Originally Posted by
psychling78
My wife is looking to replace her stolen touring/hybrid (a Fuji Sagres) and is looking at a 1988 Trek 900. It has 26" wheels. I'm wondering what the collective wisdom is about wheel size for touring bikes. I've only ever used bikes with 700c wheels (Fuji Saratoga and now a Bill Davidson), so I think that's best -- am I well-informed or just prejudiced? And yes, I do mean touring, not just commuting.
Current touring bike is 559 mm/26" wheel, prev were 622mm/700C...frame design seems to affect ride/handling more than the wheel difference. Plus for both size wheels there's a wide variety of widths available. For smaller riders the 559 might be more proportional. My only gripe about 522/26 is that with trekking/MTB cranksets I don't get the higher gearing for descents. Not a big deal, having the granny gears more important.