Happy Feet

Actually it is the discussion here. An inanimate object can't literally be dead so there is some sort of inference

What does it mean to say a certain wheel size is "dead"? Does it mean there are no longer parts to service that size, making it obsolete? Or does it mean it is no longer the industry "norm".

If the first, that is incorrect. If the second, who cares what the industry norm is., unless one wants to appear fashionable by ensuring one is riding what everyone else is riding ie. a slave to current fashion trends.

Shorter people often find 29rs to large and 27.5 is a proven design so I imagine it will be around for a while to come. Perhaps just not as the current fashion leader.

prj71

I'm thinking 2-3 years.

prj71

Are you really that obtuse? What it means in the context of this thread (read post #1 ) is that the availability of 27.5 bikes from the major bike manufacturers is in decline. As each year passes the major manufactures are starting to phase out 27.5 bikes just like they phased out 26 bikes. Most people are going for 29er so that's what manufactures are going to supply.

Giant is a perfect examples of this. A few years ago they went all in on 27.5. They had only a few 29. Now they have been slowly phasing them out. I think they learned that going all in on 27.5 was a mistake.

For 2020 models Giant had eight 29 and five 27.5. For 2021 Giant has eleven 29 and three 27.5. By 2022 you probably can expect that giant will have one or two 27.5 offerings.





Sure...Parts and service items will be available for a long time. But that's not what this thread is about.

Happy Feet

No I am not obtuse. Here, let's look at that post 1 again.

In that context, as you yourself agree, the OP could buy a 27.5 and have parts and service for their bike for a long time. Whatever is happening statistically in the market does not effect the individual once they buy their bike. They have it, parts are available, it should last a good while.

So... 27.5 within the OP's context is not dead, though that term is weak. More accurately, as I described in my response, it will not suffer from availability issues (parts) but may fall out of popular favour - if that is the sole motivating factor for buying a bike. However, rest assured, any bike purchased today will also fall out of popular favour in a couple of years anyway.

We can answer this two ways:

If you find a 27.5 you like.. buy it. There will be parts available for a long time - enjoy your ride.

If you find a 27.5 you like.. don't buy it. There will be parts available for a long time but 29 is more popular so you won't enjoy your ride.

prj71

Yup. Obtuse. Nobody buys a bike based on parts availability and that's not what the original post was about. Not one person asked about parts availability in the future for 27.5 bikes.

The bold sentence indicates what this thread is about since you are slow to comprehend.

Happy Feet

Whatever.

Dude wants to buy a new bike. Has a 27.5. Wonders if he should buy another. I know from your posting history the only thing that matters is "Is it expensive" "Is it popular" but as far as the OP is concerned, there is no problem buying another 27.5. I guess I'm just answering that question and not using the thread as another excuse for a well worn rhetorical response.

Straight up question: If one doesn't need to worry about parts, and it isn't about fanboy popularity issues - what point is there to worrying about whether a wheel size is "dead" or not. If you have the bike, and enjoy riding it, what is the effect upon your experience?

Darth Lefty 

We are now on page 8 of a 15 month old thread. Parsing the first post is silly.

One item of note is that premium tires start to disappear, while you can still get cheaper ones in the size you need. All of Schwalbe's tires this year in 75-584 are on closeout or sale. (I got some!) There are still plenty of options in 70-584.

Happy Feet

This is somewhat true. But I find the knee jerk reaction to declare bikes "dead" to be more internet mumbo jumbo phrasing than anything else. Especially when the poster I'm having the back and forth with has a penchence for declaring sized dead, bikes as BSO's or always suggesting one simply buy another bike. Apparently 26" has been dead for a long time now but I still manage to get out and ride two of them on a regular basis. Still get parts, still get tires.

Kapusta

The only reason the question “Is 27,5 dead” would have any relevance to the question of “Should I buy 27.5 or 29” (which is what the OP is/was deciding) would be if 27.5 “dying” affected parts availability, or perhaps resale value (the latter of which is a stupid way to make MTB purchasing decisions)

Happy Feet

I get that some people just want to look at general industry trends and make pronouncements about which way things are going but, like statistics, what happens on a macro level does not effect individual results. If one buys a 27.5 bike, likes to ride that bike, can repair that bike... industry trends don't effect that experience.

The only way it does is by not riding what is not currently popular. Another poor parameter to base purchases on.

prj71

• 27.5 bikes are starting to be phased out slowly by the manufactures. If the trend continues 27.5 bikes will be dead just like 26" bikes are now.
• BSO...Cheap department store bikes or the some of the junk that Bikes Direct sells.
• Sometimes buying another bike is the best option for both financial and comfort reasons.

Again...nobody is saying anything about the availability of parts...You keep getting hung up on availability of parts which has absolutely nothing to do with this thread.

I don't have horse in the race here...I really don't care what happens. Just stating where the industry is trending which is driven by consumer demand for a certain wheel size.

Happy Feet

Not to flog a dead horse but to say a wheel size is no longer the industry norm is different from saying it is dead. At least to me.

For a product line to be dead means a. it is no longer made and/or b. it is no longer supported by parts or service. A good example would be a bike made using proprietary parts wherein the parent company closes shop. When that happens the product line can be said to be dead because it can't be purchased or repaired and has a finite lifespan.

That is why I mention parts. If you have a bike and it is supported by parts that product is not dead. It remains a viable option. It may not be the popular product line but it is not defunct.

