Originally Posted by
staehpj1
BTW, I would question the validity of the statements about better availability of tires, rims, and wheels in the 26" sizes in the US at least. It seems like 700C has rapidly become more available than 26" even in places like Walmart.
The last few times I've been in a small-town Wal-mart I've visited the bike department just to see what kinds of tires were in stock. I've run into several instances where there were no 700c's but plenty of 26" tires in stock. It only makes sense - they stock 10x more 26-wheel bicycles in their own stores than they do 700c's.
Of course in the U.S. this is still not such a huge issue - with a telephone and a credit card you're never more than a business day away from having something delivered to you in a pinch. Not so elsewhere.