Confession time.....I'm gravel curious !
- Thread starter Tootyred
- Start date
2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
- Feedback
- View
Well…..Tootyred…as with most things there is a lot of different things going on.…
26 was a pretty arbitrary adoption of standard - which enabled good clearances at the time, with typical ‘double diamond’ mentality for geometry brought over from road bikes. Don’t forget that there was an outbreak of 26er road racing bikes for a year or so. Long gone. In MTB the 26 format was heavily elaborated and settled, then people started playing with geometry, tinkering by Gary Fisher and others, then partially fuelled by the DH design which was going on, where bigger hoops (650b) enabled better progress in rock gardens and over drops. There was a definite performance thing going on, not just marketing - although that indeed was going on too. The small fabricators didn’t really care whether they sold 26, 27.5, or 29 - indeed they just had to run to keep up with demand.
I was sceptical with a BIG S of bigger hoop size. But decided to play. First some Ragley 27.5s for my son and I - impressive things - an mmmbop and a Marley. Very impressive design and beautiful fabrication. And then we started playing with the DH bikes - and he just romped away on a Canyon Sender DH 27.5 compared to my Orange 26er. We still love our 26 Inch bikes - jump bikes and a 26 Simple and 26 Stanton ti - but you can stuff the Ragley 27.5 hardtails into rock gardens which would terrify me on 26, and throw them down drops which would have me over the front on a 26er with a 69 HTA and 120 stem. I was interested in 29, and so started building. Hardtails. And then FS. What I learned was they needed very careful design, and huge attention to minor details such as fork offset. But I really appreciate my 29ers - FS and Hardtail - marketing they are not.
It was clear on the Welsh trips this year that yes, you could ride all the trails on a good 26 er but if you wanted to throw yourself down things at warp speed then 29 really, really helped. Now, while on my 29er FS I couldn’t catch my son on his 27.5 Transition FS, it was notable that the very experienced folk with us on 26ers were way, way behind.
That does not make 26 redundant, weird or old-fashioned. I just see it as a different way of proceeding. The days I have out are still gorgeous days out in nature. But when I am tanking through the woods and hauling big terrain, I quite like my big hoops. If we had started on 29 in 1981, I still think we would have 26 inch jump bikes and youth bikes around...
26 was a pretty arbitrary adoption of standard - which enabled good clearances at the time, with typical ‘double diamond’ mentality for geometry brought over from road bikes. Don’t forget that there was an outbreak of 26er road racing bikes for a year or so. Long gone. In MTB the 26 format was heavily elaborated and settled, then people started playing with geometry, tinkering by Gary Fisher and others, then partially fuelled by the DH design which was going on, where bigger hoops (650b) enabled better progress in rock gardens and over drops. There was a definite performance thing going on, not just marketing - although that indeed was going on too. The small fabricators didn’t really care whether they sold 26, 27.5, or 29 - indeed they just had to run to keep up with demand.
I was sceptical with a BIG S of bigger hoop size. But decided to play. First some Ragley 27.5s for my son and I - impressive things - an mmmbop and a Marley. Very impressive design and beautiful fabrication. And then we started playing with the DH bikes - and he just romped away on a Canyon Sender DH 27.5 compared to my Orange 26er. We still love our 26 Inch bikes - jump bikes and a 26 Simple and 26 Stanton ti - but you can stuff the Ragley 27.5 hardtails into rock gardens which would terrify me on 26, and throw them down drops which would have me over the front on a 26er with a 69 HTA and 120 stem. I was interested in 29, and so started building. Hardtails. And then FS. What I learned was they needed very careful design, and huge attention to minor details such as fork offset. But I really appreciate my 29ers - FS and Hardtail - marketing they are not.
It was clear on the Welsh trips this year that yes, you could ride all the trails on a good 26 er but if you wanted to throw yourself down things at warp speed then 29 really, really helped. Now, while on my 29er FS I couldn’t catch my son on his 27.5 Transition FS, it was notable that the very experienced folk with us on 26ers were way, way behind.
