Mountain Biking - Velonews - "26 inch hardtail indeed dead. 29er wheels faster."

http://www.velonews.com/article/97597

http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt268/denismenchov/26ht2.jpg

"The 26-inch wheeled hardtail mountain bike is, indeed, dead."

Opening the article with a lie does no good for the credibility of the article. I know I'm taking it out of context, but how in the world am I going to go freeriding or dirt jumping on a 29'er?

The quote is crap.

Definitely not dead. Lots of people like them and and the demand for them will continue.

I'm just not a straight up XC rider though...on his test, he said that he avoided "out of the saddle" climbing b/c of power spikes. I wonder why?

If you use less energy on a 9er...why not take advantage of the energy in reserve and get outta the saddle for a climb?

Consider the source.

"The 26-inch wheeled hardtail mountain bike is, indeed, dead."




Should I bury my beloved Cadex in the back yard? Or is there some environmentally friendly eco-whacko way of disposing of it?:rolleyes:

quote from article:
It’s much harder to go over the handlebars of a big-wheeled bike.

wtf? really?
it's crap like this that makes the 29er fans look like total ******pipes.
how can anyone get behind a total bs statement like this??!!

quote from article:
It’s much harder to go over the handlebars of a big-wheeled bike.

wtf? really?
it's crap like this that makes the 29er fans look like total ******pipes.
how can anyone get behind a total bs statement like this??!!


I cannot explain why, but I've never had an endo crash on a 29er since I switched to riding one in 2002. I used to have 2-3 endos a year on the 26ers I owned and rode. I don't know enough other 29er riders to know if they have had a similar experience or whether I've just been lucky.

my buddy endo'd his first ride on a 29er and broke his collarbone.
another guy at his shop also endo'd his 29er and broke his arm and wrist.
they'd both been riding 26" bikes for years with no problems..........

quote from article:
It’s much harder to go over the handlebars of a big-wheeled bike.

wtf? really?
it's crap like this that makes the 29er fans look like total ******pipes.
how can anyone get behind a total bs statement like this??!!

It's just like any other religion -- false hopes, empty promises and no scientific proof whatsoever.

Velonews is such a joke.

quote from article:
It’s much harder to go over the handlebars of a big-wheeled bike.

wtf? really?
it's crap like this that makes the 29er fans look like total ******pipes.
how can anyone get behind a total bs statement like this??!!


Seems to me that the higher the center of gravity, the easier it would be to endo.

And, I have certainly done at least one endo on a 29er that I can remember.

j

Seems to me that the higher the center of gravity, the easier it would be to endo.

And, I have certainly done at least one endo on a 29er that I can remember.

j

But think about where your center of gravity is with respect to the wheel hubs.I always felt my center of gravity was way too high on a 26er but I also was riding XL size 26inch frames. One of the things that I enjoy about riding my 29ers is that I don't have that "I'm about to endo" feeling I often had on my 26inch wheeled bikes. For a tall guy like me I think the 29er just fits me better.

But everyone isn't like me and has different experiences and body proportions. 26 inch wheel bikes work great for the majority of riders and I think it is plain silly for someone in a magazine to proclaim that the 26 inch hardtail is dead.Seems to me he's just acting like a radio shock jock and trying to stir up a buzz.

velonews is rather lame, an amusing article nonetheless.

But think about where your center of gravity is with respect to the wheel hubs.I always felt my center of gravity was way too high on a 26er but I also was riding XL size 26inch frames. One of the things that I enjoy about riding my 29ers is that I don't have that "I'm about to endo" feeling I often had on my 26inch wheeled bikes. For a tall guy like me I think the 29er just fits me better.

But everyone isn't like me and has different experiences and body proportions. 26 inch wheel bikes work great for the majority of riders and I think it is plain silly for someone in a magazine to proclaim that the 26 inch hardtail is dead.Seems to me he's just acting like a radio shock jock and trying to stir up a buzz.

Agreed that a 29er might present certain fit/geometry advantages for a tall rider. I am 6'5", it seems to apply to me.

I am not completely confident in this, but I don't think the center of gravity "with respect to the wheel hubs" is relevant. If you do an endo, then the pivot point is where the tire hits the pavement. The higher one is above the pavement the more "endo leverage" you have. Is this wrong? Having said that, I have not noticed any difference at all between 26 and 29 in this regard.

j

Nope. At 5 ft. 3, I'll keep my 26 inch wheels, thanks. :innocent:

Aaaaand cue up all the 29er fanboys on every message board to have major wood over this article.

Screw it...I've heard enough...I'm gonna sell the Komodo and buy a 29'er XC bike.

