First Look: 2015 Gravity Components - Sea Otter 2015

 Dudes, there's still 26" stuff on the market. It's just not *newly released* 26" stuff. Companies are still selling plenty of 26" (and 31.8mm) gear - they're just not developing *new* 26"/31.8mm gear. I promise you, if you need 26" wheels, Shimano, DT and Mavic have more than enough range to keep you happy.

 Plenty of people are developing new 31.8 stuff. 35 isn't catching on like 650b and 15mm axles

 Unfortunately, 26'' stuff just isn't selling in enough numbers to justify creating new products. It's sad but true. The decisions made on new products are made on cold hard sales figures, and when you're selling 20:1 29 and 27.5 over 26, you have to cut them out. Factory minimum order quantities could leave you with years worth of stock based off today's sales figures. Which isn't workable with fast changing standards and trends.

 Give it 5 years, I wouldn't be surprised if the industry suddenly gets a hard on for "snappier handling, faster accelerating, more fun" 26" wheels when the majority of the mountain biking world has moved to larger wheels.

 Dudes I just got sram roam 60 carbon wheels in 26. Sram u win for giving me the 26 inch. Companies must be losing out on sales with this 27.5 only b***x

 Pat, most people don't buy new wheels/stuff every year, but they may be buying 29/27.5 to get something new. Once they have it though they again won't replace it all the time... Sales will slow down again and we will be left with this mess of "standards" and bike shops which hold nothing in stock which fits the mix-match standards of whatever bike you have as they can't stock everything. I am all for positive change though. Direct mount mount chainrings, 1x drive trains, dropper posts, tapered steerers... Bloody brilliant. But all this wheels stuff sucks. One review goes on about wider bigger rims which can use smaller tyres to save weight and another talks of big tyre volumes. How come I get so many damn emails bout 29" forks and wheels reduced to silly prices?!!

 In ten years 29 will be dead I rexkon. 650b will be the only remaining wheel size

 @supermike306

Unfortunately the industry revolves on turning stock. I agree there is far too many standards now for most independent bike shops to handle and stock, but 26 has been around for a long time, 27 is the new kid and 29 is obviously 'off trend' at the moment in the All Mountain/Enduro market, and may continue to reduce with the introduction of 27.5+. Companies just can't ignore sales figures that say 26'' sales at OEM have died, and aftermarket sales are dwindling as the marketplace becomes full of 27.5 bikes at affordable prices.

 @PatCampbell-Jenner

You're better placed to know that kinda thing than me I s'pose. Just happy I can still get hold of 26 gear for now.

 They also said that BMX trend won't last longer than 10 years.

 There are plenty of good 26" rims and i'm fine running 27" forks with 26" wheels. Most 27" frames are fine with 26" wheels also so i'm not worried. The biggest thing is tire tech can still go up and its gonna be a shame when great tires are not released in 26.

 F*ck 'em, I'm buying rims, spokes and tyres when I can and making a lil stock pile lol.

I bought my frame last year and it's 26". It's gonna have to be broken before I change, but even then the manufacturer has brought out a 27.5 rear swing arm so I have options (really expensive though).
When you fall off it still hurts on whatever size wheel bike you're on.

 Also 15mm fronts can suck my love eggs. What a crock.

 add 9 speed to that rant please

 @supermike306

I work for the parent company of Halo Wheels and I'd like to add that we still have our most popular wheels in 26'' available and in stock in both carbon and alloy options.

 (1) There are still tons of 26" parts available, but like people said, just not freshly released stuff.... because why would any company invest in that?

(2) Luckily for all of us, we've known that 26 was dying for well over a year now, and it'll be another several years before you absolutely can't find any parts. There's been plenty of time to start saving up for something new.... unless this somehow crept up on you and you never thought you'd EVER have to buy a new bike.

 @PatCampbell-Jenner

I knew that dude-it wasn't a sarcastic comment! I genuinely meant you are better placed than me to know.
I was tempted by those vapour carbon rims... They are a bargain and look great

 when everyone will have made the switch to 27.5 in some years companies will switch again to 26 for a stupid reason like right now just to make sure they make more money out of it watch it.

 My only counter point the many of you saying there are still 26" stuff to be sold is with tires. I went from having any tire I could possibly dream of for trail riding in almost any width. and now if I want anything over a 2.35 I'm looking at heavy ass steel bead downhill tires. That is honestly the only part of all this new nonsense thats really bothering me, otherwise my SB-66 alloy is just as capable and certainly faster than any of these new "plus size" "mid fat" whatever the f*ck they are.

 Unfortunately everyone buying this 27.5 stuff is to blame. Glad I didn't drink that kool-aid.

 @alexhyland , true. Remember when 24" was "in"?

 Chilcotin, suppressor, process 167.....26 is still alive and kicking

 Banshee Rune and Spitfire also...

 Awesome!
Thank you guys for keeping 26" going, a lot of people will appreciate that, keeping 26" frames serviceable!
Love your stuff too!

 At the end of the day, even if 90% of the riders are riding 26er bikes and wheels, the 10% that ride 650b are the ones buying 90% of new parts.

