Enduro World Series Round Six: Val D'Isere - Results

 I agree. This proves that 650B offers such minimal improvement over 26", that rider skill is still the main factor in winning races.

 Next year, there will be so much 650b....... Everyone will think that add a lot of improvements. lol

 650b is pure crap...

LONG story SHORT::::

companies have to sell...have to progress...

when real progress can't be achieved, they invent crappy changes...

and let marketing do its trick and transform a useless change into gold...

don't be sheep.

 650b. The marketing size. Brought to you by the companies who missed the 29" boat and needed a reason to shift more bikes. The fact that the public have for the most part sucked it up opens the flood gates for future marketing derived innovation.

 This doesn't prove anything! Jerome is an excellent rider! He would have won on 650b! Seriously all you 650b haters should go try some AND THEN comment! What is with this obsession with 26in!

 Jerome or Graves could have one on a unicycle, that's how much skill those guys have.

 Fr33riding you killed it!

 he rides 26 because he measures 1m69, that's very big wheels for him !

 Sintrafreeride, your logic is flawed. He DIDN'T need 650b to win. He won with a perfectly adequate wheel size that has been the standard size for over 25 years of mountain biking. Love it or hate it 29" offers something very different from the 26" wheel and they could exist alongside each other just fine. 650b, as proved by the Enduro race results offers next to nothing over 26" and was purely adopted as a standard to increase sales, not performance. All that 650b has done for the consumer is reduce the used value of their perfectly fine 26" bike by a significant degree.

 @ jclnv

and increase sales in frames (650b), forks, wheelsets, rims, tyres, and generally whole 650b bikes.

the whole bike industry gets pumped by this, creating a need based on a false characteristic...

 he did it with Sram's xx1, so bitch about that too

 Nothing wrong with XX1. Eliminating a front derailleur and shifter and still having an (almost ) acceptable gear range is genuine innovation.

 This argument about wheel size is becoming ridiculous, everyone is so passionately hating on riders, companies and marketers. For what? A tweak in geometry and wheel diameter. How many riders are out there testing longer top tubes, how about marginally different crank lengths and whatever else. Do any of you care? NO. All people need is to have something to whine about. I would love to hear some of your views on subjects that matter; climate change, human rights, marriage equality or available food for the world I hope you are just as passionate as you are to a few cm difference to the diameter of a bicycle wheel.

 The 26" is arguably at the height of its evolution right now, the good 26" bikes are SO AWESOME right now! I would think they would be very competitive against all these new, untested(relatively) designs and wheel sizes....I'm not completely against 650B, I just LOVE my 26" wheeled bike and I don't want them to stop building them. Anyways happy for JC! A great season for Graves as well, I've got to cheer on a fellow Tribe member!

 Tyran, think about it. This is one of the first times (maybe 20-15mm axles?) that the corruption and bureaucracy so common in the topics you mention has entered our little world of mountain biking. You know, where we obviously had the marketing but there was at least a little substance behind the products put forward.

 TyranT21 this is a mtb site...so please let us discuss mtb evolution...

 Sorry man, a sheep would following the masses, and in this case, the masses are riding the 26". You're kind of like a hipster, you want to be so different yet you are the same as everyone else. Oh the irony.

 don't be stupid or naive... a sheep is the one that spends money on something that has nothing superior to the previous product.

a bit of logic is needed!

 In case you weren't aware, 650b/27.5 is just 25 or 26mm wider than 26inch rims. That's ONLY 13mm of difference on each end, abt as long as your index fingernail.

Speed differences are negligible. Kumatmebros

 Stopped in my LBS recently, and measured the tire height on a Giant Talon 27.5 with 2.1 tires from floor to to top of tire it measured 27 3/4", for contrast, my 26" bontranger XR4 2.2 measure 26 3/8 a difference of 1 3/8" or 35mm increase in height.

 Indeed it's more or less 15mm from axle to ground/contact patch. Well worth a new standard.....

 650b is happening because of "corruption and bureaucracy"? Lmfao!

