Wheel size change
Oct 17, 2016 19:35:55 GMT
Post by Humph on Oct 17, 2016 19:35:55 GMT
Bigger wheels mainly 29" and 27.5" ( the latter also known as 650b size ) have been around for a while now on mountain bikes. After many years of the 26" wheel being standard for off-roaders. But until about two years ago, the bigger wheels were a rare-ish sight on the trails with many die-hards ( aye me included ) sticking with the smaller wheels.
We believed ( still do to an extent ) that the smaller wheels were stronger, lighter and quicker to turn in on loose or gloopy surfaces.
But the wind of change is always hard to resist and eventually I got around to changing, not all the way to a 29er, but to a 650b. My son already had one and having ridden his a couple of times I was impressed enough to want to try it for myself.
The upside is that with the larger circumference, it just rolls through the bumps more smoothly needing much less fork travel ( wastes energy fork travel ) and is noticeably faster in a straight line. Downside is that it doesn't turn like a housefly in the tricky stuff like a 26er does.
Yesterday we we were all at one of the regular mtb centres we use and it gradually occurred to me that most people were now on 29ers or 650bs.
That has happened quite quickly it seems. My wife is still on a 26er but at 5' 2" she still feels that a bigger wheel would just feel too clumsy for her.
The hidden benefit of course in this, is that it mainly a change in fashion rather than any huge shift in practicality and usability and there are therefore some real bargains to be had on old stocks of really good quality 26" wheeled bikes which are suddenly deeply difficult to sell. So if anyone is looking for a new bike, or wants to upgrade to something better, it'd not be a bad idea to look for one of those.
Old tech isn't necessarily bad tech !
There are parallels to be drawn with car wheel sizes of course, and I guess many of us here can remember when 16" car wheels were seen as "big" but are now seen as either "normal" or even a bit small.
We believed ( still do to an extent ) that the smaller wheels were stronger, lighter and quicker to turn in on loose or gloopy surfaces.
But the wind of change is always hard to resist and eventually I got around to changing, not all the way to a 29er, but to a 650b. My son already had one and having ridden his a couple of times I was impressed enough to want to try it for myself.
The upside is that with the larger circumference, it just rolls through the bumps more smoothly needing much less fork travel ( wastes energy fork travel ) and is noticeably faster in a straight line. Downside is that it doesn't turn like a housefly in the tricky stuff like a 26er does.
Yesterday we we were all at one of the regular mtb centres we use and it gradually occurred to me that most people were now on 29ers or 650bs.
That has happened quite quickly it seems. My wife is still on a 26er but at 5' 2" she still feels that a bigger wheel would just feel too clumsy for her.
The hidden benefit of course in this, is that it mainly a change in fashion rather than any huge shift in practicality and usability and there are therefore some real bargains to be had on old stocks of really good quality 26" wheeled bikes which are suddenly deeply difficult to sell. So if anyone is looking for a new bike, or wants to upgrade to something better, it'd not be a bad idea to look for one of those.
Old tech isn't necessarily bad tech !
There are parallels to be drawn with car wheel sizes of course, and I guess many of us here can remember when 16" car wheels were seen as "big" but are now seen as either "normal" or even a bit small.
