Buying 27.5, mad idea?

Seeing as most ebikes are mullets, ...they ain't going anywhere 

How tall are you?

Depends what you want it for. Do you want to do skids and spins on Instagram? Are you too small for a 29er?

I don't think so, but would it be your only bike?

I run a 27.5+ Ragley Bluepig,along with a 29+ Surly and a 29er Stooge. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, but the Ragley is a fun and comfy bike to ride.

I've stocked up on enough tyres of my preferred sizes to last me another 4-5 years.

Also have a spare set of + rims if I was to break my current ones.

I'm 185cm

My solarismax is 29er which I can not fault and I'd definitely prefer a 29er full suss.

Just looking and seeing silly cheap 27.5s though.

And no Instagram skidding

I probably wouldn't (but never say never) mainly because I really like my 29r. The industry does seem pretty settled at 29 and/or 29/27.5 mullet currently.  

With the mullet trend I suspect decent tyres and rims will be around for a while and with periodic standard obsolescence  being a baked in part of the bike industry now I suspect even what's current now will have some limits on shelf life. 

If I was 185cm I wouldn’t buy a 27.5.

Also there are mega deals on 29ers at the moment.

What Kramer said.  My wife rides a 27.5 and she's a good foot shorter than you.

If I was 185cm I wouldn’t buy a 27.5.

Yep. I'm happy with my 27.5 but I'm only 171cm.

No, I don't think so - but it depends what you want. I bought a 29er Nukeproof Reactor, and the huge front wheel is quite a bit more difficult to control and place on sketchy descents than the 26er it replaced. I think the Reactor in 27.5 would have been much more fun and manoeuvrable on descents. But correspondingly less efficient - although it's a bit of a dog generally JRA because those tyres are slow as hell but that's another story.

Why not?
N+1 and all that.
If you're concerned about wheel size specific components, buy some spares.
As for your height being a consideration, how did tall riders manage when only 26ers were available?
If you fancy it, do it.

I expect there’ll be hoops and tyres available in the long run to cater for the youth market if nothing else, even if mullets stop being a thing. Whether they will be ‘good’ is another matter, but looking at the range of good tyres you can still get for 26”, I wouldn’t worry.

And no Instagram skidding

Username checks.... Oh..

Seeing as most ebikes are mullets, …they ain’t going anywhere

The majority of DH pros run mullet as well. Looks like you will be able to get decent back wheels for the foreseeable!

I still manage to buy tyres for my 26'ers (just)

There are more 27.5 tyres in JE James than 29 tbf

If there was a specific bike I really liked that was 27.5, I’d buy it. If I was starting to look for an as yet unspecified new bike, I’d only be looking at 29, possibly mullet.

You can still buy decent 26" tyres and mullets are a thing, so I wouldn't worry about it at the minute. I really hope 27.5 is around for a while, I have absolutely no interest in 29" at least for FS bikes. I still don't really like modern geometry and will probably be sizing down next time I buy a frame so I can have a shorter reach. Just feels more fun to me, as do smaller wheels.

If it’s super cheap vs the 29er and you don’t plan to sell it (and hope to get decent money for it) in the next few years then why not? It’s not like they’ve suddenly stopped being fun because of 29er.

Just they have a bit less rollover ability through rocky / rooty stuff and retain momentum a bit worse.

On the flip side they do accelerate a bit quicker. I can’t say I feel my 29er is much different in turning into / through corners than my last 27.5 though.

With mullet bikes getting popular I’d think you’d be able to get new rims for the foreseeable me to build new front wheels if needed and there are a number of rear tyres that make quite good front tyres (e.g Maxxis DHR2) should 27.5” front tyres die out. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon as a lot of companies make their xs and s size bikes with 27.5” wheels both ends then m and up in 29er.

Would it be daft to get one?

If you're buying with an eye on its eventual resale, then 27.5 seems like a less astute choice if the bike's also available with 29er legs. If you're just looking at as a bike that looks like a bunch of fun, and it's what you want, then why wouldn't you?

