no more Yeti ARC?

That does seem to be the way things are going. Although I'm not sure where all of this big wheelers are because the majority of bikes round here still seem to be 26ers.

I do hear some guff being talked though....one guy who was new to biking with a really nice a Trek was telling me how it was too heavy and he was changing it for a 29er soon because he can't keep up with his mates. I thought about telling him to pedal harder and get fitter, but I didn't know him so though the may get a bit offended!

Mindmap3":hcnpayzw said:

I do hear some guff being talked though....one guy who was new to biking with a really nice a Trek was telling me how it was too heavy and he was changing it for a 29er soon because he can't keep up with his mates. I thought about telling him to pedal harder and get fitter, but I didn't know him so though the may get a bit offended!

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prior to actually trying a 29er I would have also assumed BS in terms of noticeable rolling speed, but on longer/straighter, more pedalling/freewheeling sections larger wheels of 650b & more noticeably 29er are actually faster.

on the flip side larger diameter wheels will obviously always be heavier. so the Trek rider will need to be spending a ton of money if he wants faster rolling AND lighter

I don't doubt that, it was just amusing how he thought that the bigger wheels would suddenly make him loads quicker....I think his bikes engine needed upgrading rather than his wheel size!

Especially, like you say pound for pound he'll end up with heavier wheels which will probably negate any speed gained from the bigger wheels (assuming that he buys a stock bike of similar value to his Fuel).

scant":1za43042 said:

Mindmap3":1za43042 said:

RobMac":1za43042 said:

Is the apparent demise of the 26" wheel customer or manufacturer led?

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According to Santa Cruz its customer led. They say that they've had loads of requests for them.

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60% of santa cruz sales are 29er tallboy.

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Was talking to a chap at Stif and he told me the Gyro is the second best selling Orange, after the 5. I was suprised at that. You can see why they're all jumping on the bandwagon with both 29er and 650b.

Agree with the point that there's not many 29er/650b out there atm but it'll change over time. My two main riding buddies are both 29er for their No1 bike now and if I was buying new I'd probably get 650b.

Not seen a manufacturer yet who can cram in decent geometry on a 29'er while providing sensible sizing for someone under 5'9". I think that's where 650B May make an impact.

My Carve 29er was a nice ride, but awful in wet and claggy British conditions. With all that wheel area to gunge up with mud the thing weighs more than an anvil, and even on a £1100 bike the wheels were disconcerting flexy. I'll have another, but nit won't be for winter use and it won't be a cheap one again. The benefits are real enough, in the right environment, but everywhere else they're a liability.

As a big old heiffer I me be felt the need for bigger hoops, and having owned one still don't, so why we manufacturers cutting back on their26" ranges so much? I would consider a powercoat and new wheels for my Trance now than by the current 29er version, whereas prior I'd have replaced it every 2nd year for another 26" machine without a though. If cant help thinking they're losing sales for riders who think about what their doing, while the lemmings would still buy anything so long as it was touted as the next big thing.

So, yeah, uncomfortable news from Yeti.

Chopper...interesting point about wheels. Its an area that most companies scrimp on with full builds (even more so now bikes seem to be getting worse value for money than a few years ago). I imagine that any flex / weakness in cheaper wheels will be exaggerated by the extra wheel size. Decent aftermarket wheels ain't cheap either.

My issue is that the possibility of choice is graduall being removed by the likes of Specialized.

Yeah, apart from the real budget end of the range Spesh dropped 26ers last year.

If any see why the big manufacturers aren't running both. Just removing 26" bike's from the range won't make thinking riders buy 29ers instead, we'll just go elsewhere. I'm sure they'd sell enough 26ers to justify the effort many times over, and if 29ers are the cure-all they say then they'll sell on their own merits. Win-win, unless of course they've been fibbing about their merits all along...

It like Orange, who've finally deleted steel hard tails from the range claiming thanks because no one is developing steel tube technology any more. What an utter load of tosh! I would suggest the relatively cheap supply of alloy frames from the far East make for a healthier profit.

Totally agree. I've had quite a few Spesh bikes but they''ve decided that I'm not the customer they want; I tend to buy frames because I've gradually gained a nice set if bits to swap over and they've all but stopped offering frames in thus country and they've decided that high end bikes should only have big wheels. I've gone elsewhere now.

Big wheels are quicker according to the tests etc but it's all about sales. The 29er thing bothers me a bit less because it happened organically until Spesh, Trek and co humped on it and forced it upon the masses. It's different enough to be worthwhile but is not the cure for everything there are downsides for short people, flexy wheels etc. The 650b thing seems to have gained a foothold really quickly and seems to be more forced to me especially for all of those companies that missed the 29er upsurge. I think all this change is actually affecting sakes because people will be waiting to see what happens before splashing the cash.

That's an odd attitude from Orange...there is a market for steel frames in this country. Just ask Cotic, or Charge or DMR etc. I know they're small manufactures but you see an awful lot of them on the trails.

Chopper1192":298oyt0p said:

It like Orange, who've finally deleted steel hard tails from the range claiming thanks because no one is developing steel tube technology any more. What an utter load of tosh! I would suggest the relatively cheap supply of alloy frames from the far East make for a healthier profit.

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They dropped their line of cheaper alloy bikes at the same time. In fact they slimmed down their whole range and seem to be focusing on the top end hand built frames.

I'd suggest they only dropped the bikes they did because they didn't sell enough of them.

They need to ditch that single pivot full suss design if they want knowledgeable buyers to take them seriously in this day and age.