War of the Wheel Sizes

[webmonkey365]

Twenty-niners are poised to dominate the mountain bike world and they're not alone: middle-child 650B is rolling in right behind. Is this the end of the 26-inch wheel? Not quite, but change is coming faster than you might think.
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Exclusive: War of the Wheel Sizes

[k1creeker]

"And here’s the clincher: from a marketing angle, 650B is the best of both worlds—more momentum and better angle of attack than a 26er, yet lighter and stronger than a 29er. "

or to put it another way...

And here’s the clincher: from a marketing angle, 650B is the worst of both worlds—less momentum and lower angle of attack than a 29er, yet heavier and weaker than a 26er.

I find it amusing that the same industry that lives and dies by faux standards (e.g. 15mm axles) is bemoaning the increasing popularity of the 650b wheel size. They're the ones who come up with this sh!t in the first place.

[jonKranked]

here's the truth of the matter: all of this stems from import taxes.

[Casey-Ryan]

I feel like this is just attack on the used market. They have been building bomb proof 26ers and now they are trying to convince everyone that the 29er and 650b are the only way not just a variation in riding performance or looked as just alternatives. An example would be that it's ok to own a muscle car, a off roading truck and a super car because they all offer different experiences on trail to trail bases. However having the general public thinking that it is one way or the highway is what has cause uproars in media, forums and general conversation about this hoax of a debate about "Wheel Size Wars"

[Sandwich]

Eh, here's what happened:

People started messing around with 29" wheels on their XC bikes, which seemed faster in every condition aside from pinkbike and the DH forum.

Then people started trying to put them on their long travel trail bikes, because they were so much better on hardtails and short travel bikes. It didn't work well.

In the meantime, some east coasters got the idea that they could get some of the benefits of big wheels without having a slower handling bike, which is what the trails on the east coast are, so they put together a wheel that would fit inside of their old hardtails, which was a 650b.

People who rode longer travel bikes who couldn't get good handling with 29ers, switched to 650b wheels because they worked better in most conditions but still allowed their bikes to handle well. Manufacturers got the notion and bought in hard, because they missed out on the 29er gold rush.

Now, pinkbikers still hate anything to do with wheel size until Sam hill is running one, you can buy fantastic 650b bikes in 4-8" of travel, and 29ers are still great for XC riding.