing wrong with the 26" wheels setup, just because the marketing strategies of big companies like giant don't include 26ers anymore does not make them right, every bodies needs are different, keep your bike for now, upgrade it and love it,

As others have mentioned if you are winning why change the formula,

[Groennies]

Hi

 

I just bought a Scott RC 700 (650B) same one Nino won the world cup on ,and I use to ride a 29er and for me a the 650b works better tan the 29er ,I think that for some it will work and for others it wont .You can check the reasons Brighter-Lights put on his reply ,

[braailegend]

If my bike was rolling at the age of 15, It was a good day

 

Luckily I only had a choice between a 20" bmx and a 26" "custom jobbie"... and only one worked at a time, haha

 

bigger wheels is not going to make you faster, maybe just give you more street cred to the scott-merida-spez sheep, lol

[braailegend]

Just to add some colour to the thread threads without pictures is no fun

 

 

http://i.qkme.me/35njax.jpg

 

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/300x300/38670103.jpg

 

 

http://i.qkme.me/3patap.jpg