Originally Posted by
squeakywheel
If the tires are the same width, I don't think the speed would be that much different. Most people run a skinnier tire on their 700c bikes than their 26 inch bikes. In that case, the 700c is faster.
I like how Surly specs the Long Haul Trucker. 26 inch wheels for the smaller frame sizes and 700c for the larger ones. Makes sense to me.
Yeah, Surly considers the frame geometry more important than the wheel size. The reason Surly uses a smaller wheel size on the <50cm LHT is so they don't have to compromise the geometry of the frame. The would have move the seat tube to fit in a 700c wheel on the smaller sizes.