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32ers are imminent, 29ers are the default for almost all mtb categories, mixed wheels hoovering up most of the rest.
Are there any current full 27.5 trail bikes left for sale new? (Across the whole size range)
Who else is still riding their 27.5?
I thought the 26fanboys were just annoying Luddite retrogrouches but now I’ve got a lovely bike, (with a spare wheel set, and a shed full of tyres) that is both amazing to ride and near zero resale value… so maybe they did have a point after all.
Of course, still enjoying the current one does not equal wanting/needing to buy another, so I guess changing wheels for the sake of ‘innovation’ is the way forward commercially.
I still have my Occam AM with its 27.5 wheels. It suits me well as I don't have the longest of legs, so I appreciate the overall fit.
My custom Ti hardtail runs 27.5+ or 29er wheels but it's usually wearing the + size. Again, I like the (slightly) smaller wheel diameter for more luggage space under the saddle and for the added comfort of the wider tyres. I've taken the precaution of buying a couple of spare tyres for it in the event availability becomes an issue.
I like a 27.5. I fully accept that any perceived benefits might be entirely in my head, though.
Sonder Transmitter with 27.5+ tyres here. Still a really good, fun, trail hardtail. I guess the existence of mixed wheel bikes means 27.5 tyres will still be a thing for a while, plus-sized tyres maybe less so, but I quite like them round here, nice and floaty through the rocky stuff.
I also still have - and occasionally even ride - a very nice 26" Ragley Ti. And a 29er.
Sonder Transmitter is still 27.5 and an absolute hoot to ride. I looked at putting 29" wheels on and whilst the front was OK there was very little clearance with a 2.3" rear tyre on my frame (a small) so I didn't risk it
Orange will still sell you a 27.5 5 or Alpine Evo.
I also have a lovely 27.5 bike (Pace RC627) and I enjoy the more playful nature of the smaller wheels. That being said, the obvious abandonment of 650b has had me wondering if I should sell up while there's still some value in the bike? Noticed stuff like forks becoming harder to source, especially with the usual discount.
I'm still 27.5 across both my bikes.
Big stuff like forks are becoming slightly more difficult to get, but the flipside is that I've now got a shed full of rims and tyres inherited from riding buddies who have gone 29er.
So long as I could still get forks if I needed them, I'm laughing. Even if I do have to work a wee bit harder to keep up with the quick boys.
Bike manufacturers are not done with cycling around all the possible frame/wheel dimensions to extract cash from punters, it would seem...
As for 32ers...
Anyone who is under 5'10" is going to look like the proverbial flea on a dog's ball-sack too.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
The Chiltern trails I ride regularly aren’t getting any harder so my full 27.5 5010 suits me fine despite being 6’4” tall. I’ve just doubled down on the wheel size as I bought some Reserve HD30 carbon wheels for £680 and a Lyrik for £200 in the last Black Friday sale. Happy days
27.5 Scott Scale here. It's still a hoot on the rare occasion it gets an outing. (Mostly ride road and gravel/bridleways these days). mainly SE England and the odd alpine excursion... no plans to upgrade yet.
We've got 3 in our house.
My 27.5 Edit, the wife's 27.5 Aether and my lads 27.5 Bronson.
I have just built up a mullet Enigma to replace both my Canyon Dude and Orange Crush. I'm short of leg so like a bit of room back there.
Me and Mrs Fruitbat still have our 27.5 Cotic Souls.
No plans to change any time soon.
For full luddite points we are running 2x10speed, rigid seatposts.
Not for me. Ever. I had 29 looong before 27.5 and was already moving away from 26. Tried 27.5 and it offered me nothing over a 29er with short stays. Even tried it on the gravel bike, but 700c (29) on 40mm tyres seems as good as 27.5x50 any day.
Marketing BS from folks who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) design frames to suit aggressive 29ers or wide tyred gravel bikes in 700c.
Good riddance.
I haven’t tried a 32, but toe overlap, surely?
I can think of a few drop bar frames with space for mtb tyres on 650b rims. But i guess they aren’t trail bikes
I have a bike with 700c 40mm tyres and 47mm 650b wheels. For me once off road the bigger tyres are so much better
I'm happy with my 2 Pace, a RC127 in Medium for general pootling, and a RC627 in Large for more exciting stuff.
Love em to bits and will be sad when 27.5 wheels and tires get too niche and wierd.
