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| Now known as the "Nano" (Image courtesy of WTB) |
It all started with the 29" Nanoraptor, without which none of what followed it may have happened. So why should we give the Nano a nod in 2024 and beyond? Why should any cyclist care?
Well, today I am going to play a game of "What if?" regarding the Nanoraptor, 29"ers in general, and the influence of big wheels on cycling. What if the Nanoraptor never happened?
Well, for one thing there is a pretty good chance that you would still be riding a 26 inch wheeled mountain bike. Not only that, but front derailleurs would probably still be alive and well, since those smaller diameter wheels lower gearing range enough that getting a wide range of gears out of smaller wheels would pretty much exclude any 1X type drive trains.
Fork Offset: The ability to tune your ride today is a given with the ability to choose different offsets for your suspension forks. This was not an option until 29"ers came along and Gary Fisher Bikes debuted their "G2" geometry which included a longer offset fork. Getting Fox to make this was a huge hurdle, and afterward other companies had to follow suit. Now you have choices, thanks to 29"ers.
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| Image courtesy of Pivot Cycles |
Wider Spaced Wheels:
While wide overlock dimension wheels probably came along due to tandems and down hill bikes, it may have not caught on for all MTB's if we were still stuck on 26"ers yet.
29 inch wheels, with their longer spokes, needed a wider base (hub flnge spacing) to really get the wheels to work well off-road. I recall a set of wheels I was to review that were so laterally unstable that I made it about 100 yards down a trail and turned back to head for the shed. Wider spaced flanges helped 29"er wheels immensely and may not have happened had it not been for their existence.
650B/27.5 Mountain Bike Wheels:
The "mid-sized" 27.5" wheels we still see being utilized on some mountain bikes may not have ever happened without the existence of 29"ers. It wasn't until after 29"ers were gaining a lot of market share that Kirk Pacenti literally stitched together a set of tires to stretch across a 650B rim and the first 2"+ wide 650B tires were seen for MTB.
Had it not been for the 29"er this alternative to 29"ers may have been seen as just not enough of a difference from 26"ers to matter. In fact, 650B originally was a 26" diameter wheel size! It took the larger volume mountain bike sized 650B tires to get that 27.5" overall diameter. Of course, a bigger, more voluminous 26" tire would do about the same thing. So, in my "what if world", 650B MTB doesn't happen without 29"ers.
Drop Bar MTB/Adventure Bikes:
Part of the early 29"er scene was about adopting niche, or one could say "weird" traits seen in MTB from years past. Certainly single speeding was one of those things widely adopted by 29"er freaks in the early days. This was so pervasive that brands often made their first 29"er offering a single speed.
Another widely adopted niche component by 29"er fans was the flared drop bar. Many were drawn to these bars as a way to make a statement and stand out from the crowd of "same thing/different day" 26" wheeled bikes.
This became something of a movement and became an influence on Salsa Cycles to introduce a drop bar 29"er "adventure" bike. In 2008, the Fargo, a bike well ahead of its time, debuted in the Fall of that year. This bike and its fans would forecast the emergence of the now commonplace drop bar 29"er adventure/bikepacking rigs. Had 29"ers not happened, would this segment of bicycles exist today? I am thinking that they would have been far less attractive, if they existed at all, as 26"ers.
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| Gravel grinding on a drop barred Karate Monkey in 2006 |
Gravel Bikes:
This might seem like a bit of a stretch. But here I go anyway! My feeling is that had the 29"er not come into existence when it did that gravel bikes, as a category, would have been based upon road bikes a lot more than they were. However; elements of MTB have always been a part of gravel riding. This hasn't been more true than with today's fashion for bigger gravel tires bordering on 29"er sized rubber.
Originally many gravel riders were using cyclo - cross bikes, drop bar 29"ers, or just any mountain bike they could find, for the lack of any true gravel designs. While a cyclo - cross style was eventually adopted, some features influenced by 29'ers were there right away in the flared drop bars and disc brakes.
Had 29"ers never been in existence it also calls into question whether or not any tires for gravel bikes would have been done. Manufacturers were into playing it safe, up until the 29"er came along. The big wheels took a bit to catch on, but when they did, it was the hottest trend of the late 2000's in off-road and many brands were caught on the outside looking in. This fueled a sort of consciousness amongst brands and marketers to not miss "The Next Big Thing". When gravel bikes did hit the floors of dealers in 2012, brands started to get geared up to hop on that trend immediately. One of the big hold ups was the lack of "real" gravel tires. This spurred WTB, (Yes - them again!) to come out with the Nano 40, a tire probably chosen to reflect that this gravel trend was much like that of the 29"er.
While other brands, notably Clement/Donnelly, had a gravel tire, it was WTB that stepped up the production levels and offered a true tubeless tire for gravel first. Their experiences with the Nanoraptor 29 were certainly an influence here. So, while gravel bikes and that whole scene may have happened without 29"ers, it probably would have looked a lot different than it has looked.
That's a wrap on this series. I hope that you enjoyed that look back at the 25 years since 29"ers were first hitting the single track. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.
10 comments:
And in another Nano tangent, at one point WTB offered a 40mm 26” version. I used it for club mtb rides with relative novice riders so I needed to slow and still have fun while not dropping the group.
@shiggy person - That's wild! I never knew that. I was just sitting here thinking WTB should offer the Nano in a 45mm and 50mm width though.
Your contention that, "front derailleurs would probably still be alive and well, since those smaller diameter wheels lower gearing range enough that getting a wide range of gears out of smaller wheels would pretty much exclude any 1X type drive trains" doesn't hold water. The percentage _range_ of the gearing is unchanged and is dictated by the range of the cassette used. Yes, 26" wheels will provide lower gears than the same cassette and chainring combination when used with 29" wheels, but that is easily changed with a different chainring.
More to the point, the front derailleur was killed off by rear suspension and fat tyres.
@Fear rothar - Maybe.....maybe not. We will never really know. Like I stated in the post: "It's my take on things", not yours. ;>)
When I needed tires for the gravel bike routes of Europe in 2004,
I'd buy "city" tires from Continental, sort of a Gravel King slick.
In the gigantic 37mm size. ;-)
US standard 28mm touring tires, just sank in the the gravel.
I think it's just math, there's no "take" on it?
But credit to your post, boost spacing helped enable more cogs, stronger wheels, etc. Amd manufacturing capabilities/ tech enabled thinner chains, cog profiling, etc.
I think WTB gets a lot of love on this blog and is forgotten often elsewhere. WTB was always out front like Surly has been. Unfortunatley the 40C Nano was a dud in my opinion. But I loved running the WTB 2.1 Nanos for XC races as a rear tire with a 2.35 Weirwolf up front on my Spearfish. Nanos should make a comeback.
@NY Roll - Well, the entire 25th anniversary of 29'ers is getting zero run, as far as I can tell, which to me is odd.
But yes- Full Disclosure: WTB was instrumental in not only being supporters/innovators in 29" and gravel, but they were MAJOR sponsors of Trans Iowa, which is something I cannot ever thank WTB enough for.
So, that, obviously, figures into my remembering what WTB has done for MTB and gravel.
@scottg - Schwalbe Marathon Extreme tires were very popular with gravel riders in the early days but had similar negative traits as you had found with the Continental tires. But they were really the best choice in a 700c tire that came wider than 33mm pre-2012. After that the Clement/Donnelly MSO Xplor tires and Challenge Gravel Grinder tires showed the way forward.
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