Crap…I was going to ride my HT tonight till I read this article. Dang…I guess I’ll have to ride my road bike….are those still okay to ride?

Isn’t it obnoxious when a publication/writer think they are important enough to proclaim something like this?

My response? *YAWN*

Crap…I was going to ride my HT tonight till I read this article. Dang…I guess I’ll have to ride my road bike….are those still okay to ride?

Isn’t it obnoxious when a publication/writer think they are important enough to proclaim something like this?

My response? *YAWN*

Nah, most racers are either going with a 29er HT or 26er FS.......

If you like 26" bikes just get a nice one with full suspension then. It's only the 26" Hard tails that are being phased out.

Whew….Then I’ll ride my Trance X2 and save the road biking for another day.:p

Wonder what I can do with the 26 HT? I mean I bet it won't even roll anymore now that it is obsolete. :lol:

Screw it...I've heard enough...I'm gonna sell the Komodo and buy a 29'er XC bike.

It's about time you came around. Be sure to get the super light stans wheels so you can get more air when you do your jumping :D

Nah, most racers are either going with a 29er HT or 26er FS.......
If you like 26" bikes just get a nice one with full suspension then. It's only the 26" Hard tails that are being phased out.


according to every major manufacturer's website, they still make a 26" hardtaill- but since you said they're being phased out, i'm guessing you have some insider info i don't know.
i'll be sure to ask dave turner why he's still making bikes with 26" wheels when i'm at interbike.

i guess i'll trash my s-works hardtail and go buy a nice 26" full suspension NEXT bike from walmart.
you know, since they're superior and all.
i just really hate to though, because 26" wheels will soon appeal to children since they're into tricks.

29er it is!!!

are you not realizing what a dumb@ss your posts are making you sound like??!!

Each bike has a different purpose and personality. I'm glad we have choices in models, styles, components, sizes, shapes, colors, etc. Imagine the world with the one average bike that the average person thinks is average.

Won't happen.

Just because one clown writing for one publication says so, MAKES it so? If that were the case, I'd have changed the face of waterbed usage in the 80's!

and i don't get how a 29er is faster.
i have blazed through long open field sections in the big ring and NEVER got close to spinning out.
how is a 29" wheel gonna be any faster?
if you're answer is "i'm not gonna be working as hard to go as fast", maybe you ought to work on the engine and not the bike!;)

I'm an idiot.

This.





i guess i'll trash my s-works hardtail and go buy a nice 26" full suspension since they're superior and all.


You are making progress. Congrats. I'd just sell the HT though.

ok, now i understand.
you're 12.

it's ok, buddy- i'm not mad at you.

u mad? :D be mad at the guy who wrote the article, and the pros that ditched the 26" hard tail apparently.

mad? not at all....i already said that.
why would i be mad about some dumbass 29er fanboy that wrote some bogus article?

remember when i wrote this? :

"on the very same day that the 26-inch hardtail was reported to have suffered an untimely demise, two European national championships were won on new, 2010 Cannondale Flash carbon hardtails. 26-inch hardtails, to be precise."


i guess you don't since you're still going on and on about how i should sell my 26"ht.

Now you're getting it.

Jump on the wagon man!!

I hope the magazine hack and Denis Dunkhoff are dead wrong. Phased out? Pfft. I don't mind if 26" HTs drop in popularity because of some fad, but phased out is just plain wrong!

Now I got a question. When you say phased out do you mean phased out like rim brakes or phased out like U-brakes (specifically)?

....and the pros that ditched the 26" hard tail apparently.


Pros ride what they're paid to ride.

Just give me all the bikes I can break for free and pay me an upper middle class salary/benefits to boot and I'll jump on the 29'er bandwagon. I might be a wh0re, but I'm not a cheap wh0re. :p

my gut reaction:
yeah that's great for anyone tall enough to ride 29ers.

Now I got a question. When you say phased out do you mean phased out like rim brakes or phased out like U-brakes (specifically)?

Like Beta or VHS. :lol:

well if everyone is getting rid of their 26" HT i'll gladly take them off your hands. Just PM me and i'll give u the address to send your (out dated) bikes hahaha.

well if everyone is getting rid of their 26" HT i'll gladly take them off your hands. Just PM me and i'll give u the address to send your (out dated) bikes hahaha.

I second that notion. At a towering 5'7 i would feel like Mini Me riding a 29r.

I second that notion. At a towering 5'7 i would feel like Mini Me riding a 29r.

That's why they make different frame sizes...S, M, L, XL typically. :notamused:

That's why they make different frame sizes...S, M, L, XL typically. :notamused:

Still too short to ride most small 29ers. If 26ers are dead, consider me a necrophiliac. :thumb:

Okay enough.

