War of the Wheels review

So I got the new BIKE the other day and I always thumb through it asap and scope out the sweet pictures and then pick what looks to be the best article and then read that first before I continue on to read it cover to cover. Kelly calls it bike porn and yeah it is. It is a magazine filled with bikes, locations and trails that I stare at, drool over and probably will never get the opportunity to ride, just like the good old wank mags ;) but a better chance to ride the bikes, people are more apt to borrow you one of those for a tester! HAHA

The first article that really caught my eye was the “War of the Wheels.” It was more of an insider’s look at 29er vs. 26er and what the industry thought about it and what they think the future holds for it.

The answers didn’t surprise me and didn’t really concern me but they did come with a bit of dismay to me. Basically the long and the short of it is if you love 29ers, you are in luck they are here to stay and they will be taking over the market share of rides from rigid to 5inch travel. If you hate 29ers then well tough shit because they are here to stay and not a fad that many of you were hoping they are. 26inch will hold the market share on freeride, DJ and DH bikes at least for now. They will most like keep the market share on 6inch bikes on up as they haven’t quite figured out how to cram all that in without running into the problems that the first 29ers had. The extreme wheelbase length and monster truck feel for handling.

The said that none of the bikes will go away 100% there will always be lovers and haters of both and enough space for them all but don’t be surprised when you can’t find many rigid, hard tail and xc 26inch bikes in the near future. The trail bikes will still be split pretty equally and all-mountain on up will still be mostly 26inch bike. Thank God! I have nothing against 29ers but they are not for me and they have a cult like following and I will not be drinking the kool-aid anytime soon.

They also said make room for the 650b is here and it doesn’t look like it is going anywhere either. It is still in its infancy stage and will grow just like 29ers as more components and tires become available, more and more bike makers will pick up the style and run with it, even though 650b’s get mixed reviews. The test riders say they aren’t as efficient as a 29er and not as fun as a 26er but the designers that are pushing them say they are the best of both worlds. They have all the advantages of a 29er and none of the disadvantages. They also say they can put 650b’s spot on with 26ers for frame geometry and numbers. So I guess I don’t know. I have never ridden one so I will keep an open mind right now only a couple companies are actually building them Jamis and Haro are the only two I know of.

So there it is drink the kool aid or not but if you don’t want get stronger and push a 6inch 26er better either keep your current 26inch ride and never sell it or get use to the idea of riding a wagon wheeler!

Springs almost here and its almost riding season! Possible 50’s next week!

Keep it real!