26 inch wheels - advantages?

[HobbesOnTour]

Isn't @HobbesOnTour 's mighty traveller 26 inch?

You know well Roccado has 26 inch wheels

Personally, I think a lot of it is marketing ******ology and that, in time, things will switch around.

In any case there are large parts of the world where 26 is (almost) the only show in town. Rims and tyres may not be the newest, brightest, bestest but they function. You should see some of the loads carried on ancient 26 inch MTBs in the Latin world - they make me look ultralight!
In our interconnected world there'll always be the opportunity to look wider for what we need if supply dries up closer to home.

It's a good idea to have a list of the advantages. Too many folk unthinkingly adopt whatever the latest mantra is.

 

[Ian H]

Yup. That's why I've gone 650B on one bike.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If you go disc brake you can also generally switch between 700c and 26” wheels on same bike as per the immediate need.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

For same width tyres, a 26” setup will be lighter and accelerate faster than 700c.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Dynamo lights will run brighter at all speeds on 26” compared to 700c. Where the overall circumference is less. This will depend on size of tyre.

 

[HMS_Dave]

I have a 26 inch wheel and a 24 inch on my Elephant bike. I can vouch for its utmost strength. Surely an advantage given the price point...

 

[All uphill]

Stronger and lighter.

They'll be back! ( They never went away)

 

[Blue Hills]

Stronger and lighter.

They'll be back! ( They never went away)

let's hope so - there has been talk of issues with choice of rims/tyres but am not aware that is yet critical.
And as hobbes says pretty certain that wheels and tyres of some sort of quality will be available.

 

[Gunk]

We still have a couple of ageing high spec carbon framed 16” MTB’s they’re worth peanuts now but make a brilliant used buy.

 

[Andy in Germany]

For same width tyres, a 26” setup will be lighter and accelerate faster than 700c.

I expect we'll see that in a very expensively made advert in a few years...

 

[Reynard]

This is an important one for our family.

And here chez Casa Reynard as well...

 

[MichaelW2]

Breaking the global 26" mtb standard was move of total idiocy. I have 26" and 700c bikes and they both go OK.
I can see that 29" is good for really big, tall off roaders. The 650b is also a nice wheel size but how much different is it from26". It is bigger so less good for small riders.
Shops cannot support 26", 650b and 700c with all the tyres in stock. Can you buy 650b commuter tyres of the shelf?

If "they" were going to change tyre standards they should have ditched 650c 26" road and made 26" mtb available in road race to mtb sized just as they do with 700c.

 

[Blue Hills]

Shops cannot support 26", 650b and 700c with all the tyres in stock. Can you buy 650b commuter tyres of the shelf?

I well remember being in an edinburgh bike co-op shop in manchester and asking about their 26 inch tourer - this was when they still did their own bikes. It was something of a trendsetter, very highly regarded I think - can't remember what it was called. I was told, and this was years and years ago now, that 26 inch was passe and that it was now 650b. I wasn't given any good reason why this made the bike better.

 

[Andy in Germany]

And here chez Casa Reynard as well...

At least the rest of the family can use Japanese ancestry as an excuse...

 

[Blue Hills]

At least the rest of the family can use Japanese ancestry as an excuse...

Interesting you say that - and related to point made above by someone - have known two women on rides who had what looked like 700 wheel bikes at first glance but had been cleverly made (at some expense) to actually use 26 inch wheels. Everything looked fine. Both were japanese as I recall.

edit for clarity - i meant their bikes looked like road bikes.