Buying a 26"

Author Message
flag marxthekittah
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 7:50 Quote
Ya have a Trance, love it, would recommend an older version(Mine's a '09), and just build it up slowly. Only reason I would say to get an older one is because some of the newer 26 ones have a 1.25 steerer, and you are forced to buy their stem, etc. But I love mine, and I think it's great. I need to try my dad's carbon Superfly 29" or my neighbors DB overdrive 29" and see how it feels. Never ridden anything other than a 26", and maybe, just maybe my next bike will be a 27.5".But I love 26", because of my ignorance of riding other tire sizes. Like the cornering issue, I was wrong. How do you feel about acceleration between the wheel sizes?
flag sewer-rat
FL
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 7:50 Quote
Yeah I noticed the same, in short sharp corners it's a bit more awkward but on the climbs and swoopy fast stuff it's gone, plus I got mine for a killer deal of 899 Gbp delivered to my door and could not be happier. My trance was a great bike which I slammed 150mm forks in and used it for a bit of everything being honest, but then having my alpine 160 I felt I had 2 bikes very similar with no real benefits so sold the trance and had this, mad thing is it actually feels like it's got more travel than it has, I'm still doing everything I did on the trance just much easier and faster
flag tangaroo
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 7:52 Quote
shane5001 wrote:
Corners better imo, better traction, even climbs a little better. Definitely takes a little getting used to as far as the long chain stays and wheelbase. But the getting used to was very minimal with the Anthem, and I still swap back and forth with my trance weekly.

You are comparing an XC 29er to a longer travel 26. Of course the XC bike is going to climb better...

Apples to oranges. This is the problem when people compare bikes.
flag marxthekittah
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 7:52 Quote
sewer-rat wrote:
Yeah I noticed the same, in short sharp corners it's a bit more awkward but on the climbs and swoopy fast stuff it's gone, plus I got mine for a killer deal of 899 Gbp delivered to my door and could not be happier. My trance was a great bike which I slammed 150mm forks in and used it for a bit of everything being honest, but then having my alpine 160 I felt I had 2 bikes very similar with no real benefits so sold the trance and had this, mad thing is it actually feels like it's got more travel than it has, I'm still doing everything I did on the trance just much easier and faster
Hmmmm. I love my Trance with a 150mm fork on it. But I don't know about a 29"...... I will try one next summer and see how they compare to my other bikes. Hopefully I'll have one hardtail built up to compare to a 29" hardtail.
flag sewer-rat
FL
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 7:54 Quote
Yeah try it mate, as everything it's down to personal preference I was just rediculously surprised with how good that anthem was compared to my expectations
flag marxthekittah
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 8:00 Quote
I will. And if I did buy a 29", definitively would be my XC bike, and nothing else, and would get a 27.5 for my all rounder bikes, i.e. trail, enduro, and AM, and keep a 26" wheel for FR/DH. All wheels have their place in my opinion.
flag shane5001
O+
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 8:43 Quote
Although the Anthem and Trance seem like apples to oranges, they are both my all around do everything trail bikes, both weigh about the same. I increased the travel to 140 mm on the Trance and added a longer stem just to balance it out because it felt "twitchy" after riding the Anthem. I love the Trance, very playful bike, but the Anthem is hands down a better trail bike. It's faster, smoother, and all that with much less travel. We have a local trail called the terminator, very rough, rocky, moderately technical. When I ride down it really hard and fast on the Trance, my hands and wrists are numb and uncomfortable. When I hit the bottom on the Anthem, no numbness, ready to rock, all with 100mm travel fork and that big ass goofy looking wheel.
flag AbeFroman
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 16:00 Quote
I had a similar dilema picking a bike... I really wanted a 2014 stumpjumper evo. Love the feel of the bike. But worried about getting a bike with 26" wheels. I rode a 27.5 and it didn't feel as good to me. In the end I feel I have a better time on the 26" and that is what it comes down to. As long as I'm having fun. I'm not a racer, or amazing rider like in the videos.
Got the bike a few months ago and love it.
Also, of the millions of mtbs out there I think a very small sliver are not 26". So the industry is going to have to push for a long time to wash out 26". They would loose a lot of money not produceing components for 26" at least for the next 5yrs. By then I will prob want a new bike anyway.
flag shane5001
O+
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 17:19 Quote
AbeFroman wrote:
I had a similar dilema picking a bike... I really wanted a 2014 stumpjumper evo. Love the feel of the bike. But worried about getting a bike with 26" wheels. I rode a 27.5 and it didn't feel as good to me. In the end I feel I have a better time on the 26" and that is what it comes down to. As long as I'm having fun. I'm not a racer, or amazing rider like in the videos.
Got the bike a few months ago and love it.
Also, of the millions of mtbs out there I think a very small sliver are not 26". So the industry is going to have to push for a long time to wash out 26". They would loose a lot of money not produceing components for 26" at least for the next 5yrs. By then I will prob want a new bike anyway.

