There seems to be a hole in the industry. My thinking is the 700c wheel size is large for people under 5'8" (maybe 26 inch is more realistic) and 5'2" (24 inch, same).

Happy 1000th post to me. lol

My bike has 26" wheels. It's essentially a fully rigid mtb that came stock with street tires, so I think that counts as a hybrid. I wouldn't mind trying something with 24" wheels, but finding a frame (other than BigMX) that fits has proven challenging.

I've setup 700c bikes for people as short as 5'0 using small frames and 165 cranks. I agree better availability of smaller wheels and frames would be nice, but there's a whole pile of things like limited tire availability weighing against smaller sizes.

700c rims, or 622mm are actually about 24.5 inches, with various tire sizes that can be anywhere from about 26 to 29" or bigger in actual diameter. "26 inch" 559mm rims are about 22", add a fat mountain tire, you get 26" wheels. put a skinnier tire on them, its more like 24" wheel diameter.

there's a pile of different so-called 24" sizes, 507mm is used for juvenile mountain bikes, and then there's 520, 540 and 547mm sizes in varying doses of rarity. the 520 size would probably be the best for fast hybrids, while the 507 for more dirt oriented hybrids. when my kid was to small for a 26" bike, I got him a 24" kid's mountain bike (507), and had to replace the tires, there was a really limited selection of low end tires in that size.


I think Terry had the right idea for small peoples bikes, use a 700c rear wheel and a 24" (520) front, with a frame optimized for this. the big drive wheel is important for covering ground, rolling resistance. using a smaller front wheel lets you lower the standover height, and effective top tube length without getting your toes into the front wheel.


me, I'm not going to vote in the poll, I'm 6' tall, and 700c suits me just fine. my 5'2 wife is very happy on a 26" 'comfort' stepthrough. my son is also about 5'11 or 6, my daughter 5'6 but all legs, so they all are fine on 700c.

If it's NOT 700c, is still considered a hybrid? I thought that's what defined comfort bikes.

plenty of 26" hybrids. In fact, I think the original hybrids were low end mountain bikes with comfort oriented riding positions, and non-knobby tires.

A hybrid is anything that's not a road bike,MTB,or folder. Urban bike,flat bar road,comfort bike...all pretty much marketing speak. I have 3 26" wheeled hybrids,although the manufacturers refer to them as urban bikes.

As for 24",I'd just as soon see bikes with either 20(406 ETRO) or 26". Both are much more common than 24",making tires easier to find and giving a better selection.

There is Terry, building women's bikes, that fit right, smaller front wheels are part of achieving that fit.

Airnimal out of UK uses 24" wheels , compact for a purpose..

in both categories there are variations; thin tire larger rim, smaller rim fatter tire, both are nominally
24 or 26"; such-as in diameter of the tire on the rim.

20" is just too small for anyone over about 4' tall, unless its for a BMX style trick bike, or a folder.

I don't care for 26 inch except on proper mtb's, that's just the way I roll!

You've never ridden a proper mini velo.

I have one. Modded mtb with slicks. Same ergonomics. Lock the front suspension and there is no difference.

This.

If a market 'gap' can be addressed by a simple tire swap - the 'gap' is largely nonexistant.

My wife is a strapping 5 ft with a very short 26 in. inseam and see LOVES her 700c wheeled, "13 inch framed" hybrid!! There's bikes out there with 700c wheels that will FIT short folks!

Actually the lines on both those bikes are really nice! Maybe because of the small frame size -but still really nice!

Just my own preference, but if I'm going to run a wide tire I like 26" wheels. And 700 for narrower ones, never have thought about 24's except for kids bikes.

Those bikes are cool.

I am an inch and a half shorter than your wife but with a longer inseam. I found that the 13 inch framed hybrids on 700 wheels had too long of a reach for me. I ended up with a hybrid with 26 inch wheels. I only found one that didn't fall into the "comfort" bike category of being too much of a tank. The one I found was a Cannondale Quick. All but one size is on 700 wheels.

My two road bikes have 650 wheels. I also have a Terry with the 24 (520) in the front and the 700 in the rear.