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Posted

Ah no man, most of you are missing the point! It's not an argument about wheel size, it's an argument about what gives you joy when riding a bike. I mean, I feel like I'm shredding down the trail doing 20km/h, so the question really is, would I feel more lekker on the 29 or the each of the three 26es.

 

The one example I can give is, I have kind of gravel/city/mountain hybrid GT Transeo (29 inch). It can't take more than 42mm wide (I think) tires. It was loads of fun riding that down the trail, but it felt kind of unsafe, and just not right. Then I just now got a 29 inch trek stache, which is so much more fun up and down the trail, because it feels right. I'm not necessarily faster, it's not necessarily easier to maintain. But I want to go out and ride more.

 

So the only real convincing argument I see here is that one 29er bike can do all of what the 3x 26ers can do, at least on a fun level. And I presume it should also be less maintenance to have one bike rather than 3. 

Posted

Very interesting and totally depends what you want. My ride out rides many people on her 26” XC bike. There are plenty of used wheels, forks and shocks available. And new as well. It’s not that hard to have people bring in “gifts” from across one of many oceans; just a bit of forethought...

Sure, 1x12 is very nice, I like my 27’5 wheels (now also seem as too small by many). But if a 26 will get you out there having a good time, why not?

I have no doubt that a skilled rider could outperform me on a 26” ????????‍♂️

Three bikes for the price of one sounds like fun if you want three bikes with out a mortgage.

Posted

Still got my zula.. still does the job when I want to have fun and ride... Still can buy tires... The rest of the world doesn't see 26ers as old technology

Definitely, if we were in the UK I would by all means say the op should go 26 cause the savings are massive but the bike can still be maintained for years to come.

 

Here we are at the mercy of distributors tho

Posted

Not much has changed, even today there are some geometries that work for an individual and others that dont

 

The biggest issue for me is that most 26ers have pretty outdated geo, but that also depends on what kind of riding you do.

Posted

Depends how much you wanna spend. I have recently had a few mates ask me about getting into the sport. They don't wanna spend alot incase they don't enjoy it. In theses cases a 10 year old 26er for R3k will be way better than a brand new 29er BSO from makro for R3k. You would probably also get most of your money back when you wanna upgrade to a more expensive bike.

 

Regarding the spares issue. The only big one to me is suspension forks. Most older 26ers had straight steerers. You could get away with a 27.5 fork but the straight steerer tubes are harder to get. 26in rims and tyres will be around for a long time still. You might not get the same selection but you will get something.

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