Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
They lasted a little bit longer in downhill. For a few years, seven or eight years ago, some companies were trying to have 29 inch cross country bikes, 27.5 trail bikes, and 26 downhill bikes.
It’s an accident of history the 26 inch tires were ever used at all. When the Marin guys first sold mountain bikes, 26 inch was the US standard not-Schwinn beach cruiser tire size, that had recently featured in a fad for BMX cruisers. They were the only balloon tires that they could find with any tread.
https://g-tedproductions.blogspot.co...story.html?m=1
Interesting to think that we're really coming full circle... what we now call 700C was originally "28-inch" because 1.5"-ish tires were used to make a comfortable big-diameter wheel for the rough roads of the 1890s. It seems like many styles of bikes are trending back to that, and as much as I like my 26"/650B bikes, I can't fault the logic of 700C/29er/whatever you want to call it.
