[Drth Vadr]

Race #1, best result 22. Qualifying race #2, best result 31. Not to mention the ladies on the 650b wheels are getting about the same results as last year at the same tracks on 26ers. By all rights they should not be respectively 4-6 finishes, but rather somewhere on the top 3 steps of the podium. Can these people (bike manufactures) finally stop shoving 650b wheels down our throat for every type of riding. Just to put it out there (probably won't make a difference though), THIS IS NOT A WHEEL SIZE DEBATE, but rather the voice of defiance to the powers that be telling me, "Our testing shows 650b wheel were 3 sec faster than their 26er brethren." I was with the trail/enduro 650b wheels and the perfect match crap, but felt they were taking the shoving the wheels up my a$$ thing to far with DH. Not saying no one wants to ride a 650b DH bike. I love choice, I have engaged in choosing different bikes over the years. The beginning of the end for 26er DH bikes? NOT. Well, the results are not showing it guys....suck on that KHS mechanic or who ever the hell you are. So please stop with the HOOP la just because you have a shinny new toy you want to sell us at an inflated price (that is directed towards you Norco, charging 1k more for a 650b frame kit in contrast to the 26er).

 

['size]

damn i thought this was going be about RM being a personal therapy outlet for SCARY.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

26" wheels are going to be dead, we aren't deciding anymore though...in all reality it just doesnt matter...who cares. EVERYBODY RELAX.

 

[FlipFantasia]

blah blah blah blah blah blah

 

[SCARY]

damn i thought this was going be about RM being a personal therapy outlet for SCARY.

Pffft!! ME TOO!

So disappointed, I need it

 

[Drth Vadr]

blah blah blah blah blah blah

Where else can I rant about things out of my control.........the internet

 

[kidwoo]

Where else can I rant about things out of my control.........the internet

Do it old school.

Write it down.

Then 5 years from now, go back and read it and become aware of your horrible sentence structuring, incoherent progression of ideas, close the diary and keep quiet in shameful obscurity.

 

[Drth Vadr]

damn i thought this was going be about RM being a personal therapy outlet for SCARY.

Maybe a thread heist is in order?

 

[Drth Vadr]

Then 5 years from now, go back and read it and become aware of your horrible sentence structuring, incoherent progression of ideas, close the diary and keep quiet in shameful obscurity.

Yeah, sounds like the definition of a rant to me.

 

[amishmatt]

EVERYBODY RELAX.

blah blah blah blah blah blah

What they said.

 

[jonKranked]

26" wheels are safe as long as there is contract manufacturing in China

 

[Kanye West]

Do it old school.

Write it down.

Then 5 years from now, go back and read it and become aware of your horrible sentence structuring, incoherent progression of ideas, close the diary and keep quiet in shameful obscurity.

I just go through my list of rep, and see all the obscure and perverse things I've posted that seem to amuse others. Most times, I've completely forgotten, and I can make myself LOL.

 

[ChrisRobin]

It'll take a while before 26" rims and tires are unavailable. By the time that happens, the majority of members here on RM will have been on 3 different downhill bikes.

 

[Da Peach]

Did someone say....HOOPLA?

 

[Sandwich]

Gee atherton just won two world cups on a trek Y-bike. So did his sister.

The pros will win on anything, it just depends on what the manufacturers want to sell us.

Pretty soon, they'll want to sell us big wheels. By the time that happens, it won't be so painful though.

 

[jonKranked]

anyone else find it peculiar that the whole 29'er "craze" is limited to the US? yes, people are riding them in other countries, but the US seems to be where most of them are?

 

[mattmatt86]

anyone else find it peculiar that the whole 29'er "craze" is limited to the US? yes, people are riding them in other countries, but the US seems to be where most of them are?

That's because certain acronym groups like to make every trail into dirt sidewalks. (says the guy who rides a 29er)

 

[jonKranked]

That's because certain acronym groups like to make every trail into dirt sidewalks. (says the guy who rides a 29er)

survey says....

...not quite.

 

[mattmatt86]

survey says....

...not quite.

My dealings with an acroymn group were just that, they wanted to plow our current trails and build ones that "appeal to a broader range of riders" as they put it. We politely declined their help and a year or two later I saw the "improvements" they made to some trails in NC and they essentially turned awesome singletrack into 8' wide dirt sidewalks.

Back to wheel sizes: A buddy that works in manufacturing in Taiwan said all the major players will be phasing out 26" in the next 2-3 years. He said the only mainstream bikes that will be 26" will be sub 600 dollar bikes. It's hard to say for DJ and DH though, they are so niche compared to other bikes, they might be able to hold onto 26".

