end of the 29er era (fad) ?

Think I'll just be weird and build a bike with 650A wheels (26 x 1&3/8th") which we brits have had for years and forget this 650B nonsense

In fact we should have developed mtb tyres around this, as actual rim diameter is 590mm, pretty much half way between 559 and 622. 650B is 584mm not a huge difference admittedly but we brits have once again allowed a foreign wheel size to dominate our bikes. Just imagine mtbs based around 26 x 1&3/8"(650A), 27 x 1&1/4 (630), 28 x 1&1/2 (635), ah we really messed up in this country :facepalm:

Oh and you can get nobbly 635-70mm tyres but they were aimed at lightweight carts though that would have produced 30+ inch diameter wheels with nearly 3" wide tyres. Eat your heart out Surly Knard 29 x 3"

This recent proliferation of different standards worries me a bit. For decades we pretty much had one headset and bottom bracket standard, with the odd exception, like Raleigh's own threading, French and Italian etc. Now we have dozens of different sizes and types of headset and bottom bracket, each claiming to be superior to others when in reality, they are often just different with minimal performance or durability benefit over any other type.

I wonder how many of these standards will still be around in 5 or 10 years. Will tapered, integrated headsets still be readily available, what about BB30, BB92 etc.? Or, will these be rare and expensive and render frames that use them obsolete or expensive and uneconomical to maintain.

The ever increasing number of sprockets on cassettes, real world benefit or marketing guff. One effect has been to make it difficult to find good 7 speed cassettes, the better models have been dropped and only the cheaper ones are still available, which is a shame if you have a high end 90s MTB and want to keep the original drive train.

Similarly, multiple wheel sizes. Once 27" wheels were quite common, now they're rare and there are only a few rims available, and generally only cheap low quality ones.

I wonder how much choice there will be for tyres and rims for these "new" sizes in 5, 10 or 20 years?

Is this a ploy by the manufacturers to engender bicycles, which can last for decades, with the same built in obsolescence and redundancy that engenders so much of the consumer techno ephemera that we convert into landfill the world over in ever greater quantities?

The adoption of disc brakes on road bikes will ensure a plentiful supply of 700c/622 ERTO rims for many years to come.

Having just tried some Surly Knard 29x3" tyres, the argument to say that big-wheelers have limited appeal is nonsense - for go anywhere ability, to outclimb anything and to leave full suss 26ers both uphill and down. The only people who want to propagate small-wheeled bikes are suspension component makers, keen to sell expensive, high-maintenance parts.

Uphill and down, eh? My Carve wasn't like that. Clearly faster on the straight, but noticeably ponderous in the corners and slower to accelerate, and that was before the large hoops got weighed down with kgs more mud than the 26's could carry. All they do is move the pendulum of compromise towards rolling speed and away.from low weight, stiffness and agility.

I remember DH bikes going 24inch and that was phased out pretty quickly. Not quite the same as 29 have a much bigger appeal/base, but very intriguing that giant have made this move.

http://mbaction.com/Main/News/Shootout- ... -5159.aspx

Thought this might be of interest, been posted a while ago but it is a good read.

All three sizes have their place imo and I can't see any of them vanishing any time soon.

Took me a while to get my head round 29ers but having had a good go on a few I get the point. My two main riding chums both ride 29ers and leave me for dead on steady trials. I win on techy rough stuff but that's probably more to do with my rear suss (they ride HT).

My plan is to sell the 26" 5 and probably replace it with a second hand Gyro 29er. This way, when I can afford a brand new bike in a couple of years I'll know which way to go. I bet I get a 27.5 5 when the time comes, if they still make em.

My issue with 24" 27.5" and 29" bike is one of interchangability. Between myself & the misses we have five 26" wheeled MTB plus a dozen or so spare tyres inc mud tyres, slicks and spare we bought as they were on offer silly cheap. Why would I want to get a MTB that has to have it's own tyres? I might have considered 27.5" if I didn't already own a bike or have a pile of spares but I'd rather not change everything, or have an oddball bikeif I can avoid it.

I'll be laughing hard if 29ers get replaced by 650b.

They already have been in Giants 2014 line up, so chuckle away my friend.