Is there any future at all for the 26 wheel?

[firedfromthecircus]

26 will come back for 2 reasons.
1: It's a practical size for many sizes of riders and types of riding.
2: When 27.5 becomes 'old hat' and the marketeers want to sell something 'new' to folk it will probably be 26.

I love 29ers and for the last few years, apart from retro stuff, I have mostly ridden 29ers and fat-bikes. But this summer I spent a fair bit of riding time on a 'modern' 26 ss and really enjoyed the smaller wheels again. Of course, every component choice on a bike is a compromise and it's just a matter of picking the best set of compromises for the type of riding you want to do. For the poor souls who only have one mountain bike 27.5 may well be the best compromise, but 26 still has it's benefits. Always will.

 

[lensmansteve]

I agree with many members that the change to 650b and so-called 29ers is primarily an industry-led thing. For my part, after riding skinny tyred 700c bikes for decades, my joy at riding a mountain bike for the first time, around '87, has never quite left me.. It wasn't just the superior cushioning and traction of the tyres, the smaller diameter wheel sharpens the bike's geometry and the wheel (for a given weight) has less gyro effect.. That's win-win-win in my book, don't think I'll ever want to own a 29er..

 

[jimo746]

For the poor souls who only have one mountain bike,

Surely no one who uses this forum?

I'm back to 26" for off-road riding, 29" does feel faster cross country, but I don't generally count the seconds saved so I don't mind. At one point I had 26, 27.5/650b, 29, and 700c tubes kicking around the shed! Ridiculous. Just one size for road, another for off-road now, much simpler!

 

[tintin40]

just remember every time some thing new is bought in the bigger wheels is anther nail in the coffin of the 26er. so buy 26er. And email manufactures how you like their 26er bikes, wheels etc i'm always leaving feed back etc on how good that they makes/sell 26er's and if i see that they aren't making 26er then i let them know what a shame i can't buy the product in 26er.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I am not racer, thus "fastest" isn't my concern. I prefer a lively, fun ride to a speedbomb. I enjoy the quickness instead, and the ability to feel the trail, to have to use my skills to pick the best line, as opposed to steamrolling over everything. I believe that we are seeing the beginning of the end for 27.5, and 26 will be back, but with a different hub format to ensure new bike sales.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

For the poor souls who only have one mountain bike,

Surely no one who uses this forum?

No, I was meaning the normal people!

 

[The History Man]

There are normal people?

 

[firedfromthecircus]

There are normal people?

So I've heard.

 

[madjh]

For people that says they are not racers ... I´m not a racer but some times many of us participate in a MTB race. Gest what: my ETSX (26") have been ridden in one of that events ... it was 2nd ranked (yes it wasn´t any pro there and the level was not the highest). I haven´t felt slow or something like that, I feel fast in the narow paths, faster than 29ers and many races have some section of narrow tracks ...

It is all in our minds, perhaps for proffesional racers will make the difference, but not for us

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

26” will no doubt make a come back but it’s 29” all the way for me now being a big lad. Just feels normal after years of riding that size.

There should be room for all as each size has positives and negatives. In a ideal world you would be able to choose what bike you wanted then pick the wheel size you wanted for that particular model. Unfortunately with tight margins that will never happen.

Anyway, forget wheel size, the biggest threat is those horrid electric bikes!