Nope, not a mad idea at all if it's a bike you want. I have a 27.5" 150mm HT that's different enough to my 29" FS and XC HT to justify it's place in the garage. In fact, I'm off out on it this morning!

Not sure a long-is travel 29" HT would get much air time over my full suss.

There are some pretty cheap used (and new) 29ers about at the mo as well.

Depends how silly cheap you're seeing them. A full-sus 27.5 bike can still be a load of fun and they don't slow some of my pals down.

I don't really get the way that the wheel size debate has gone.

Up to a certain height, bikes are dictated by wheel size. Kids bikes specifically tend to progress through 14, 16, 20, 24, 26 inch increments. Then when you become a proper grown up you are expected to leap to a 29er. My wife for example is a little over 5ft and her 27.5 is the perfect wheel size for her needs. The bike looks 'right' and she isn't trying to manoeuvre a really big wheeled long wheel base bike around.

I on the other hand at 6ft 2 ride both a mullet and a 29er. It really is horses for courses, but I think it would be a shame for 27.5 to die out, particularly for smaller bike sizes.

In short, ride what makes you happy, and unless you are racing, who cares that a 27.5 rides a 10km loop 4 seconds slower! You might have more fun riding those 4 seconds because of the added agility.

I'm more than happy on 27.5. Tried a 29er but didn't really get on with it.

I’m more than happy on 27.5. Tried a 29er but didn’t really get on with it.

That's exactly how I felt when I test rode about 6 29ers and then bought a 27.5. But that was in 2017 and all the big wheelers felt like sketchy XC bikes with big wheels jammed in.

Currently got 2 29ers with sorted geometry and I'm very happy with both of them.

I sometimes think that smaller wheels might be more fun somehow but when I'm riding I have fun anyway and forgot about buying bikes for a minute.

Current 'fun' bike is a Norco Sight with massive standover height, 240mm dropper and a shorter than ideal reach. It's mint for bermy, jumpy stuff and I can wheelie it forever.

I'm 5'7" and am currently moving from 29 to 27.5.
I've found the 29r wheels and a tall stack height with most modern frames makes the handling seem slow and ponderous.
TBH I got up and down the same stuff on my 26" inbred as I do with my El Mariachi, which is fine with rigid forks/100mm front travel.
Hope to find the middle ground with 27.5" and modern frames geo.
Time will tell as if not it will be on the classifieds as previous bikes😁

I guess the issue is how long will good 27.5 hoops and tyres continue to be available?

I've gone back to my old 26inch bike so I'm out of the loop on wheel sizes.  What's going on, is 27.5 going out of fashion?  What's the replacement for smaller people?

what solarider said!!  im 6ft, i've only just moved to 27.5 from 26 -that's just wheels, not frame or forks, they've both been 27.5 for the last 7 years and 4 frames (admittedly 3 of those frames broke).  wagon wheels are silly on small folk, just look so uncomfortable.

6'1", 650b trail bike here.

Is it slower - almost certainly

Is that actual reduction in straight line speed meaningful when riding for fun either with friends or solo - no

Is it fun to ride - yes

Any trye and rim you might reasonably expect on the rear of an enduro or trail bike will be around for some while yet.

I'm 185cm tall and ride a 26" Superlight, a 27.5" Bronson and a 29" Whyte E160. It's not about the wheel size

Keep pondering buying a new bike. However, my 2017 Strive still does what I want and is still more capable than I am.

Most newer enduro bikes are 29". Yet I still managed to scrub my arse on the rear wheel several times at Mont Alpet bike park the other day. 

I'm sure straight line speed is higher on a 29er, but honestly I'm going fast enough to seriously injure myself as it is. 

I'm 174cm so finding something that fits might be a problem. 

I’d happily have a 275 as my only bike. The Air Drops always make me think about getting one but I’m always skint (stupid mortgage and children)

Airdrop Edit and Filters do look like fun bikes or a pre-mullet 5010.

