Svr

Tire sizing guide:

https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

LesterOfPuppets

Descent knobbies are practically all MTB 26". You often see lame knobbies in Schwinn cruiser 26" though. Semi-slicks show up in olde 3-speed 26" but I've never seen a knobby in that size.

Just rememeber 559! Another tip is if the width is in decimal format (26 x 1.9" for example) you're pretty much assured it's MTB 26". The other decimal 26" tires are quite rare.

mechBgon

No offense, but your bike uses THE established standard in nominal-26-inch equipment, so it's hard to conceive that you're having a hard time finding tires or tubes for it. That would be like being unable to find meat at a butcher shop.

LesterOfPuppets

That's what I was thinking but maybe he's in a shop that stocks parts for Schwinn cruisers and Raleigh 3-speeds and he got a noob when he was in there. Hard tellin' what kinda stuff goes on in Canada.

electrik

I'm too sexy for these 26" wheels, these wheels are going to leave me!


So sexy it hurts...

Crazydad

Guess I better buy my ARC now then. For hard tails, I think the 29" will own the mid range $800-$2000 with the 26" hanging around the low end and the high end. Take a look at Giant's 2011 hard tail line up. Revel and Boulder as the $300-$500 "Lifestyle" bikes, XTC 29er at $1300-$2000 and then the XTC frameset for $1600. Specialized is doing the same thing. And I think you will still see a lot of FS 26" bikes because a lot of folks don't want to pay the weight penalty of the rear suspension and the 29" wheels.

I say the more choices, the better.

rothenfield1

Having not ridden a 29er, it's hard for me to criticize biker makers for following their marketing research. In a way, I see it as a good thing for me. The ebay pricing for 26" frames, forks, and wheelset seems to be down.

johnMATX

Crazydad, dont let your trusty Home Grown hear you say that, she has been a solid steed for many years, she just might give up the ghost in Endo Valley just to get even!!!

AKC

I started in the 70's, modding old 10 speeds for the mountains of Hawai'i. No tires of notable traction were available for 700C (29er) rims in those days, and I can assure you there are more than a few bikes returning to the Earth from whence they came after bailing on a ridgecap. I never could get used to a 26" wheel, actually gave up biking for a while. Then came Gary Fisher.

When the time came to seize the opportunity to build the bike I always wanted, 29ers were just coming on full steam. I have a MisfitPsycles diSSent 29er that wears WTB Dissent 2.5's with gobs of traction. The geometry is perfect (for me) and I really enjoy it. However, I feel that going 29er exclusively is not the best way to go for the general biking populace, it should be an alternative, albeit a more generally supported one. Just my .02

LesterOfPuppets

Way back in 1992 Bianchi was doing 700c MTBs. They just didn't catch on that time around.

Crazydad

Don't give her any ideas! If she does give up on me, the next one would be a 29er. Unless Mark still has the ARC in stock that he can't get rid of. That might be too good of a deal to pass up....

Dannihilator

And diamondback did it as well.

rothenfield1

That's quite beautiful!

scozim 

That's a sweet looking ride.

fuji86

Pretty nice looking 700C MTB, but if the on-line conversion and yardstick are correct for my 700C SS/FG, that's a hair under 26.5 inches. So that wouldn't be anything to change a 26 inch standard for. And to be honest, everything I read about a 29er, those are actually 29.15 inch wheels. If roadies went from 27 to 700C, why would they expect MTBers to go from 26 to a 29. Are cyclist getting taller ? Nobody at the LBS or anywhere else for that matter is going to convince me to get on a 29er, I'm never gonna be over 5'10". I want speed I'll ride the SS/FG or the 27" touring bike. The 26 is plenty fast for what I need in an atb. Posted earlier, the only bike I don't have is a cruiser type or a hybrid/comfort commuter and I'm more apt to get a Genesis Onyx 3 29er cruiser or even the Huffy or Schwinn Wal-Mart 26" cruiser in that regard, something I don't intend to blaze around on.

giantcfr1

So what's the difference between a 700c MTB and a Hybrid? I'm somewhat confused with the difference. My bike is classed as a hybrid, but doesn't look all that different to the Bianchi.

My Hybrid:

fuji86

giantcfr1, probably the era is about the only difference ? But the Bianchi, if that was intended for off road use as a style of MTB, it's an MTB and a hybrid is, well, a hybrid ?

giantcfr1

I know where you're coming from. I'm disappointed I can't fit wider tyres on my frame, unless I change down to 26". Even if I go to a 29er rim, the frame still can't accept a tyre greater than 32mm.

twenty-fourer

Maybe I'm still used to 20", but I've never felt the need to go bigger than 24".
Can someone sell me on 26" or 29"?

CHAS

Will try a 29er again when my legs get longer. The standover height would require me to have my cojones moved to a spot under my chin.
At 5'7" I could not find a 29er that would work. Have seen a guy shorter than me riding a 29er, maybe he has little at risk.

LesterOfPuppets

Era has a lot to do with it. Back then there wasn't as much a difference between say a touring frameset and your average mass-market MTB frameset. Mostly full rigid steel diamond framesets. Off the rack MTBs with front suspension were few and far between. Also there Mountain bikes were just Mountain Bikes, you couldn't walk into a shop and choose between XC, AM, FR, DH, DJ, etc.

Hybrid wasn't even an industry term back then, they were called Cross Bikes (nothing to do with cyclocross) and some were pretty much 700c MTBs while others were definitely MUP rollers.

Here's how Schwinn was slingin' them back in the day:



Which is pretty much this with bigger wheels jammed in there:

BlueRaleigh

Where at?

johnMATX

I saw in a MTB rag that Giant I think has a 27.5.....There we should all be happy......We found middle ground

LesterOfPuppets

My 26 x 2.4" tires come out to just about 28"

fuji86

My late 90's atb w/ 26 x 2.10 are right at 26" exactly.