You're definitely right, I still see a huge amount of 26ers on the trail, have probably passed 1 27.5 lately, and 29ers are starting to pick up. Hopefully the original poster has a good LBS that he can test ride multiple rigs. I feel pretty blessed to be able to own both sizes.
flag marxthekittah
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 17:20 Quote
I wish I could try all the wheel sizes on various scenarios, and see how I like them all.
flag asafchar
Posted: Dec 23, 2013 at 4:43 Quote
Thanks for all the replies, I guess it really is a never ending debate, and will be for a while...
As for myself, I bought the 26", and I love it! Amazing bike, and in the end it comes down to how you feel on the bike and on the trail, and not how the bike will re-sell.... like somone told me - it's a bike, not a stock share, you buy it because you like it not because it's a good investment. And I really like mine!
flag McNugs
Posted: Dec 26, 2013 at 16:41 Quote
Buying bikes/parts is never a financial investment. Period. I wouldn't base your decision on resale value because if you plan to ride the bike for more than a year, the money you'll actually get for your bike will be low regardless.

Ride what feels right because the the fun you have on the bike will be better than a "good" resale value in the future. Just my 2 cents Smile

(should've read the previous post more clearly.... basically just restated what you had said)
flag sewer-rat
FL
Posted: Dec 27, 2013 at 8:40 Quote
McNugs wrote:
Buying bikes/parts is never a financial investment. Period. I wouldn't base your decision on resale value because if you plan to ride the bike for more than a year, the money you'll actually get for your bike will be low regardless.

Ride what feels right because the the fun you have on the bike will be better than a "good" resale value in the future. Just my 2 cents Smile

(should've read the previous post more clearly.... basically just restated what you had said)

Agree in some aspects of that but the original post questioned if it was a good idea financially , personally I said and stand by me point that unless it's a killer deal then no
flag pippin
Posted: Dec 27, 2013 at 12:10 Quote
its really hard for me to tell if 27.5 is really able to take the place of 26". obviously 26 will always have a place, i dont see 27.5 taking over for DJ, slopestyle, and freeride bikes. but as far as mtn bikes, meaning anything XC to aggressive AM bikes, it seems like 27.5 could be the IDEAL wheel size.

but at the same time, its hard to tell if its just hype. you hear about back to back 26 vs 27.5 vs 29 tests, or any mix of those, and the differences in times being extremely minimal and each size performing better in specific circumstances.

it sucks because im at a point where i need a new AM/enduro bike, and plan to really get into racing a bit more. there's still so many good 26" options out there, but i dont want to be stuck with 26" in two years if/when everyone and everything is centered around 27.5. just hard to tell if the transition is ever going to stick.
flag sewer-rat
FL
Posted: Dec 27, 2013 at 13:24 Quote
pippin wrote:
its really hard for me to tell if 27.5 is really able to take the place of 26". obviously 26 will always have a place, i dont see 27.5 taking over for DJ, slopestyle, and freeride bikes. but as far as mtn bikes, meaning anything XC to aggressive AM bikes, it seems like 27.5 could be the IDEAL wheel size.

but at the same time, its hard to tell if its just hype. you hear about back to back 26 vs 27.5 vs 29 tests, or any mix of those, and the differences in times being extremely minimal and each size performing better in specific circumstances.

it sucks because im at a point where i need a new AM/enduro bike, and plan to really get into racing a bit more. there's still so many good 26" options out there, but i dont want to be stuck with 26" in two years if/when everyone and everything is centered around 27.5. just hard to tell if the transition is ever going to stick.

I personally believe the amount of R&D and cost invested in the switch to 27.5 means it's here to stay , for trail bikes any way. If I was to buy a new bike now for am use it would be 27.5 without doubt unless a stupid deal came up on a 26er or 29er. People go on about how 26er rides better but in reality how many people goin on about this have ridden all wheel sizes? Not many is my bet, you can hardly tell the difference between 26 & 27.5 and 29er for Xc just makes sense

 
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