 

[jonKranked]

My dealings with an acroymn group were just that, they wanted to plow our current trails and build ones that "appeal to a broader range of riders" as they put it. We politely declined their help and a year or two later I saw the "improvements" they made to some trails in NC and they essentially turned awesome singletrack into 8' wide dirt sidewalks.

that sucks. also has nothing to do with wheelsize.

Back to wheel sizes: A buddy that works in manufacturing in Taiwan said all the major players will be phasing out 26" in the next 2-3 years. He said the only mainstream bikes that will be 26" will be sub 600 dollar bikes. It's hard to say for DJ and DH though, they are so niche compared to other bikes, they might be able to hold onto 26".

see my previous comment about contract manufacturing

 

[atrokz]

My dealings with an acroymn group were just that, they wanted to plow our current trails and build ones that "appeal to a broader range of riders" as they put it. We politely declined their help and a year or two later I saw the "improvements" they made to some trails in NC and they essentially turned awesome singletrack into 8' wide dirt sidewalks.

Back to wheel sizes: A buddy that works in manufacturing in Taiwan said all the major players will be phasing out 26" in the next 2-3 years. He said the only mainstream bikes that will be 26" will be sub 600 dollar bikes. It's hard to say for DJ and DH though, they are so niche compared to other bikes, they might be able to hold onto 26".

Same thing is happening around here. IMBA is calling them 'flow trails' and are actively cutting roots and making what is unarguably the most dangerous trails we've had yet. I could write an article about the negative effect their 'sustainable' trails have had on a: traffic flow, b: erosion, and c: fun. When we (riders, actually riding the trails) built the trails they lasted longer and were much safer. now we have a high speed downhill funnel into an offcamber blind corner for which we previously had two routes. An up and a down. Then there's the gravel and 'rock' berms that gave out because they were designed by fools and I broke my wrist.

My solution to their 'flow trails' is going out and buying a CX bike to keep the fun in the ride. When a lycra clad guy on a susser gets his doors blown off by some guy in baggies on a purple CX bike it puts things into perspective.

Rant over, but the gist of it is, I hear you and agree completely. Let the locals build their own trails.

 

[mattmatt86]

that sucks. also has nothing to do with wheelsize.

I actually think it does, it seems like the rise in 29ers was around the same time I noticed a rise in "dirt sidewalk" trails. Causation or correlation? Who knows. It just seemed to me like trails were/are being dumbed down resulting in a more Roadie/go out and put miles in/what's my zone 3 heart rate style of riding. I was on the cycling team in college and all of the guys on the team were primarily road riders and all had 29ers as their mountain bikes. When we went MTBing they would all go for the "dirt sidewalks" to maximize how many miles they could get in. Maybe my little test sample is the outlier...

 

[chillindrdude]

Dirt roadies are killing the progression of the sport. I hate self designated "trail bosses" of alphabet groups neutering trails to the lowest common denominator. Of which they are typically one of the skillless hacks. Just because you cant ride it doesnt mean its unsafe/unrideable.

I feel that this is geographical tho. Its more pervasive here on east coast/midatlantic area

 

[jonKranked]

I actually think it does, it seems like the rise in 29ers was around the same time I noticed a rise in "dirt sidewalk" trails. Causation or correlation? Who knows. It just seemed to me like trails were/are being dumbed down resulting in a more Roadie/go out and put miles in/what's my zone 3 heart rate style of riding. I was on the cycling team in college and all of the guys on the team were primarily road riders and all had 29ers as their mountain bikes. When we went MTBing they would all go for the "dirt sidewalks" to maximize how many miles they could get in. Maybe my little test sample is the outlier...

coincidence

 

[wiscodh]

Gee atherton just won two world cups on a trek Y-bike. So did his sister.

The pros will win on anything, it just depends on what the manufacturers want to sell us.

Pretty soon, they'll want to sell us big wheels. By the time that happens, it won't be so painful though.

cant win on a demo tho! ..............

 

[tabletop84]

reminds me a bit of a new-to-mtb buddy who just bought his 29-need-no-rear-suspension-bike who now is complaining that he didn't buy a full-suss. But newbies and clueless people are the hope for the industry.

 

[jonKranked]

Dirt roadies are killing the progression of the sport. I hate self designated "trail bosses" of alphabet groups neutering trails to the lowest common denominator. Of which they are typically one of the skillless hacks. Just because you cant ride it doesnt mean its unsafe/unrideable.

I feel that this is geographical tho. Its more pervasive here on east coast/midatlantic area

ultimately i wanna buy like 20 or so acres of private land to build trails. every trailhead will have a squirrel catcher. no go-arounds.

 

[CBJ]

Has the 29rs gotten more people into riding again? Maybe a lot of new riders who just don't like technical riding?

 

[Sandwich]

cant win on a demo tho! ..............

lol sam hill was a fluke

 

[FlipFantasia]

trail elitism, so hot right now

 

[ChrisRobin]

Big Wheelz....