I cleaned up this thread a bit. Stop the name calling. If you want to continue doing so then take it to chat. Continuation of such will have me handle this according to guidelines, and I hate doing that.

Siu Blue Wind
Forum Admin.

sorry.
i'll play nice now.

Thanks. :) But that goes for the others too. :notamused:

i don't care for 29ers cause i like my fat tire full squish that i can handle easily but thats my opinion w/e 29ers have there place

on a completely diff note somthin just poped into my head, why do dh riders use big rotors (my new big rotor on my freeride bike is so awesome) well its b/c of heat disipation ect, but also b/c you get more leverage out of a bigger rotor, well on a 29er the wheel is bigger, so the ratio of the rotor to the wheel is diff than on a 26" bike. So do you have less breaking power on a 29er, since you generate the same heat (laws of thermodynamics, energy can't be destroyed all your foward momentum=brake heat when you stop) but you have less leverage or w/e on the brake.

NOTE: this is a quesiton/food for thought. I'm not trying to insult 29ers or piss you guys off w/e just somthin that hit me

And to think that just the other day I was comparing the good behavior here to that in Recreational & Family . :cry:

I didn't read the link from op but by the title this is my thoughts haha maybe it's already been said. oh well.

so if you can move the 29inch wheels the same speed as 26 wont you be covering more distance therefore being faster?

Who really cares? For those that like 26ers, ride'em. Those that like 29ers, ride them.

Darwinism is at work and, eventually, the best wheel size will become predominant. Till then have fun :thumb:

I didn't read the link from op but by the title this is my thoughts haha maybe it's already been said. oh well.

so if you can move the 29inch wheels the same speed as 26 wont you be covering more distance therefore being faster?

I've heard that logic with the 650c vs 700c road bike wheel debate. The question then becomes, why not just switch to a bigger gear on the smaller wheeled bike? While it's true that one rotation of the larger wheel covers more ground than one rotation of the smaller wheel, wouldn't it also be true that it would take more effort to make one rotation of the larger wheel than one rotation of the smaller wheel? If 650c road bikes were that much slower, I would think that TT bike designers would be working pretty hard to tweak the geometry of small bikes such that they'd fit a 700c wheel. It seems to me that the advantage a 29er has over a 26er is its ability to roll over larger obstacles.

But I think we're also missing another key point...the question of why we're out there riding. Not all of us have the goal of getting from Point A to Point B on an XC course in the shortest period of time. For example, a 29er won't make as good a playbike as a 26er. And someone who stands 5'2 may not want a bike that big. And even if it gets phased out of racing, the 26er XC hardtail will have its place with plenty of riders who don't have the money for a dual-squish, don't want a 29er, and don't need anything burlier than an XC bike. Heck, plenty of people love FRHT's like the Banshee Morphine, and I don't think many people, if anyone, is going to say that freeriding works way better on a hardtail than an 8 inch front and back FS. 26ers are far from dead.

I've heard that logic with the 650c vs 700c road bike wheel debate. The question then becomes, why not just switch to a bigger gear on the smaller wheeled bike? While it's true that one rotation of the larger wheel covers more ground than one rotation of the smaller wheel, wouldn't it also be true that it would take more effort to make one rotation of the larger wheel than one rotation of the smaller wheel? If 650c road bikes were that much slower, I would think that TT bike designers would be working pretty hard to tweak the geometry of small bikes such that they'd fit a 700c wheel. It seems to me that the advantage a 29er has over a 26er is its ability to roll over larger obstacles.

But I think we're also missing another key point...the question of why we're out there riding. Not all of us have the goal of getting from Point A to Point B on an XC course in the shortest period of time. For example, a 29er won't make as good a playbike as a 26er. And someone who stands 5'2 may not want a bike that big. And even if it gets phased out of racing, the 26er XC hardtail will have its place with plenty of riders who don't have the money for a dual-squish, don't want a 29er, and don't need anything burlier than an XC bike. Heck, plenty of people love FRHT's like the Banshee Morphine, and I don't think many people, if anyone, is going to say that freeriding works way better on a hardtail than an 8 inch front and back FS. 26ers are far from dead.

Why exactly would someone smaller not want the ability to roll over larger obstacles?

Article is not true. I went to Kmart and saw a rack full of 26" mountain bikes. Guess how many 29ers I saw? C'mon, take a guess.


Why exactly would someone smaller not want the ability to roll over larger obstacles?

The same reason a guy with a small wee-wee doesn't want a girl with a big va-jay-jay.