[Closed] Has anyone gone back to 26ers???

I will be going back to 26 this afternoon. Not by choice just that all the other bikes are in various states of disrepair and waiting for parts to be delivered.

Last time this happened apart from the shame in the car park I forgot all about it after about five minutes. The earth did not open up and devour me, nor did people point and stare (any more then usual).

Would I buy another one? Not till the bike industry tell me its cool again in a few years time.

Yes, but years ago.

I built up a scandal 29 when they first came out as a bike to do distance on, never did get that easy rolling thing people said a 29er offered, and when I sold it on a whim bought a yeti arc just to try a 26 hardtail for comparison. Instantly preferred it and still only have 26" bikes.

Couldnt be bothered to leave in the first place..

Still own and ride one, not going to pick one for my next bike as I'm not an idiot though. It's all a bit too much thinking about your ex going on with 26 these days.

Never left 🙂

Had a 26 ht , bought a 29er , sold it bought a 650b 150mm full bounce ,, sold it went back to a 150mm full travel 26 bike , recently bought a 150 29er , was going to sell the 26 inch bike , removed it from sale yesterday after taking said 26" bike out for 30kms around the Peak district , realized no need ever to sell it.

So yes and no

Never left. And tbh, there still seems to be plenty of 26 spares kicking about, so no need. Not sure I'd buy a new 26er bike though...

Never left. Thought about swapping my 2012 BFe for a 2016 26 version but didn't see the point in spending the money.

IMO 275 is 26 as far as most of us could tell. The bike industry was too embarrassed to go back to 26 and another "standard" drives more new purchases with forced obsolescence.

That being said not sure I'd buy a brand new 26 when there are so many great used frames and bikes available at outstanding prices.

Sort of.

My big bike (2011 5) is 26", my shorter travel bike is a Fuel EX 27.5 and I have thought about getting a 27.5 to replace the 5 as the Fuel is so good. Trouble is all the bikes I've tried so far haven't been markedly better than my 26er to justify the £2-3k's I'd need to spend!

Basically I've looked at turning my back on 26" wheels for good but I haven't found anything to make me get my card out of my wallet. Barring the frame cracking I can get all the spares I need easily and it is so much fun to ride so I can't see me being forced to change any time soon 😀

I reckon it'll stay around and maybe have a bit of a resurgence to compete with the other wheel sizes.

There's just too many 26" bikes still around and many still made for it to be ever completely obsolete.

2016 Spitfire here. Never left.

Also never left.
All my mates have the latest and greatest bling bikes and standards, unfortunately I'm still faster than them on the old fashioned bike...

My latest bike is a 26" but my most used is 29". Both bought in 2016.

Never left...love my 26-ers:
Scale and a 'dale Flash Lefty here, why change?

26" with a 4" tyre

+1 for never left.

Just building a 26" up at the moment.
Ok, a 4" tyre version. 😉

Been fettling the lads bikes over the hols.
Best thing is the chesp 26" kit these days.
E.g.: rims £8 each at CRC.

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+1 for never left.

Went from a Kona Unit 29e to a Genesis IOID. Wasn't a huge difference to be honest. The Unit was stolen.

26'' stanton, never leaving

Also never left , I did buy a 29er this summer but not to replace my 26 bikes I just wanted a Xc race full sus and did not have one.

Nothing wrong with 26 stiff light wheels a low centre of gravity

I've got a pair of 26" wheels hanging in the garage shod with Fat Boy slicks, which I'll stick on Ebay when I can be bothered. They are redundant because I stopped mountain biking, not because I changed wheel size. I did once try a bike with 29er wheels and I wondered what all the fuss was about because it felt heavy and sluggish when changing direction.

Another yes here if 26x4.0s count. 😉

Every now and again, I do silly ideas about sourcing a pair of fatbike hubs to get a pair of narrow 26" wheels built, to make use of the tyres (Super Moto, Landcruiser, Crazy Bob etc.) hanging in the garage from when my Saracen Pylon8 was safe to ride.

26 for life.

We've never left either. My new FS frame is 650B but I've got 26" wheels (and forks!) in it and no plans at all to buy 650Bs because what I've got works. I'm pretty sure most bike companies could advertise their new frames as 26"/650B.

+++++
Have an ex race bike from the Torq
team; it flies - unlike it's rider.

If anyone is interested in a job lot of 26" tyres. Good bad and ugly? Just taking up space

Rebuilt up my 26" singlespeed. Still have heaps of tyres etc. It's quite a bit more 'lively'.
Still have my Flux - not really worth selling. Gets used on the annual trip to Wales.

3 26" bikes...have ridden a few 27.5" and can't really tell the difference...gone back...never left.

I really wanted to love my 29er and to be fair the marketing guff was true - it was faster with more grip and it did seem to roll over bumps better. The only trouble was my old and out of date 26er was just more fun to ride. The lighter wheels accelerated and handled better, the lower overall weight made it faster climbing and in tight technical singletrack it was just more engaging to ride.

