They really are great bikes. It makes me wonder why 26” bikes died the way they did.
In my layman's opinion it happened because the industry is built around moving on to the Next Big Thing, and in this case that was 700c. I guess I'm neutral to it overall, but I think that it's not always the right choice for a given frame or customer. I like the ubiquity of 26", and even cheap wheels in that size are pretty sturdy. A frame the size of my Univega above would be fine with 700c. But it would be absurd to put them on a frame the size of my daughter's, though I have seen it.