27.5, that's the population that needs new parts that's only available from retailers. People on 26ers have most of the parts they need (not want), and the used or clearance market is plentiful.

What will the industry do, when the 27.5 population is all kitted and the used market filled with the 650b option? This is the dilemma of the product-based industry; driven by sales, to either thrive or survive, but always at the will of the consumer. And as we have already seen, when the previously dying industry comes together and pushes a new standard, it is proven that the will of the consumer is easily mutable.

 We just need to get superstar in the USA!

 then they will change the axle standard....... ohhh wait

 Yes, thanx superstar, your gear kills it, great stuff at great prices and UK made when possible.

 But it's just more fun to complain about the lack of 26in products. Agreement/realization is for the weak.

 It's fine
We'll just introduce a new hub,frame & fork standard to make up for the lack of stiffness in your new lighter more flexible wheels

 Don't worry...instead of using 32 spokes, we'll just create a new hub standard to get that stiffness back.

 And no 31,8 bars diameter.

 No neg prop, but I think you're on the wrong website. I think the strangest thing about our chosen sport is that it's a grassroots AND professional sport. You have the same kind of fanatical fans that geek out on every detail of F1 or Moto GP, AND you have people who go out after work and ride. This site caters to people that tick both of those boxes. For me, I know exactly why I come to this site, geek out on tech, daydream about bikes to buy that I don't need - because most of the time I am either too busy or too injured to ride. It's sad but the easiest way for me to feel connected to the sport is to read about it and spend money on it. Yeah I'd rather ride, but it's usually not on the table.

 You make a good point mate- and you have read me well as I do find myself straying to other riding websites much more than I did a few years ago. I only started to ride as I wanted something to get me going when there was no surf. It's taken over my life somewhat and I spend way more time on wheels than on water, but my love is the movement and the ride rather than the tool I am using to do it. I just think that most of the recent 'progression' in our sport has been focussed on shaving seconds off your time much more than it has been focussed on maximising the pure enjoyment of it. I bought decent kit in the hope it would last, and it did, but now I would have to buy more than half a bike to replace my forks. It's bonkers.

 IKR, I actually lol.

 What about All Mountain. What if I need stuff for aggressive trail riding. Or did all mountain stop two years ago and become enduro I can't remember

 word.

 Thank you.

 More like you not knowing how businesses work... They don't just blindly introduce products. Clearly demand wasn't forecasted to be high enough to justify 26

 No the industry knows the market... and the market shifted their buying habits a long time ago now. That a minority of people complaining here don't like it, is not representative of the tens of thousands who have already voted with their wallets. Gravity Components are a division of FSA and FSA has a lot of sales figures over the past decade to know where the market has gone.

 Wrong, Not a single customer ever ask for a 27.5 wheel before the "industry" introduced it and told them they needed it.
Market and industry are two different things.
The industry profits from this. Not so much the customer.

 Bike bike you are kinda clueless.

27.5" was a market driven need, not industry. Industry gave us 29". We saw the advantages, but the cons kept everyone from swapping. Market asked for something that slotted in between and nailed it.

You are just another mindless hater.

 ....and you are exactly what the industry loves. An uneducated drone who'll buy into everything they tell you to. By all means keep drinking the industry Kool-Aid. I'm sure the next big thing will be out soon enough and you'll jump on that too....whatever it'll be. Since we've both lowered ourselves to name calling,I'll just leave it at that.

 @ustemuf - Stop naming people clueless, because no matter the insult you have to live up to it. There is no such thing as market driven need in such volumes as "recent" 275 boom. Before 2012 275 bikes were junk (I know it only thanks to deeeight), there was hardly a tyre that such bike could be ridden on and people were converting their 26" bikes which was quasi-stupid, considering virtually no win, without creating 275 specific geometry that could squeeze juices out of the format. So when you ride bike like Haro or converted 26ers on tyres like Kenda (at best) then don't tell me there was a massive group of people that liked 275 and demanded it because only a bunch of middle aged, loaded yet shitty riders, bored out with swapping bikes for 10th year in a row could believe that a wheel size could change their game. 29ers were doing way, waaay better, there was a market covering demand, companies like Niner or Gary Fisher were doing relatively decent bikes, it wasn't until names like Scott, Trek, Specialized launched their bikes that true evolution of the "technology" started happening and "band wagon" took off, but even here we cannot talk about "market demand". That was a niche, and if 29ers were niche by 08, then 650B was some fart. Some people at least heard of 29ers around 2008, no normal person ever heard of 275 by 2010.

I cannot be less arsed, 650B is so close to 26er that if I have to I will swap without batting an eyelash, and every top rider or top journo with no microphone around will tell you that. In fact 29ers got so freaking good and fun to ride (Stumpy Evo, E29, Kona111, Honzo) that I barely see any point going 650B if I was going to go up a wheel size. Uninformed sheep may do whatever they want.

Market demand pfff, you (demand) what they give you under you nose first "Mr.vote with your dollar powerful client", now eat it btch

 sea otter starts today dipshit

 it had not started when this article was posted. it is obvious that none of those photos were taken at Sea Otter. Just regurgitated from Taipei show. Why so angry?

 LOL