26 v 27.5 v 29 argument, finally settled (sort of..)

rizzodun

Bikeradar ran a scientific experiment to finally settle which MTB wheel size is the fastest.

The results were surprising, eh.. sort of...

Part 1

Part 2

tl;dr 29er is fastest, but it comes down to preference

Tenzor07

Very Amusing!

rizzodun

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Very Amusing!

I think the best bit is where he says the 29er is faster by a good few seconds but there is no statistical difference, so there you go kids, time isn't a statistic.

quozl

I imagine he meant statistically significant difference.

xxyyzz

This is really only taking XC into account also though.

Tenzor07

rizzodun wrote: »

I think the best bit is where he says the 29er is faster by a good few seconds but there is no statistical difference, so there you go kids, time isn't a statistic.

I'd never trust anything BikeRadar post up about wheel sizes after they posted up this joke of a video:

rizzodun

quozl wrote: »

I imagine he meant statistically significant difference.

But surely 12-19 secs quicker over a 3.5km (15 min) course is statistically significant? If it's about speed, simply changing the bike could potentially gain you over a minute over a 1 hour race, that could push you up quite a few places.

xxyyzz wrote: »

This is really only taking XC into account also though.

True, put I would guess something like downhill would be a bit harder to measure accurately.

Tenzor07 wrote: »

I'd never trust anything BikeRadar post up about wheel sizes after they posted up this joke of a video:

Not explained very well perhaps, but I find my 29er does give me a (slight) advantage when climbing tricky sections over smaller wheels.

quozl

rizzodun wrote: »

But surely 12-19 secs quicker over a 3.5km (15 min) course is statistically significant?

That would depend on how many times they repeated the test - ie the sample size. As it's Bikeradar and I don't want to watch the video, I'd guess they didn't repeat them very often (if at all!).

So you couldn't argue for its statistical significance. Of course, that's kind of like them saying that the whole thing was a pointless farce but at least they're open about it

rizzodun

quozl wrote: »

That would depend on how many times they repeated the test - ie the sample size. As it's Bikeradar and I don't want to watch the video, I'd guess they didn't repeat them very often (if at all!).

So you couldn't argue for its statistical significance. Of course, that's kind of like them saying that the whole thing was a pointless farce but at least they're open about it

3 riders were used, between 18 & 30, with 3 laps on each wheel size, and suitable rest period in between.

Tenzor07

Bikeradar is paid for things like this by the bike industry, and are obviously quite keen to push 29ers...

You're not going to be at any real disadvantage on a 26er or 27.5, apart from if you're a pretty high level XC racer in the UK or in Europe...then a 29er would be ideal...

rizzodun

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Bikeradar is paid for things like this by the bike industry, and are obviously quite keen to push 29ers...

You're not going to be at any real disadvantage on a 26er or 27.5, apart from if you're a pretty high level XC racer in the UK or in Europe...then a 29er would be ideal...

I agree with this alright, if you're competing you'll find the advantage of the 29er, not nearly as much (if at all) if your just a weekend warrior, I love my 29er but my next bike will be smaller wheeled, and I have an old 26 sitting in the shed just waiting to be tidied up.

It really is down to personal preference for most people.

inc21

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Bikeradar is paid for things like this by the bike industry, and are obviously quite keen to push 29ers...

You're not going to be at any real disadvantage on a 26er or 27.5, apart from if you're a pretty high level XC racer in the UK or in Europe...then a 29er would be ideal...

if you look at the video they are saying that 26 is faster than 27.5 so I don't think they are "pushing" anything. 27.5 is very current and most new bikes (including my new anthem) are on that size.

GTDolanator

I think 27.5 is the new thing and i reckon itll catch on,29 is not for everyone

Im of the opinion if it aint broke dont fix it on this matter,26" has been the norm on mountain bikes since before i was born!I cant ever see myself straying away from 26"

inc21

Tenzor07

inc21 wrote: »

if you look at the video they are saying that 26 is faster than 27.5 so I don't think they are "pushing" anything. 27.5 is very current and most new bikes (including my new anthem) are on that size.

26er sales are all but gone in the mid to higher end..

Maybe 29er sales are flagging as they are becoming quite a "niche" product, i.e. only good for top level XC/Marathon racing, so the sales need to be pushed a bit more, especially as some of the big manufacturers still have a vast range of the big wheeled bikes to sell, thankfully Giant saw sense and has all but eliminated the 29er from it's range.

I reckon 27.5 has already taken over the biggest segment of the MTB sales range, i.e. "Enduro/Trail"..

Tenzor07

GTDolanator wrote: »

Im of the opinion if it aint broke dont fix it on this matter,26" has been the norm on mountain bikes since before i was born!I cant ever see myself straying away from 26"

Only a young lad so!

One of the first Mountain bikes back in 1977 was a 650B, and it was only because of the fact that these rim/tyre/tube sizes were not in mass production/availabilty that they had to use 26er wheels for the next 20+ years..
And the fact that some of the first clunker MTB's were fat tyre 26er beach cruiser bikes from the '50's


Ritchey Steel 650b MTB:

xxyyzz

Somebody made a good point to me recently that parts like wheels are becoming so bombproof these days that they are rarely getting replaced so the cynical view (which I concur with) is to bring in these new wheel sizes which makes them incompatible with the existing parts like shocks, frames etc. What better way to force cyclists to go out and buy completely new kit. Realistically outside of xc, the 650B looks like the one that is here to stay and the performance benefits over the 26" are are negligible at best so why would they bother apart from forcing you to put your hand in your pocket again?

fat bloke

Tenzor07 wrote: »

26er sales are all but gone in the mid to higher end..
..

This is the strongest reasoning in favour of 26's currently. I just picked up a 9.3 kg, 4 grand retail full carbon 26'er hardtail for 1600 quid. And a third less again if you include my btw saving. For the same money I was looking at 12kg 27.5's.
Get in there and get all the mtb you'll ever need at mahooosive discounts

Tenzor07

fat bloke wrote: »

This is the strongest reasoning in favour of 26's currently. I just picked up a 9.3 kg, 4 grand retail full carbon 26'er hardtail for 1600 quid. And a third less again if you include my btw saving. For the same money I was looking at 12kg 27.5's.

Yeap, sounds good, smaller wheels = lighter!

Michael_Myers

fat bloke wrote: »

This is the strongest reasoning in favour of 26's currently. I just picked up a 9.3 kg, 4 grand retail full carbon 26'er hardtail for 1600 quid. And a third less again if you include my btw saving. For the same money I was looking at 12kg 27.5's.
Get in there and get all the mtb you'll ever need at mahooosive discounts

Do you mind me asking what type of bike did you get and where did you get it?

countrykid

Michael_Myers wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what type of bike did you get and where did you get it?

Have a look in the images of beauty thread...
It's there... And it's a beauty

fat bloke

Michael_Myers wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what type of bike did you get and where did you get it?

Yeah I posted a pic in the images of beauty thread. I got it in euro cycles long mile Road. http://eurocycles.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=52912

Full carbon frame and finishing kit. It's lighter than some road bikes. - To pick it up is to laugh put loud.

Viper_JB

Also pretty much everywhere agree's that 26 inch wheels are more agile, which for me would be one of the more important things to have on a bike, on any tight twisty trails agility is everything.