There is nothing corrupt about a bicycle company trying to sell bicycles with slightly larger wheels. Comparing bicycle companies to the the forces that are causing nothing to happen on
the issue of climate change (oil companies) is the worst exaggeration I have heard in awhile.

I don't get the fascist loyalty to 26, I think it's good to experiment and if it's really better we will find out after another couple years. Nico did win one of the races on 650, and I can barely tell the difference when I look at them so I don't get why people are hating so much.
Giving the wheel size credit before giving the athlete credit for wining is disrespectful to the efforts of the winner, and distracts from the actual racing.

 I'm not comparing the bike industry directly to oil corporations. But I am comparing the mindset of the bike manufactures regarding 650b and the way it was introduced purely as a pointless standard to increase sales by making 26" bikes obsolete. Actually it isn't a million miles away from oil corps suppressing electric vehicle technology by buying patents and lobbying the press with negative propaganda regarding electric cars.

What would you say if you purchased a 650b bike now and this time next year manufacturers introduced a 28.25" size? It would seem a little ridiculous wouldn't it? In fact it would be no different from the 26" to 650b size change. Still good to experiment? Guess what, it was never more than a marketing experiment.

 I disagree. Having built up a 650b front wheel this year (it won't fit on the back) I have felt the difference. It makes going through rocks, roots big holes easier! Ofcourse I can do all that on a 26in but the same argument can be made for 180mm vs 200mm. And the difference in diameter is 1in (25.4mm) for the same tire seeing as 26in rims measure 22in (559mm) and 650b measure 23in (584mm).
And the argument that 26in has been the standard for years is flawed because it was never tested against anything else! At least with other stuff suspension, geometry, etc there has been different designs and plenty of testing to arrive where we are today. I think wheelsize deserves the same amount of testing and evolution. And frankly I GET that it pisses people off that there are less 26in bikes being made but unless you've tried 650b AND you still think 26in is better I can not take your opinion seriously. Hating just for hating or cause you are too closeminded is illogical. Back your arguments with solid testing and then get back to me!

 What were the results from the EWS again? Your argument for running a 650b front wheel only is flawed as you've also changed the bikes weight distribution and head angle/trail. I would expect it to roll over terrain better.

I'm not hating for hating's sake, As I've said a number of times (even in this thread) that manufacturers didn't introduce 650b for performance reasons. If you know anyone who works for a manufacturer in R&D as them why they introduced 650b bikes and get back to me.

 So, before anyone gets back to you on this, do you know anyone in R&D with a major manufacturer that can vouch for this? Because, as I'm sure you have seen, all the bike/component/tire manufacturers do claim performance benefits, so I think that stands for itself. To make your statement, YOU need to bring the R&D guy to the table to verify YOUR comments. But I guess you are one of the consipiracy guys that just say they are doing this to stamp out the 26" or something vicious and nefarious, right?

I love this debate! It is so fun!!!!

 If you need market representatives to tell you what you need/what's good, I've got a couple of bridges I'd like to sell you.

 whinewhinewhineblahblahblahwaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhwhineblah

 Just the way it is i guess! They should have done podium for overall result, not categories! Was there a junior podium do you know?

 He should be proud that a "junior" rider spanked an entire field of "pros".

 In the BDS a junior would have been 4th at Llangollen. Knocking brendog off the podium.

 we have to marry him to ACC, their children will be the best rider ever created .....

 ^ I disagree, if you could get Gee to sleep with his sister that would definatly be the best and fastest rider ever, even if it would look like chunk from the goonies.

 so so wrong

 so hilarious! how could that get neg props?

 It seems impossible to change one's organism from a great sprinter into an endurance athlete in such a short time, Jared must be a cyborg...

 Gee and his sister? what about Dan?must feel left out

 CG had a penalty this time...

 And Moseley…

 CG took a penalty because he didn't wear his helmet between the end of the run and the chairlift

 He (Cedric) said it was for not wearing his helmet whilst fixing a mechanical on track and then going for a piss… lol

 Not to worry, in a few years they'll be touting 26" as the new savior when all the kids have forgotten all about it. Then there will be a whole new marketing strategy.

 At least 4..... they was 26 on saturday results....