 

[atrokz]

Everyone is a trail 'elitist' when it comes down to your trails being bulldozed wide enough you can ride 4 abreast, and every technical feature you built to last gets ripped out or torn down so some new people can "get into the sport" without actually getting into the sport....

I'm all for growth, but not at the expense of the trails themselves.

Edit: on the topic of big wheelz, I guess the proof is in the pudding for DH. We'll see what comes out of S.A world champs, but if there isn't many new proto 650b rigs there, I wouldn't expect much next year for the public. The results are dismal considering the hype that was thrown around at the pressers earlier this year. 2.5 seconds my ass.

 

[kickstand]

Dirt roadies are killing the progression of the sport. I hate self designated "trail bosses" of alphabet groups neutering trails to the lowest common denominator. Of which they are typically one of the skillless hacks. Just because you cant ride it doesnt mean its unsafe/unrideable.

I feel that this is geographical tho. Its more pervasive here on east coast/midatlantic area

Come to michigan

We may not have your elevation, but we DID have trails with good technical features/terrain, now we have sidewalks for dirt roadies to put miles in on.

 

[bdamschen]

Am I the only one here that thinks 650b wheels haven't had good world cup finishes is because none of the top 10 finishers are riding them yet?

 

[Tetreault]

Where i'm currently located now is one of the meccas for the big wheel movement. My last two years working in a shop (two different ones) 29er sales equalled and then surpassed 26's within my final season season, and thus so i "believe" i was one of the first people in canada to actually run a norco killer b for an extended period of time due to our shops sale figures (promo) and norco's grass roots program. 29ers kick absolute ass for xc racing, and when you have a bunch of team/provincially/nationally ranked riders coming into your shop, the hommers getting into the sport obviously want the best they can afford, and rightfully so. Do you know where else 29ers kick ass? during parking lot tests! on pavement they take away more vibration from the road, they roll with more momentum, bump over curbs without having to lift the front end at all, so to the untrained inexperienced rider they "feel way faster", and truth be told, who the hell am i to tell these people what they should or shouldn't like.

and that's the problem.

the 5'2 girl who test rode a 15" 29er with the seat slammed and fell in love with it in the parking lot and decided that that was the bike for her, comes back after two weeks complaining that its too hard to actually control when needing to be agile, and its a pain in the ass to load in and out of the mini van, carry up the stairwell at the apartment, ect.

All of this text, irrelevant? maybe. But the fact is that the people that are determining where manufacturers are placing their priorities are not the factory riders, they are not the team riders, they are not the seasoned vets that frequent forums, it's the 30-50 year old consumers that walk into bike shops everyday and drop $500-$1000 on high volume manufactured completes. From there companies aim to consolidate the rest of their line into a singular wheel size as it cuts down manufacturing costs on their end, limits the needs of additional and proprietary parts and equipment, ect.

I rode a 650 range killer b for half a season, coming off 26" range from the season prior, in the end, what was my thoughts on 650b? diddly squat, there was no noticable ride difference, there was no noticeable change in bump compliance, there was no noticeable change in anything other than in two places, tight cut backs on trails, the extended wheel base and over all length of the 650 did make the tight corners less manageable, and 2, whips in the air and the overall agility of the bike being air born in any way shape or form that wasn't a dead sailor, the extended diameter and heavier tires do make a difference in feeling and rotational mass, especially for a guy like me that weighs 150lbs and rides a medium sized frame.

My opinion in the end? 26ers are staying, 29ers are already here, 650b will depend on where they can carve themselves in. If they can't manage to take a big enough chunk from the 29er market completes, and can't manage to take away the 26er market share of DH, DJ, Trials, ect, they wont have enough of a buyers market to last on their own with (Some) trail and enduro bikes. My money is on all 3 of them actually lasting all to some degree for the foreseeable future.

A good example to watch will be if santa cruz dumps producing the nomad in the next season or so with the newly released bronson, if the bronson over takes the nomad sales, they will show a shift as to where the longer travel market will go, as santa cruz usually is ahead of the curve

 

[Tomasz]

Am I the only one here that thinks 650b wheels haven't had good world cup finishes is because none of the top 10 finishers are riding them yet?

I haven't bothered reading this thread, and if you're the first person to bring this up then I'm glad to have not wasted my time.

 

[OGRipper]

All I can say is that I hope the OP is not this premature in other aspects of life.

 

[mattmatt86]

santa cruz usually is ahead of the curve

Except when it comes to ISCG mounts and 1.5 headtubes.

 

[Inclag]

Hasn't Barel won his enduro races on 26in wheels?

 

[Bikael Molton]

Except when it comes to ISCG mounts and 1.5 headtubes.

Seems like they made a good call on both of those?