Airdrop still keeping it real on smaller wheels though they bowed to the MX pressure with the Edit a bit! If I ever get a fun/DH/jumps oriented FS bike again I want it to be 27.5. I don't mind my 29er hardtail but it still feels a bit big and unwieldy sometimes, with bigger travel and longer bikes I can imagine that feeling gets worse. Still waiting for the 27.5 used bargains to pop up like there are for 26" bikes. I'm even considering going back to a 26" DH bike but tyre choice and replacement old standard parts is a bit lacking. Wish I'd held onto my Pro 2/721 26" wheels.
I'm not sure if I can see 32" taking off, at least 29" can work for the majority of riders but any bigger would be too much for me at my height and where I ride.
27.5? I’m still riding a 26” Steel Kona fairly regularly.
That said 29ers are faster.
Sadly I’m equally as slow on my 29” hardtail as I am on a 27.5” full suss with the same length forks.
Unless it’s properly lumpy full suss territory.
Stanton still do 27.5 across different sizes (e.g. Slackline). I love my Slackline - it's a hoot to ride and is great for both all-day rides on natural trails and trips to Hamsterley with my son. It has a good few years of life in it yet...
Split down the middle for me, 2x 27.5, 2x 29, one mullet.
fancy a go on a 36er, more for the novelty than veiw to buy one, but can’t seem to muster any strong feelings about 32
My DH bike is full 27.5, and as I’m 55 it’s unlikely I’ll be buying another.
Dug out my old 27.5 Capra for a day in Saalbach last year and it was a blast.
Might stock up on a few tyres if I see any mega bargains.
I try really really hard.
But i really couldn't give a shit about the diameter of the wheels on my pushy.
I am all about the radius.
Out of the 12 wheels on 6 bikes
4 = 26
4 = 29
2 = 700c
2 = 27.5 - and they are both rears.
The 26'ers are there by default. One of the mullets was full 27.5 but I changed the front end a year or so ago and I bought the bike 6 years ago.
Pretty sure I'm never going to be buying a bike with a 27.5 front, but I have considered mulleting my 26'er PP Shan
Still on 27.5" with my Crush HT and Nomad FS. Both still loads of fun. New Eeb will be full 29" though.
Banshee still make the Rune & Spitfire, they're also 26 inch compatible.
I'm not about to give them up.
My hardtails are 26 inch.
My gravel bike is 700c, which is the closest I've got to owning a 29er.
I'm riding a 2017 giant anthem. Really like it, but quite fancy the simplicity of a hardtail as I don't ride it too much anymore. Looking at options for a hardtail frame, and wondering if I can get something for both 27.5 and 29 (future proofing) that isn't too compromised in 27.5. so far a pipedream Sirius frame has my interest.
Either that or I'd quite fancy a second hand 27.5 soul (my 26er was nicked ages ago and I still want it back)
My Salsa Beargrease is 27.5. Being an odd diameter is the least of the compatibility issues on a fattie🤣
Save 27.5?
Nah the industry forced the size on us all, I was happy on 26" but decided I might as well just jump to 29" and I'm happy enough now, so more than happy for the "standard" nobody asked for and seems to keep needing reasons invented to maintain it, to die off.
By the same token 32" can get in the sea also, nobody's actually crying out for bigger diameter wheels (apart from maybe the odd giant) if you're desperate there's always "29+"...
I do like digging this little bit of marketing propaganda out occasionally when wheel sizes come up:
11 years ago, 650b was the future... The palpable exasperation that people won't just shut up and pay for slightly different wheels is hilarious in retrospect. ****ing Santa Cruz 😀
"If you can't tell the difference why do you care?"
Because you wanted a few grand off of the punters for something that's apparently barely any different, and as it turns out going to be obsolete inside of a decade Joe...
27.5 is worth it just for the way it seems to wind up some folk 😂
See also Centerlock, Ebikes and lycra.
And trail dogs 😂
We also can't forget the most important thing - bikes with smaller wheels just look better 🙂 A lot of 29ers (especially on small frames or those with lots of standover clearance) look really awkward, gangly and out of proportion. 26/27.5 looks tidy and "right" unless it's an XL frame.
I still ride a Turner Flux v4.0 as often as I ride the 29'er (SB115).
As for who sells new stuff, off the top of my head: Pivot Shadowcat and Yeti SB135. So not the budget option!
Oh and I have a partly dismantled Stanton Slackline in the shed too.
27.5in Giant Anthem
26in Lynskey Ti456
26in Rock Lobster
all in 16in and 15in frame size. The Lobster is tiny compared to bikes these days.
In a better world bikes would have wheels which are bigger for bigger frames.
I can't imagine a 36 or 32 inch wheel in a frame for someone who is 5ft 2.