If I still raced seriously a 29er would be my choice, but as I ride for fun I don't care about saving that last 10 watts or 1 mph gain. My 26er just makes me smile more.

Interesting...I know we have our arms up our backs in this industry, being told what to buy and the next big thing and we are all suckers...my best bike ever was a SC blur trc 26er, it cracked and I got a Solo which was still good. Then sold my DH bike so wanted an all rounder and on it goes. I love my Evil following but remember our ppub talk before 27.5 and as we were all bmx boys, we all agreed that even 26 inch wheels were too big..lol

Just not felt the need to change from 26" bikes despite the 'direction' of the industry. One is a full suspension bike and the other is a had tail. Both in excellent Nick. Also got loads of 26" spares and consumables.

Next bike will be a road or CX bike as I'd like to try something different.

never left !

mostly 26x4.0 last year.. 😀

takisawa2 - Member 
Best thing is the chesp 26" kit these days.
E.g.: rims £8 each at CRC.

Okay if you have the skills to wheel build. I'm finding it tricky to get decent pre-built 26" wheels that I like, particularly with newer model rims or hubs, with 135 rear hub width, 20mm front hub option etc.

Custom builds are less of a problem, though many sites have less options to pick from in 26 now, but it's possible. Just that the cost from a wheel building site is huge.

I've never left either. No reason to whatsoever. My old HT does what it's meant to do & my 2011 Filing Cabinet is still a better bike than I am a rider.

Gone??

Never left!!

& thanks to the fan bois there's some awesome 26" deals to be had....

LONG LIVE 27.5BOOSTPLUSFAT29ers!!!!

I'm convinced 25¼" is the next future. 26" until then.

Just bought a new one, but it has 4.8" tyres

Apart from that I'm 29 only, I wouldn't ride a 'normal' 26" bike again, I just prefer 29ers

deadkenny - Member

takisawa2 - Member
Okay if you have the skills to wheel build. I'm finding it tricky to get decent pre-built 26" wheels that I like, particularly with newer model rims or hubs, with 135 rear hub width, 20mm front hub option etc.

Custom builds are less of a problem, though many sites have less options to pick from in 26 now, but it's possible. Just that the cost from a wheel building site is huge.

This is the best tenner you will ever spend then... http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php
Wheel building isn't really hard and doesn't really need any magic tools. Decent spokes are about £8/20 at Rosebikes, so get some decent hubs that you can recycle forever, and start building cheap wheels for yourself! 😀

As I have mentioned on another similar thread, the constantly changing standards have stopped me from changing my Ibis. Previously I used to change each frame every other year (for no other reason that wanting to try something new, selling the old frame on to help fund the habit - I never buy complete bikes)
Still love riding the Ibis although the death of this set of forks will potentially mean the end of this bike because no-one appears to be making decent 26inch straight steerer forks now

Being over 6.4" 29'ers have been amazing for me. Loving my Charge Cooker and Cannondale Trail 29er SS.
Finally have bikes that "fit"

But I built up my old 26" Jamis Durango Sport yesterday as a hack bike. It feels very small but with some fettling it just about fits.

Rebuilding the Soloist soon as was considering fitting a larger fork, ie 69'r but might just stick with 26 all round.

Never left, got a 2011 Whyte 905 and Bandit and having ridden a few 29 and 27.5 bikes cant say notice any difference after a few minutes, if that. I am sure they are there if I thought about it really critically, but MTB has been something I do for fun, rather than semi-serious. So cant be arsed to upgrade until something feels excitingly different.

I'm going to do a few races this year though, and if I like it enough to buy a race bike, I imagine it will have to be 29"?

Getting 20mm front axle stuff seems more of a faff than 26"

Reading bobby's post my bro-in-law and nephew, who are both 6-3 think 29ers are fab, I am 5-8 if I stand up straight and wonder if it is a height thing ultimately?

A 29er wheel behaves much the same regardless of rider height.

Full susser has remained a 26er

Dabbled with a couple of 29er hardtails and never got on

Fatbiking lots over the last 3 years

Rebuilt an old C456 singlspeed recently

26ers rule 🙂

Yes. Rode my old but bling XC race bike earlier in the year. Took me three goes to clear the bottom of my regular rocky climb.

Switch hubs + 20mm adapters will sort you all right out!

My fully rigid singlespeed is a 26er, my hardtail is 27.5, my fs is a 29er. I love them all.

Both my hardtail and FS bike where bought brand new last year and are 26ers. No point spending the extra cash for new forks and wheels. Plenty of choice when it comes to wheels, tyres and forks.

26 x 4.6 here (though id be surprised if it wasn't 29+ this time next year)

I ought to add that I bought a new 26" in August - but its fat! 😀

Won't get rid of my On One 456evo11 26er. To much fun, hard on the body ,but always a big smile. Best deals are had on 26" wheels.

Still riding one. Although my shiny bike is a 29r

Based on current parts availability (forks/wheels) no way I'd buy another new one.

At least not until 27.5 is finally acknowledged to be the inbetweener faffy rubbish it is and THEY start mass building 26rs again. 😉