26ers are they dead and buried?

cranky-1
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26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby cranky-1 » Thu Sep 29, 2016 4:01 pm

Hi All
I ride a roadie around locally to do things like shop and go a couple of suburb's away as well as some real long distance rides.
Anyway I have a pretty nice Giant MTB which I started on a few years before the Road bike. As of last few months I have been doing some pretty heavy duty and distance on my MTB and have become quite fond of it again.
There is a hard Rubbish collection been on in the area and if I had a dollar for each old 26in I saw well. Its to be added that I'm riding a 26 and just would be interested in finding out weather it really is old and dead or do many of you still ride 26in with regularity, I would just like to gauge.
Thanks

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Calvin27 » Thu Sep 29, 2016 4:17 pm

It's dead to me. But only because I am on the taller side of things. If I rode small sized bikes, a 26" would be awesome.
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby eldavo » Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:04 pm

Perhaps a read of the frugal cycling thread will inspire conservation rather than obsolescence/waste/unnecessary spending, think about directing our funds to something more enlightened (coming to you from an n+1 addict in rehab).

Road/racing dominate our market so may be better to think of it as a child size after 12, 16, 18, 20, 24... before 27.5, 28, 29, 27.5 plus, 26 fat, 29 plus. There is a kickstarter for 36er large bloke bikes, unicycles also use them, so variety won't cease, just how people talk about it.

The world is more diverse than our market, use bikes for more than sport where our utility cycling here is a minority within a minority. Asia have smaller size frames, use 26, and those markets greatly outnumber us. We are more like residuals off the USA/UK. The Dutch are larger also and may use 26in for smaller sizes where larger may use 28in.

If you find quality 26in frames it's now retro so if you have space save them, some are part of MTB history. Marin Mountainbike Museum (MMB) is a nice instagram feed.

The fat and plus tyres with wide rims low pressure and easy tubeless have been real change for non-racing offroad recreational access, greater than the previous 29er debate splitting hairs for skinny 29/27.5/26 recreational use.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby outnabike » Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:46 pm

Hi cranky-1,
I reckon the benefits of the smaller tyres com into their own in a lot of departments.

http://www.cyclingabout.com/700c-vs-26- ... r-touring/
Wheel Overlap on Small Frames
A 700c wheel increases the chances of toe overlap compared to the smaller wheel sizes. This is one reason why Surly only offer 700c wheels on their touring bike frames over 56cm. If you are on the smaller size, it makes sense to use 26″ wheels that reduce toe-overlap and the stand-over height of your bike.
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cranky-1
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby cranky-1 » Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:04 pm

These are some really good replies, I'm smallish at about 5'6 and pretty light so Ride medium 26 aluminium its a pure smooth ride and a lot of fun. At middle age it was the FIRST EVER new bike I ever had. The Roadie is Aluminium And Carbon fork-Love that too also medium and bought new, Must have ridden these two a gazillion ks over last few years. But really just cant believe how many great bikes get thrown out to rubbish and all I was hearing for ages was EVERYONE rides 29ers pretty much full stop.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Calvin27 » Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:39 pm

cranky-1 wrote: all I was hearing for ages was EVERYONE rides 29ers pretty much full stop.
Nah just us bigger blokes are known to make a bit more noise when we get a new bike :P.
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby trailgumby » Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:37 pm

I rode a 26er for 7 years until I got a Scalpel 29er. I was able to swap easily between the two, but enjoyed the mile-munching capacity of the 29er so tended to ride it almost exclusively.

Then before our trip to Rotorua I thought I'd take the Cannondale Rize 26er rather than trust the carbon bike to airport baggage handlers, so I went to practice on it at Old Man's Valley and found I couldn't ride the thing! Not just the slack head angle and skinny bars were off-putting, but the little wheels seemed to hang up on every rock and root. :x

If you can fit on a medium frame, you can ride a 29er. Anything smaller, and you might want to look at 650B/27.5

There's almost no new 26er product being released. Read into that what you will.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Duck! » Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:02 pm

I'm still digging 26", and ride medium frames. I've tried a few different 29ers, and my opinions range from "kinda OK", to considerable dislike. Yes, it's more difficult to ride in lumpy stuff, but I find the agility and responsiveness so much more fun. 29" is like trying to drive a bus around a go-kart track.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby mikgit » Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:41 pm

26 here, have 2 26 bikes and 1 more Im trying to scrape together pars (not too fast, don't need 3 HT's) and 1 650b FS bike... I'll take 26 any time.
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Calvin27 » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:38 pm

My times improved with 29 massively, but the 26 is no questions much more fun. I'm yet to give the goldilocks a proper test. My smaller friends despise 29, they simply find it too bulky.
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby cranky-1 » Fri Sep 30, 2016 3:10 pm

Some great feedback. I think I would need to do a fair bit of 29 riding to get used of it a think. Mind you I'm not concurring the You Yangs or a lot of off road. Mostly Gravel and bike trails, Geez I even travel them on the Roadie for fun.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Duck! » Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:36 pm

