Originally Posted by
cpach
To be honest what you're going to feel between pretty much any 26" mountain bike and pretty much any 27.5/29" wheeled mountain bike is more due to pretty significant changes in geometry in more recently designed bikes than the wheel sizes per se. If you're used to most any 26" wheeled mountain bike, the relatively long wheelbase, slack head angle, short stem, wide bars, low bottom bracket, etc will lead to a bike that feels considerably less responsive at low speeds, on pavement, etc.
Yes exactly. Also a 650B (or 29er) hardtail these days will typically have an air suspension fork with (by the standards of the late 80s) loads of travel. Many of the old 26" MTBs were rigid fork anyway. The disk brakes also make it easier to tackle scary descents with more confidence.
A 26" fully rigid MTB is still a lot of fun though. You just can't ride as difficult stuff for a given skill/confidence level.