Originally Posted by
Bacciagalupe
Ahahahaha
OK, let me preface this by saying that I can fully accept that "large wheels are pointless
for makeinu and some other cyclists." 100% on board with that.
Separately, some people just like the ride, feel, convenience, novelty, non-conformity, whatever of small-wheeled bikes. That's also perfectly valid.
And if you're happy with your bikes, then there is absolutely no reason to change.
But.
When comparing "like to like" -- which is, of course, the only rational and fair way to approach the issue -- larger wheeled bikes:
• are more comfortable
• are more stable
• offer better gearing options
• have vastly better ground clearance (for both drive train and panniers)
• offer more fit options (exception for Bike Friday)
• offer more wheel and tire options
• have more widely available parts
• have more frame material options (i.e. currently, no carbon fiber folding / mini-bikes)
• are less expensive
Some of these aspects can be compensated for; e.g. adding suspension makes a small wheeled bike more comfortable. A few aspects cannot be corrected, such as clearance and tire/wheel/parts availability or expense.
More importantly, as with everything in bicycle design (and life
), design choices involve certain compromises -- either in performance or expense. E.g. if you add mechanical suspension to make a 20" bike more comfortable, that adds weight, complexity and slight performance loss. (Also, in order to compare like to like, you must compare the ride of a 20" suspended bike to a 700c suspended bike.) Or, you may need to spend $500 - $1000 more for a almost-no-compromise Bike Friday New World Tourist than you would for a comparably spec'ed 700c touring bike.
I.e. we can add a few things to the "700c is good" list, including: touring, long distance events, commuting, bad weather riding, dirt trails, gravel trails, just about any off-road use, club rides and paceline riding. 20" can be adapted for some of these uses, but at a cost.
20" bikes clearly have their advantages -- for
some but not all applications. I would even say that folders are a good choice for a much wider piece of the market than they currently hold, particularly for urban dwellers, commuters and frequent flyer bike tourists. But these benefits -- and your subjective experiences and personal preferences -- hardly renders the needs of 90+% of the cycling public "pointless."
Or to put it another way: In many cases, the compromises involved in using a small-wheeled bike are often worth the benefits. But to pretend there are no compromises whatsoever is inaccurate and does a disservice to those who need to make an honest assessment of the benefits and costs of a 20" wheeled bike for their own uses.
The thing is, half of your claims are just plain false and the other half aren't comparing like for like. In particular:
• Larger wheels do not necessarily offer better gearing options. Notably the Sturmey Archer 8 speed is, IMO, the best gearing choice for the money and is distinctly unsuitable for larger wheels. Moreover, when it comes to complete bikes internally hubbed configurations (with any model) are extremely difficult to find with large wheels despite being the most common configuration for smaller wheels.
• Smaller wheels offer more fit options, not the other way around. Larger wheeled bikes are necessarily limited in fit due to the wheels (and supporting tubes) getting in the way of raising/lowering seat and handlebar posts. To compensate, larger wheeled bikes must offer different frame sizes, which is by its very nature more limiting and a bit of a kludge. Companies like Bike Friday which can accommodate both methods offer the most options of all, but such flexibility is of course exclusive to small wheels.
• Nothing offers better ground clearance for luggage than small wheels which can accommodate on top. The very necessity of panniers with larger wheels is a compromise which reduces ground clearance. All the serious cargo bikes such as those available from Worksman and Bakfiets use smaller wheels because the load carrying capability is simply superior.
• 406 bmx wheels and tires are more widely available than any other rim size. I bet almost every local toy store, hardware store, and, bike store in the world has them.
• Which is less expensive really depends on the kind of configuration you like and may be regarded as merely coincidental. Larger wheeled bikes certainly aren't always less expensive. I can't find a 17 pound bike with larger wheels than the Carryme and I certainly can't find a cheaper trike of comparable weight to the Carryall.
• In order to compare like for like we need to look at wheels of the same weight. Since larger diameter tires are so much heavier they need to be much skinnier in order to achieve the same weight. This makes them less comfortable and compromises performance. Also, as noted by Tony Hadland suspension is easier/lighter to implement with smaller wheels (and wide tires may be regarded as a special case of this). So, although you can compare unsuspended to unsuspended, it's not really a like for like comparison because the parameters of importance such as complexity, weight, etc are not equal. Thus, when comparing like for like on the important parameters of complexity, weight, etc smaller wheeled bikes are more comfortable.
I'm not trying to be belligerent here, but your arguments simply don't hold any water.
Now, yes, there are a few very specialist applications for which factors make small wheeled bikes inferior. These are, namely, riding off paved roads and competitions for which small wheels are simply disallowed. However, as I've said from the beginning, these applications are by their very nature pointless and, thus, the large wheeled bikes which they justify are also pointless.
In all other applications small wheelers are unequivocally superior. Large wheels are the ones making compromises, compromises to keep with the popular look. If you want to convince me otherwise then tell me, what advantages do large wheels have? I still haven't seen any apart from wear and riding on soft ground, which is a short list compared to all their many disadvantages. Your so used to making compromises to accommodate large wheels that you can't see the forest from the trees.