Calvin27 wrote:My times improved with 29 massively, but the 26 is no questions much more fun.
I've had mixed results. On a 66km event course, ridden in consecutive years on 26" & 29" versions of one bike model, I was about 14 minutes quicker on the 29er, but that can just as much be down to better knowing the sequence of the course, cooler weather more conducive to riding well, and possibly just better general fitness. In short, to many other variables to pin the improvement solely on the bike. On another occasion, with exactly the same two bikes, I did a specific comparitive test session, and the 26er won out by a considerable margin.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Nobody » Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:55 pm

26ers are dead when they stop making tires for the type of riding you want to do with them. Somehow I think that might be far longer than many realize.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby piledhigher » Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:59 pm

Nobody wrote:26ers are dead when they stop making tires for the type of riding you want to do with them. Somehow I think that might be far longer than many realize.
How long was 650B out in the wilderness for? then all of a sudden it is a legitimate option.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby bychosis » Sat Oct 01, 2016 8:09 am

As for all the 26" bikes on hard rubbish, that's becuase Kmart have only just started with other MTB wheel sizes. The vast majority of BSOs are still 26".

I'm still on 26", I've ridden 29 a couple of times and found the 26 more fun. It suits my local riding better, just not riding to/from the trails but that isn't what my bike is really for. Sure, if I had enough proper money to put into a 27.5 I'd probably get one, and maybe a 29 too, but I'm too cheap for that.
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby mikgit » Sat Oct 01, 2016 11:40 am

Nobody wrote:26ers are dead when they stop making tires for the type of riding you want to do with them. Somehow I think that might be far longer than many realize.
It' not the tyres I'm worried about...its the rims (cheap stuff no worries, but high end stuff...especially rim brakes...)
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Nobody » Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:07 pm

Just like you could get 650B before it was popular in MTB, good 26" rims will still be available. They just might be a bit more boutique/expensive. I'm happy with cheap rims, but I build my own wheels so the cost of replacing rims is small and I'm not a weight weenie.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby danny the boy » Sat Oct 01, 2016 7:56 pm

I got a 29er maybe 3 years ago which was my first 'real' MTB and never really fully loved it, yeah they roll over stuff easier but they handle like crap. Picked up 650b on Thursday and took it out today, will never go back to 29. If you have a 26, I would be keeping it.

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:10 pm

danny the boy wrote:I got a 29er maybe 3 years ago which was my first 'real' MTB and never really fully loved it, yeah they roll over stuff easier but they handle like crap. Picked up 650b on Thursday and took it out today, will never go back to 29. If you have a 26, I would be keeping it.
Really? :shock: In what way? :?

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby hedgehog » Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:49 pm

overall diameter of the 26 in mtb,i think in my opinion is a good size,
cheep wheels in this size can be strong,go bigger in overall diameter
and the quality in strength of wheels increases too make just as strong
wheels.the Moore bigger the diameter the Moore better stronger quality
of the wheel components to match 26 inch strength.bassicly 26 inch is in my
opinion a good adult wheel size and cost effective.COST EFFECTIVE,GOOD REASON TO KILL!
please forgive me moderators

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby Duck! » Sun Oct 02, 2016 12:23 am

foo on patrol wrote:
danny the boy wrote:I got a 29er maybe 3 years ago which was my first 'real' MTB and never really fully loved it, yeah they roll over stuff easier but they handle like crap. Picked up 650b on Thursday and took it out today, will never go back to 29. If you have a 26, I would be keeping it.
Really? :shock: In what way? :?
They have an aversion to corners. As I said earlier, riding a 29er is like trying to drive a bus around a go-kart track.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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foo on patrol
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Oct 02, 2016 6:22 am

Interesting, as I thought it cornered well and that was before I locked out the front forks. :?

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby bychosis » Sun Oct 02, 2016 7:57 am

I rode my 26" with cheap heavy wheels back to back with a 29er with full carbon on a test ride day on the same track. Both XC style bikes, but the 29er was worth probably 3 times what mine was.

The 29er accelerated so much faster, but when it came to the tight twisty bit of the track the 26" turned in a lot quicker. The 29er rolled over stuff better, but the 26" got around it quicker. Despite the 29er probably having lighter wheels and being a full specced up race bike it rolled better, but turned worse.
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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby NASHIE » Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:33 am

Love riding my hard tail 26er. Have tried (maybe not hard enough) to upgrade a couple of times recently, but come home empty handed . Daughter just got a nice 650B and while it does feel better than a 29er i think i will still wait until the old 26er is bent beyond repair to upgrade :wink:

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Re: 26ers are they dead and buried?

Postby cranky-1 » Sun Oct 02, 2016 1:59 pm

Yes I can well understand you wanting to stay with the 26 NACHIE, as I say I'm still in love with the Giant I bought brand new and will never part with it. Shines up looking like new when I clean her :D . Also it was mentioned about hard rubbish, I manage to pick up an old Giant iguana 640 the other day. Old skool made up of 4130 chro mo its a sweet looking old thing in candy apple red. I can feel a 26 tourer coming out of that one. :D
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