What do you ride? A 29’r or 26?
I get this question quite a bit these days. It’s one of those interrogations that I have a difficult time answering. In reality I ride both. Why wouldn’t I? They both have there advantages and disadvantages. It’s like asking me what my favorite trail is in SG. Well, it’s all of them (with the blaring exception of Paradise). It just depends on what I feel like riding.
29, 26, 650b, 700 or F A T? Who fucking cares? If you ride, you ride and I’m guessing that you ride what feels good to you and you probably love your ride.
29’r advocates have often pointed out that 26 inch wheels became the standard simply because they were available. It’s a stout wheel that could be found and tires were already available. They rarely mention that 29 inch tires are really just fat 700c tires. Same rim. Why? Because they were available. The size was already around and had been used forever as a road rim.
How about this new F A T fad, is it new? Well I guess you could say it is. However, I remember back in the early 90’s before suspension was readily available to the ordinary shlubs that I rode with, a 3.0 tire was kind of the norm. Why? It gave a little bit of give. One thing I admire about the F A T bikes is their lack of suspension bits. Tires can be easily replaced but suspension forks have to be maintained. Nuf of a reason for me.
Mr. Pacenti has been a big proponent of 650b. Well, it hasn’t quite caught on, yet. Maybe it won’t but as the motif of this thread goes, this isn’t a new size. The number denoting the size is actually from the old French system of tire classification. The almighty Sir Sheldon Brown, may he forever rest in peace, has an a great article on tire size that can be found here explaining this system.
So what the hell am I trying to say? That size doesn’t matter. Nor are any of these things new, just recycled fads. Are there differences? Absolutely. There are even advantages to each and every size that is being bounced around right now. Is there one that does everything perfectly. Nope. Sorry, not gonna happen. It’s that endless dichotomy of weight versus strength versus rolling resistance versus your mom’s weight. I think you get the point.
So what do I ride? I ride bikes. And many of them have different size tires for different applications. Wanna ride with me? Great, I don’t give a shit what size tire you ride as long as you know how to keep the rubber side down.
Hey, have you seen that new “yarder”?
Yes, I have. She said it was too big.