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29ers...here to stay or fade away?


TYGA

10 years from now the majority of "serious" MTB wheels will be:  

97 members have voted

  1. 1. 10 years from now the majority of "serious" MTB wheels will be:

    • 26inch
      71
    • 29inch
      53
    • 650B is the future
      8


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The moment you ride a 29er you will feel the differance and realise that the life span of 26" is limited.

Insofar the size goes there are really small people riding them with huge successs, Gary Fisher make a 29er with a 15" frame.

Big wheels are better - simple. The argument could be the following: when you take your suv off road do you put smaller wheels on or bigger ones?Wink
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Talking of which... I saw a Trek 69er the other day at CycleLab. It looked like a hyena with the 26" at the back ant the 29" at the front.  Can anyone tell me what the real benefits of having the mix are all about?

 

The theory is having the 29er front wheel rolling over things better and better acceleration with 26er at the back.

(Google Travis Brown Trek 69er)

 

I have an old steel Diamondback setup singlespeed with a rigid carbon fork and a 29er up front. Definately a lot more comfortable compared to a 26er up front.

 

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when you take your suv off road do you put smaller wheels on or bigger ones?Wink

 

 

 

firstly, who does that and secondly, do you put on 18", 19", or 20"? Why stop there then, why not make 24" off-road wheels.

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The same argument can be put forward to full suspension and lock outs, do you see an MX bike with lockouts? and do you lock out the suspension on your car?

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the thing about all this debating is that the very first MTB's were all 29ers... until they came back that the 26er accelerated better for the cross country courses. Of course back then the rim and tyre technology was nowhere near what we have now so it made sense then to make the wheels smaller and in turn lighter...

 

Gary Fisher himself:

 

http://clunkers.net/alan_repack1.jpg


WTF? Where is his helmet? This is disgracefull!

 

OK my apologies for the earlier comment, my mistake, I found this video on Gary fishers website explainin the whole thing...check out http://fisherbikes.com/gary# and choose the 29er vid...Listen to his last comment!
techguy2009-11-26 07:46:20
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the thing about all this debating is that the very first MTB's were all 29ers... until they came back that the 26er accelerated better for the cross country courses. Of course back then the rim and tyre technology was nowhere near what we have now so it made sense then to make the wheels smaller and in turn lighter...

 

 

 

?

 

Gary Fisher himself:

 

?

 

http://clunkers.net/alan_repack1.jpg
WTF? Where is his helmet? This is disgracefull!

 

?

 

OK my apologies for the earlier comment' date=' my mistake, I found this video on Gary fishers website explainin the whole thing...check out http://fisherbikes.com/gary# and choose the 29er vid...Listen to his last comment!
[/quote']

 

 

 

yeah, the schwinn bikes were the favoured machines. i believe the 26x2.125" tyres were brought to the states in the 30s by frank w schwinn. ironically it was the superior tyre that led to better bike design.

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There are a tremendous amount of people calling the 29" a fad that will ultimately go out of fashion.  My recommendation is give the big hoops the benefit of the doubt and take them for a ride - but be warned - you might just be convinced that it's time for a new bike.Cool

 

Feel free to disagree - after you've given the 29er a try.
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There are a tremendous amount of people calling the 29" a fad that will ultimately go out of fashion.? My recommendation is give the big hoops the benefit of the doubt and take them for a ride - but be warned - you might just be convinced that it's time for a new bike.Cool

 

?

 

Feel free to disagree - after you've given the 29er a try.

 

 

 

i don't think they're going away. there are too many devotees. i think it's a case of horses for courses. the 29er has been around for 10 years or more, and it has a place. who's to say that the 650 ain't a fad? that said, there are a number of good manufacturers listed on the op's link that are putting it into development.holy roller2009-11-26 08:24:29

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I have ridden a 29er and I don't think it'll replace a 26 at all. It will find a niche following because the latest 29ers are more live with able, unlikely those of just 3 years ago.

 

it is a fad and the 650B will usurp it. But go ahead, knock yourself out and order one. Someone needs to keep the economy going.

 

GoLefty!!2009-11-26 08:15:02

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I have ridden a 29er and I don't think it'll replace a 26 at all. It will find a niche following because the latest 29ers are more live with able' date=' unlikely those of just 3 years ago.it is a fad and the 650B will usurp it. But go ahead, knock yourself out and order one. Someone needs to keep the economy going.

 

[/quote']

 

smiley36.gif

 

do you think the major players in the market will be that keen to tool up their factories to accomodate three different wheel sizes? everyone's chased the 29er "fad". do you think there's enough to convince them to go 650B? not ride-wise, but economically?

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Half the people out there would not even know the difference if you swapped their front and rear brakes around or let the air out of one of their tires, how are they going to notice a slight wheel size change. I mean if the argument is that you can run the 650 wheel on traditional frame design and geometry surely the difference is so inconsequential you're wasting your time making the change.

 

An hour from now I'll be riding in Eden...whooohooo!!!!
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I think the major players are waiting to see which system will prevail before committing.

 

29er has been around and the market pull has been significant enough to warrant investment into 29er technology. However, 650B has been around only a few years and already riders who compare 650B to 29er prefer 650B.

 

so although 29 is maturing, 650B is catching it up fast and I believe by the time most mtb'ers have cottoned onto the bigger wheel, the 650B will be the prefered route to acheive this because:

 

they ride as well as 29"wheels

they are lighter

they are stronger

they don;t look as stupid

they allow longer travel to remain.

 

at the moment 29 is limited to about 100mm travel. A 140mm travel 29 will look super stupid  and be significantly heavier due to teh longer fork legs and bigger rear triangles needed to accomodate the wheel movement.

 

650B is the better compromise, there no Dindongyness about this, its simple math, geometry and proportion (all related btw)

 

 

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