That does not make 26 redundant, weird or old-fashioned. I just see it as a different way of proceeding. The days I have out are still gorgeous days out in nature. But when I am tanking through the woods and hauling big terrain, I quite like my big hoops. If we had started on 29 in 1981, I still think we would have 26 inch jump bikes and youth bikes around...
Dont get me wrong....i completely get that its specialist horses for specialist courses....
But most of the world dont use the bikes they own at anything like their capacity or in a specialist environment like say down hill or fast xc, where attributes of the bike alter to improve their capacity.
In most instances the old 26" would be fine, but thats not what you see round the schools and out on the roads. That's got nothing to do with best fit for the job, but everything to do with marketing and fashion, same goes for long suspension......its a kerb outside the shop, you don't need 120mm for that! (Unless your going to crash up it in a spectacular lack of skill).
But then that's consumerism. In the same way you don't need a car that does over 70mph or a house with 2 bathrooms or a tv the size of a small planet!
But hey.....it sure is fun.
But most of the world dont use the bikes they own at anything like their capacity or in a specialist environment like say down hill or fast xc, where attributes of the bike alter to improve their capacity.
In most instances the old 26" would be fine, but thats not what you see round the schools and out on the roads. That's got nothing to do with best fit for the job, but everything to do with marketing and fashion, same goes for long suspension......its a kerb outside the shop, you don't need 120mm for that! (Unless your going to crash up it in a spectacular lack of skill).
But then that's consumerism. In the same way you don't need a car that does over 70mph or a house with 2 bathrooms or a tv the size of a small planet!
But hey.....it sure is fun.
- Feedback
- View
26 wheels on modern tyres almost reaches the same rotating roundnessness of a 700c road wheel with a 25c tyre on
2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
- Feedback
- View
Big Cheese, don’t get started on tyre size....that’s just a MENTAL area of claim and counter claim. Oh how happy I am that I can fit 26 wheel, 3.0 tyre, or 27.5 2.6, or 29 2.3 on my bike. Oh yes, I have a combination for every possible trail....grief.
- Feedback
- View
I find 26 with 'old' tyres just not roundy enough
novocaine
Old School Grand Master
26 isn't dead. it's just resting.
in a back warehouse
out of sight
waiting for everyone to buy 27.5 and 29.
and when they have sold the world
26 will make a comeback, marketed as "quicker handling, faster turn in and huge mud clearance"
as if by magic, tyre manufacturers will have huge stocks of tyres, rim makers will just happen to have the latest carbon rims in the right size, but don't get me wrong, oh it will be a struggle for them to keep up with demand, selling so fast we can't make em quick enough, sorry about the prize, we've had to put it up because we didn't have the moulds for this size, blar blar blar.
the industry is designed to sell bikes, no matter how much it moves forwards in aiding the rider (ebikes being a prime example), it's goal is not technical advancement for the masses, it's goal is to sell bikes.
in a back warehouse
out of sight
waiting for everyone to buy 27.5 and 29.
and when they have sold the world
26 will make a comeback, marketed as "quicker handling, faster turn in and huge mud clearance"
as if by magic, tyre manufacturers will have huge stocks of tyres, rim makers will just happen to have the latest carbon rims in the right size, but don't get me wrong, oh it will be a struggle for them to keep up with demand, selling so fast we can't make em quick enough, sorry about the prize, we've had to put it up because we didn't have the moulds for this size, blar blar blar.
the industry is designed to sell bikes, no matter how much it moves forwards in aiding the rider (ebikes being a prime example), it's goal is not technical advancement for the masses, it's goal is to sell bikes.
) bikes are fun, even if they are just marketing wank.
- Feedback
- View
I have bikes with 26", 27.5" and 29" wheels. Am I a goodie or a badie?
2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
- Feedback
- View
Brocklander - well the great thing about post-modernist approaches to ‘truth’ is that you CAN BE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!!!
Hurrah!!
The Enlightenment = the search for the deeper truths beneath the surface of things.
The 21st Century social-media driven Anthropocene = the truth is what you SAY LOUDEST!!!!
Hurrah!!
The Enlightenment = the search for the deeper truths beneath the surface of things.
The 21st Century social-media driven Anthropocene = the truth is what you SAY LOUDEST!!!!
Last edited:
Similar threads