I don't think smaller wheel sizes will go that route entirely because there are enough people of smaller stature who find 29" to be too large for them. The industry may move to marginalize them somewhat but won't entirely ignore that market pool.

prj71

In the context of this thread "Is 27.5 dead?" refers to the option of being able to buy a complete bike (brand new) with 27.5 wheels. The trend in the industry now (due to consumer demand) is that the manufactures are starting to phase out 27.5 bikes in their line up. It's really that simple.

Happy Feet

I think the original context was about a guy wondering if he would have problems buying a 27.5 because he feared they were being phased out. What it morphed into is another matter.

But more directly, 27.5 being phased out of mainstream production does not equal dead. The 3 speed IGH was phased out in favour of the freewheel design but continues to be made in various forms. Not "dead". Dead means defunct, no longer viable, unsupported... not merely surpassed in mainstream production. That's just "not as popular as it once was".

tallbikeman

Dieterpi I noticed you were asking if 27.5" was going the way of 26" wheeled MTB bikes. Fear not I found at least three 26" wheeled MTB's in the 2020 Giant catalog and one of them was a + size. The Trance Jr 26 is listed at $2200 and is a full suspension aluminum framed kids mountain bike. I guess I should tell you they were all kids size bikes. Now I don't have to go to Walmart to get my 26" MTB fix. I can go into a real bicycle shop to get a brand new 26" MTB for my kid. Of course this doesn't help this discussion about 650b size wheels and tires which may or may not be in short supply because they are falling out of fashion, or not.

metz1295

Love this bike. My Roscoe 7 will be here in January. As a beginner, I couldn't justify the extra $600 for the Roscoe 8. However, There was enough add on to justify the Roscoe 7 over my original choice of the Marlin 7.

prj71

They are being phased out as complete bikes. The bike manufacturers don’t sell what’s best. Instead, they sell what sells.

What it morphed into is your head movie.

Happy Feet

I have no idea what you mean by head movie. If anyone morphed the OP into their favorite rhetorical exercise it's you. You have quite the reputation here for looking down on bikes as being not worthy; why, I do not know. All I did was address the OP directly - as written.

But anyway, at least you agree that there is essentially nothing wrong with 27.5 other than popularity. Always my first criteria when buying a bike (not).

You can keep up the back and forth or drop it.. IDC. I have no problem pointing out the error of your ways.

Kapusta

At this point in the thread, every angle of every opinion of every interpretation of the initial question has been repeated numerous times.

Whatever people think this thread is about (complete bikes, parts, whatever), it it all comes down to what ill happen in the future, and as such, we are going to have to wait to find out what the answer is.

Afcyclestx

I was just noticing on instagram that Throne Cycles is coming out with a 27.5 BMX bike. It’s call the “27five”...
I also just converted an old Cyclepro 27.5 Mtb into a single speed and put a BMX stem and bars on it. Now, single speed might not be for everyone and Throne Cycles are more known for their Fixies And 29 inch BMX but they are on the cutting edge of the bike World and know a lot about supply and demand. I think 27.5 would have a market but that’s just me and Who am I?

Sorcerer

I watched the 2020 EWS World's the other day and World Cup DH events, and I'm pretty sure I saw 27.5 wheels under some of the top riders.

I recall some discussion on mullet set-ups with 29 up front and 27.5 on the back.

Haven't read the entire thread here. I read it when it was much shorter. Someone has brought this up already, okay.

To put contrast in this thread, let me add that I have a friend who uses 24" fat bike rims and tires to mountain bike and road ride. Possibly readers here might not know that this wheel size is alive and kicking.

Just because the market abandons promoting new models of a certain kind doesn't necessarily imply it's dead.

I have a lot of different wheel sizes and tires in the stable. The idea that these things are dead makes me laugh.

But yeah, 29ers are cool.

prj71

So he's riding a kids bike?

An no...that wheel is not alive and kicking. It's just there.

Sorcerer

The bike is a Surly.

The rims are Nextie Carbon and hubs a Hope trials.

Well it's not a kids bike because the rider is 6' with a 34" inseam. But he is eccentric and youthful for a father of two shredding teenagers.

It is a fact I will concede that 24" wheels aren't much of thing with " serious cyclists and mountain bikers ". My friend is iconoclastic and enjoys passing roadies on the local hills on his Rat Rod. To save ego damage those being passed will imagine he's on an eBike.

A little search on eBay just now showed me that there are a variety of 24" wheel eBike parts available. Unmotorized whole bikes of this standard fall into the cruiser and chopper category.

I'm outraged that this guy would be seriously riding and kicking ass on his fringe 24" bike. He has 3 pairs of tires, one set are Arrow Racing Wide Bite, and another are 3G racing slicks and some other type.

The only reason I have seen a bunch of 24" tires on the market is because I have a 26" fat bike and have desired a tire that was around 3.5" in width. That width does not exist in 26".

Yeah, this is off topic - I think about making a set of 27.5 + wheels for my 26" fat bike. Head to the fat bike forum for that.

Another question is, did 26+ wheels ever live? Maybe for a month or so? I have a 26+ front wheel built on a WTB Scraper rim that I use on a rigid single speed. It's fantastic!

I hope 27.5 isn't dead.

Cyclist0108

If I want my gravel bike with 700C wheels to be more off-road capable, it is suggested that I get a supplementary 650b wheel-set. This is the current trend.

If I want my mountain bike to be more off-road capable, it is suggested that I replace my 27.5" (650) wheel-set (and bike, if necessary) with 29" (700C). This is the current trend.

At least the first one makes some sense. The outside diameter of a 650b wheel + wide tire is approximately what a 700C + narrow tire is.

gofastdontcrash

I don't think the 27.5 will die. Most smaller riders I ride with prefer 27.5's. 29's on a small frame are proportionally too large IMO.