I'm not spending any more money on bikes in the foreseeable though. No siree. Absolutely not.

Vitus has recently brought out a new kids range of 24" and 26" so 26" ain't even dying yet, brands are still willingly invested in it. Redbull Rampage will probably have a few full 27.5 this year, I think 27.5 will be good for many years to come. How many people are saying it's dying and crapping on 27.5 like they're speaking from a racing perspective and every tenth of a second counts to them when they've never raced or have any intention to do so, most ride for fun with their mates, ride what you like, people need to stop trying to cancel smaller wheels.

people need to stop trying to cancel smaller wheels.

Also speaking of Rampage, someone backflipped the canyon gap on a brakeless BMX. Smaller wheels are fine 🙂

Bird are selling there 27.5 stock off and going mulletable. Pretty sure Airdrop are planning something similar.

My last 3 bikes have been Edit, Aether 7, Edit.

Looks like my next bike will be a mullet but I guess I won't be tied to Bird or Airdrop next time but who knows, it might be.

Everybody tells me at nearly 6'2 that I should be on a full 29", but no-one will buy me one so I guess I'll stick with my full 27.5".  Suits me, as its a fun ride every time 🙂

Next bike will probably be a mullet but I'm in no hurry to change, just yet.

Just spotted that 29/27.5 Airdrop Edit Mullet on pinkbike.
Often said I'd love my old Turner 6 pack back with modern standards, that might be it.

I wouldn't personally buy a full 27.5 bike after trying to hold on to that 26" 6 pack for so long with all its out going standards.

Still quite happy on my 27.5 full suss trail bike.
Wife has a 29er ‘hardcore’ hardtail which I don’t find anywhere near ‘loose’ enough for a lot of riding, especially local singletrack stuff.
Not overly enjoyed other 29er I’ve tried either. Maybe being 5’9 and old has something to do with it.

That said my 27.5+ singlespeed feels fine. Long live marketing.

Olympus has fallen

It appears that they are still doing a 27.5 version but I suspect that this will be last version.

Maybe I should wait for the full 29er?

Maybe I should wait for the full 29er?

Or just choose something else. My Norco Sight looks like an Airdrop but it's full 29er. I also ride it at Wharny and do jumps and stuff like the cool kids.

If your 650b bike has a Rockshox fork which is 2019 or newer then most can be converted to mullet just by changing the lowers. The only difference between the 650b ones and 29 is the position of the dropouts

I've just done this myself successfully on my 2020 DH bike

Didn't Yeti just bring out a new 27.5 bike?

It's quite funny reading this from the perspective of someone that hasn't really MTBed for about 8 years now. The last bike I bought was 27.5 (the popular 'standard' back then as 29ers were considered a bit unwieldy unless you were well over 6ft+ (but gaining popularity)). Now it sounds like 27.5 is for short people and 29ers are standard (and 26 for museums?)?

I’m still running a 27.5er. It’s from 2017, so proper old fashioned.

I’ve just booked a weekend away with my son for Dirt Farm and BPW so I’m going to die on it.

On the plus side, I have just bought a sturdy rear tyre from Merlin for £17 (from £56 that is going to be sacrificed there, probably.

Ibis have recently released the HD6 and I'm pretty sure Pivot have a recent 27.5 bike so plenty of people don't think it's going anywhere soon.

Two in the same day

people need to stop trying to cancel smaller wheels

Internet weridos the like of which you rarely meet in real life.

Must work in logistics, accounting or some sort of corporate admin where they are obsessed with streamlining and simplification. Or plain old corporate fanbois/armchair trouble shooters, you know the one's who argue over which console is best and know the best strategy for every business on the planet.

What kind of stupid idiot is thrilled at less choice!?! Some bikes aren't even suited to wheels on the ground 29nr kiss of death!

Was out on my 27.5 hard tail today and forgot how much more fun they can be on techy off road and how much easier it is to get the front wheel off the ground compared to my 29er fs!