CaptainPlanet

I keep hearing I should let it go, but it's nicest bike than anything I have ever gotten. I feel that I could also just as well swap out the tires to road friendly ones and I'd enjoy it just as much for a work bike, but I am torn and feel that if I don't rid it now I miss the chance to sell it while there are still parts to fix it.

Gresp15C

The only parts of a 26" tire bike that are unique to 26" are the wheels and tires. There are so darn many 26" bikes out there, that tires will be available for a long time. And how much are you really going to lose by letting its resale value go to zero?

I'm still riding two 27" tire bikes. I keep saying, when they need new tires and 27" are no longer available, I'll replace the wheels. The bikes will probably outlast me.

CaptainPlanet

Are the sizes compatible though? I wasn't able to fit hybrid wheel and tire onto the 26" bike, but I think the hybrid wheel was 700c.

jskita

Do you have a mountain bike with knobby tires? As another poster mentioned, there are so many 26" bikes out there and they will not be going away anytime soon. There are a lot of smooth 26" tires out there. Luckily the cruiser is a style of bike that uses 26" wheels and there are many flavors of tires for it.

A nice fat smooth tire is more comfortable than a skinny one so if you aren't doing anything competitively and you like your bike just get smooth tires.

Pictured is a MTB conversion I did with smooth tires

MarcusT

Doesn't that only work if you have disc brakes?

Online there are many, many 26" tires available. For off road, hybrid and road. Your LBS will not have many, if any because they only have so much space. Schwalbe, Michelin and Continental are some good choices, Keep the diameter in the 1.8-2.0" range and it should not change the characteristics of the bike

Oneder

There's probably more 26" bikes being made than anything else even if they are all low end bikes these days. The size itself is great and very versatile. 650b might be arguably even better but it's possible you could convert to it later on if you wanted.

mtb_addict

oh yeah, I forgot that he probably have canrilvere brakes. Scratch my previous comment.

on second thought, he could convert to caliper brakes. Aldoe, that will decrease braking power.

but since the new role is a conmuter, caliper should be adequate.

cyccommute 

There are still tires and rims out there for 26” bikes. There are few options for new forks but there are lots of good used ones around. I have five 26” wheeled bikes

Untitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr
Untitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr
_IMG4947 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
DSCN0518 by Stuart Black, on Flickr



and I don’t plan on getting rid of any of them. The mountain bikes are all fully capable of doing anything a 29er does. And, give that the 27.5ers are an admission that the 29er was a mistake, I’m expecting the announcement of the revolutionary new 559er any day now

Vintage Schwinn

Install a pair of KENDA K838 "slicks".
These are perhaps the best Street & Pavement tires that you could ever install on a 26" (559mm) mountain bike wheel.
They are smooth and fast, and quiet.
A great tire that is also very inexpensive. Don't let the low price fool you as these are better than some tires at twice their cost!

veganbikes

Plenty of great 26 tires and rims still available. In fact I am about to build another titanium mountain bike with 26" wheels and an original XT gruppo. 26" in the 559 ISO diameter is unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon. Sure maybe not a ton of super high end modern stuff but plenty of quality stuff and useful stuff for tourists and commuters as well as mountain bikers.

Gresp15C

There's one 650b bike in the family fleet. Two issues. First, tires are not cheap. If 650b catches on, it will take years before there are enough bikes out there to develop a competitive market for the tires. Second, it's extremely hard to service tires on "tubeless ready" rims. I think 650b is one of those gratuitous changes that the industry makes, that serves little purpose for mainstream cyclists.

Oneder

The rims are wider than 26" wheels usually run which is good, but otherwise pretty pointless.

Thomas15

I procured my mountain bike in 2004. At the time 26" was the thing and disk brakes were an extra expense. So I have 26" wheels and V brakes.

I rode the bike probably a total of 300 miles from 2004 to fall of 2018 when I went for a Rail Trail ride with a friend that has a 29" disk brake bike with premium forks. Nice guy and all but he made a point of mentioning that he has < > on his bike and I didn't. And on the actual ride of about 18 miles, he smoked me. I though I was going to expire before we finished the ride.

Today, I'm still riding the 26" V brake bike and he is still riding his 29" disk brake premium fork bike but there is a difference. 18 miles is just getting warmed up for me now as I'm doing 50-60 mile rides several times a week. 20 miles is my friends limit and on such a ride together he is now the one begging for mercy.

I will confess that when my friend was comparing his bike to mine it did make me feel that I would be happier with something better. I no longer feel that way about it though.

freeranger

My GT 26" mtn.bike is still going strong. For what little $ it would bring, wouldn't even think of selling it (would keep it even if it would sell for a decent price). It's still fun to get it out on the trails, and seems to handle the trails as well as I do! My vote: Keep it!

StarBiker

You will set smoked on a 26 vs a 29'r.

I find a 29'r to be a beast. Have an 09' Cobia. Never ride it because of the BB5 brakes (Pure ****), which I will upgrade. It fits fine, but just way more than I need.

I will keep riding my old super v for now!

More interested in this

BobbyG

Don't let snobs steal your joy.

2cam16

I have about 10 of them in rideable condition and no plans whatsoever in getting rid of them. I can always take the tires off one if we ever run out of 26's. lol

ThermionicScott 

26" is a great wheel size. It's not dead yet, some great tires are still being made for it!

mtb_addict

i worry 26 slick tires is heavy and bouncy.

oldlady62

No way am I'm replacing my 26" wheels. Maybe I need to go tire shopping?

Retro Grouch 

A question that only you can answer. I have two questions:

1. How much money do you think you could realistically get for it? Where do you keep it now? Is it in the way? Try shopping as if you were going to buy a comparable bike and consider how much that amount of money would change your lifestyle. That's the value of selling it.

2. If you decide to keep it, how do you plan to use it? How much do you think having it would improve your lifestyle. That's the value of keeping it.

ThermionicScott 

Only if you want it to be.

Wilfred Laurier

The tires make a much larger difference than the wheel diameter, especially on road, and there are very good tires available for 26" wheels. 29" wheels roll over obstacles more easily, but the smoother the surface the less difference there is. Smaller wheels used to be common on triathlon bikes (650c usually) because they have a smaller frontal area that results in less aerodynamic drag, and aerodynamic drag is more important than the rolling resistance drag at speeds above ~25 km/h.

If your bearings are in good condition and you have decent tires (my favourite is Panaracer Pasela, which is available in several widths for 26" wheels) and you feel slower than your riding partners, it's not the fault of your wheel size.

jlaw

454 grams each with nice shock absorption at 20 - 25 psi. A little pricey, but they are hard to beat when flying down a gravel road on a sunny day!.

Korina

You'll have to pry my 26" wheeled bikes from my cold, dead hands.

If you like your bike, keep it and ride it.