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| Tweet from BRAIN regarding 26"FS bike sales for Jan/'19 |
Maybe 11-12 years ago now, Chris Sugai of Niner Bikes made a bold prediction. He said that in ten years, (from then), 26 inch mountain bikes would be dead. I suppose this prediction's success or failure hinges on what "dead" means. In terms I understand, I would say he was correct. 26 inch wheeled mountain bikes, basically, are dead. Especially so in that the context of which Sugai was speaking back then, 26" mtb is not seen at all today. Which is to say, yes....there are 26" mountain bikes being made yet. But as far as any real world impact goes, (ie: racing, enthusiasts, aftermarket parts), the wheel size is dead, and has been for several years now.
So, this Tweet from BRAIN ("Bicycle Retailer and Industry News") really was kind of humorous. It is our reality now. However; there is one thing, in my mind, which really was the death knell for 26"ers, and while 29"ers had something to do with it, that wheel size wasn't the reason. It was really the industry's move, in 2011-2012, to produce 27.5" mountain bikes to the exclusion of 26" bikes. Basically, 27.5" replaced 26" bikes. So, one could argue that 26" mountain bikes are not dead, they "evolved". Besides, we weren't far from actually having mountain bikes having 27.5" wheels in the 80's. Imagine if that had taken hold then.
But in the end, it doesn't matter. It is what it is, and congratulations to Chris on getting it right.
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| Arrgh! It be ten years now that the Gravel Worlds be goin' on lads! |
Ten years. It's a marker. A yardstick by which we measure time. It is a milestone of sorts when you are talking about events. Years ending in zero are often celebrated, and Gravel Worlds is celebrating its first one by offering a special, one time only design in the form of a jersey which you can get. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.
So, first of all, I have nothing to gain by your interest in that jersey, if you have any at all. Nope. I just am helping to spread the word because I like riding gravel, and I really like the people behind the Pirate Cycling League and Gravel Worlds. They are good folks, and the people surrounding the event- sponsors, oasis hosts, and "trail angels", are all top notch. I feel they have done a great job of making Gravel Worlds a great event since before it was Gravel Worlds. So, that is why I am "pimping their gear" here.
Oh, and yes.....I did order one. I will proudly wear it at Gravel Worlds, and elsewhere, in 2019 and beyond. Check it out and get one if yer so inclined.
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| Wolf Tooth's Dropper remote for drop bars. |
When I tried out the Otso Waheela S last Summer, it was equipped with a dropper post. Now, at first, I was thinking it was a waste, because......a dropper post for gravel? Well, let me tell you, a dropper post for gravel is rad. It helps stabilize the bike on sketchy, deep gravel descents, and it helps you get aero, and downhills are way faster dropped than not. The difference is huge.
My only beef with the system on the Waheela S was that the remote was next to the stem. A very inconvenient place, to be honest, for a dropper remote on a drop bar bike. Apparently, Wolf Tooth took my comments, (and likely had been thinking about this all along anyway), and made this dropper remote especially for drop bars. I think it is really a cool idea. Others.....not so much. Why?
Well, some said, "Why don't you just make the left brake lever a dropper remote?" Obvious, isn't it? I mean, it is obvious why Wolf Tooth didn't do this. First of all, this assumes you have a 1X set up. I know a lot of you 1X folks will find this amazing, but not everyone wants, or is infatuated with not having a front derailleur. Secondly, and most obviously, Wolf Tooth doesn't make SRAM or Shimano 1X left side levers. So......yeah. Obvious, like I said.
Others said that they didn't like it because they would hit their knees on it. Now let's think about that for a minute. If this were true, it means that you are already less than one half of an inch from hitting your knee most of the time when you are out of the saddle climbing. It isn't out of the question that you probably would have a pretty high percentage chance of bonking your knee once in a while as it is, if that were the case. If that is the case, you've gotta wonder if maybe there is another issue at hand that needs addressing. I don't know, maybe it's just me........
And furthermore, you can turn that lever out of the way, so really, I think this is just a non-issue. Some did say 70 bucks was too much to pay. Okay......go buy the other offerings like this then. What's that? There are none. Yeah......... Listen, I think it is a great, easy to get to, clean way to make a dropper work without it being in the way or having it preclude a front derailleur set up. Nice work, Wolf Tooth!
That's it for this week. Look for a C.O.G. 100 course recon report Monday.
4 comments:
Here's my bold prediction. In ten years the 26" wheel will be reintroduced as the latest and greatest thing. The bike biz is really good at dredging up old tech giving it a new coat of paint and then convincing you that ya gotta have it. Geez how far back does 650B go(I refuse to call it 27.5) ,30's, 40's maybe?
Looks like the Fat Bike "fad" isn't dead yet, more sold this January than last January. Big fan of the big tire bike, glad to see it's still chugging along. If you look at the number of bandwagon folks trying to sell one right now you would think that nobody was buying new.
@phillip Cowan- generally accepted history on 650B is that it was developed post-WW2 as a "camping bike" wheel size. (think bike packing with panniers and handle bar bags) Mostly a French thing at first. The wheel size was quickly adopted by randonnuers and used on French porteur bikes as well.
650B then fell into obscurity in the 70's, but was used by many road bikers to convert existing road bikes to be more multi-surface friendly. There were a few examples of knobby 650B tires floating around in the late 70's/early 80's which were used on early mtb bikes, most notably by Tom Ritchey, but there were other builders that used this size as well. In fact, Raleigh, Schwinn, and perhaps a few other mainstream brands actually produced production 650B mtb bikes in the 80's for a short period of time.
Due to scarcity of knobby tires in the size, and no development of any new tires, builders and brands abandoned the wheel size for off road until Kirk Pacenti helped to breathe new life into this wheel size around 2006-07.
Chris was right all along. Which is why I find so crazy that niner, a company under recent financial distress, committed the resources to develop their newly released 27.5 bike.
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