World Cup Win on a 650b by Scott — and Seven Cycles Wants the Buzz??
By Michael Frank on April 13th, 2012
Swiss rider Nino Schurter’s World Cup win a few weeks ago came on a bike built by Scott. But Schurter won on a bike with 650b wheels (halfway between a 29er and a 26-inch wheel) and Seven, maker of 650b’s (among other wheel-sized bikes) is arguing that this spells a tipping point for a third mountain bike wheel standard. There could well be advantages for racing: Tall 29ers are tougher for shorter riders to steer and to tip into and out of turns, and sheer physics require that you have more mass at the edge of the rim, mass that’s harder to move. But pity the poor bike shop having to stock three wheel and tire sizes…plus forks, too. It could happen; nobody thought the 29er “fad” would go anywhere, either.
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Tags: Cycling
I have a garage full of 26″. No plans to switch to either ‘freak size’ with the next bike.
I take that back, I’d be willing to try it out, provided I didn’t have to buy a bike to see how I liked it.
Chris, if you race XC, you should definitely try a hardtail with the bigger wheels, especially if you’re anywhere close to tall. If you’re above 5’11″, try a 29er, if shorter then try 650b. On a hardtail they really do make a big difference descending, allowing you to just roll through sections you’d have to pick your way through on an equivalent 26″ hardtail.
If you don’t race XC, well, that’s a whole different ballgame…29er full suspensions are nice because they allow you to do more with less travel if you’re tall, but otherwise you’re probably just fine with 26″. While my racing bike is a 29er hardtail and I love the thing to death in an XC race, my play bike is a 5″ travel 26″ wheel full sus which rolls just fine down most anything while still climbing back up it.