Originally Posted by Rootman

Wouldn't it be wonderful if they just got rid of the marketing hype and stuck to designations that made sense?

A guy I know was frustrated that the bike shop would not sell him tubes for his 29" tires, they were "only made for 700c's" was their excuse. When I explained that 29" and 700c were the same thing and he just needed to make sure the stem and width range were right he got mad and stormed off to the BS to "give them what for". So the ignorance is everywhere.

So generally 29" tires refers to older bikes using the imperial measurement or to newer bikes with wider tires, but not always! Just match the stem type and width and you should be good.