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Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
No, he beat you on the straights because he was a stronger rider than you. You beat him on the corners because you were better in corners.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
What do you mean by "The speed they can carry of a whole course.?
MarquisMatsugae
Guest
Fair comment
DRM
Guru
- Location
- West Yorks
But thats the thing, the bars on the graph were made to show a vast difference, the numbers didn't match the implied difference, the magazines test was speed around a set course on three different wheel sized bikes, the article was utter tosh, if I could see through it, I don't see why others couldn't, doesn't
matter that my MTB is perfectly capable & runs on 26" wheels, I could well be faster than someone on a 29er, someone else on a penny farthing could be faster then me, doesn't bother me I just get out & enjoy the ride, on or off road.
Kajjal
Guru
- Location
- Wheely World
Both sizes you mention are popular enough and show no signs of going anywhere. No one can guess what crazy nonsense bike manufacturers will dream up ten years in the future. Just get the bike you like the most.
marzjennings
Guru
- Location
- Houston, Texas, USA
Sorry, bad typing on a cell phone...the speed they can carry over a whole course. Which for me and the trails I ride means I'm generally significantly faster riding my 29er than my 26er. Trails round here are generally wooded trails with roots, packed in clay and sand, no rock gardens, no climbs more than 50ft, single track with a few twisty sections. Fast trails where averaging +14mph is very possible and only ever ridden semi-dry and dry.
As an example of carrying more speed, on the few short downhill sections we have and as I hit a level section of trail again, I consistently roll further and faster on a 29er than a 26er. I noticed this day one from owning a 29er.
I don't ride in the mud, so mud clearance isn't an issue. I don't ride many rock gardens, so don't need a mega-strong wheel. No real climbing round here, so weight isn't a big issue. The few really tight twisty sections of trail are quite navigable on the 29er, and while I would be quicker on the 26er on such sections over the whole course I'd be slower.
Colin_P
Guru
The pragmatic answer is to ride what works best for you and having the choice between three sizes is good.
The practical answer, for me is how big you are. I think the 700c / 29r wheelers can look quite odd in smaller frames and vica versa 26's in a large frame. Being towards the taller end of what humans grow to I prefer bigger wheels as they fit and scale up better on the bigger bikes I need to ride. My old 26" wheeler just doesn't feel right these days and gets relegated to being pool bike for as and when friends need the borrow of it.
Saying all that, I recently bought a 27.5" wheeler for my youngest son who is also tall which means I can ride it. And when I have if I'm honest it does feel just right.
The practical answer, for me is how big you are. I think the 700c / 29r wheelers can look quite odd in smaller frames and vica versa 26's in a large frame. Being towards the taller end of what humans grow to I prefer bigger wheels as they fit and scale up better on the bigger bikes I need to ride. My old 26" wheeler just doesn't feel right these days and gets relegated to being pool bike for as and when friends need the borrow of it.
Saying all that, I recently bought a 27.5" wheeler for my youngest son who is also tall which means I can ride it. And when I have if I'm honest it does feel just right.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
There is only one reason for that. You and your 29er weigh more than you and your 26er. There's no other rational reason. The flipside of that coin is that your roll consistently shorter and slower going uphill.
Kajjal
Guru
- Location
- Wheely World
From my own experience both on XC hardtails, not unexpectedly 29er's roll better over the trail but you lose out on manoeuvrability. For my style of riding and where I ride 29ers are noticeably faster , but I have ridden my 26er recently on mountain trails with v-brakes, it was fine and made a interesting change with getting bumped around more but being able to make very quick , sharp movements.
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
Is that entirely true? If you had teeny tiny 2.6" wheels you'd get stopped dead by every little bump on the trail, whereas a massive tractor wheel wouldn't even "see" the bumps. Even with the same amount of momentum (rider + bike weight at a given speed), the angle of attack of a bigger wheel is going to be shallower, so more of the bike/rider momentum keeps going in the forward direction when travelling over a bump, rather than being diverted upwards. Granted the difference between 26" and 29" is not enormous, but I'm pretty sure the theory is sound, and I'm also pretty sure I've felt this in practice, when riding identical sections of trail on my rigid 26" and on a borrowed 29" hardtail with the forks locked out.
The statement "29er roll better" does seem in general to be true to me (still don't get on with them though!).
marzjennings
Guru
- Location
- Houston, Texas, USA
That would be so true if my new carbon 29er mtb wasn't 10lbs lighter than my old 26er mtb. I haven't changed mass.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Not only do they weigh more, but the extra rolling circumference presents more area to clag up with mud.
DRM
Guru
- Location
- West Yorks
Yes but you realised that those publications started "Once upon a time"
I realised a while back that a lot of magazines are terrified of upsetting the advertisers, so print whatever rubbish the manufacturers ask them to, for fear of losing advertising revenue, they also rehash the same old topics & articles over time, anyway theres nothing wrong with 29er's, 27.5" or 26" you just need to ride what you've got, who knows what the next big thing will be, but you can guarantee the mags will have you believing you can't live without it.
