Are 27" and 26" tires getting hard to find?
#26
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MTB tire choice is also a lot more location/condition and preference dependent, so you may not be able to find what you want locally.
Panaracer is still making the Smoke/Dart, if you want to ride old-school, and Schwalbe, Conti, and Maxxis have pretty comprehensive lines of 'proper' 26'er MTB tires. There's also some cool retro-cult stuff being produced (panaracer, again) but really, online/boutiques are the way to go.
I have a couple of vintage 26ers, so this is where I'm at. My 96 Cannondale F-1000 is my primary trail bike, and TBH, I'm suffering some analysis -paralysis on it's upcoming tire and brake upfit, cause there's almost too many choices.
I also just picked up an 89 KLEIN, but it's being done up in BMX/klunker style, as an "urban scrambler" since even as nice as it is, I don't want to ride trails the same way I did it the '80s
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#27
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https://www.renehersecycles.com/prod...ponents/tires/
#28
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Panaracer is still making the Smoke/Dart, if you want to ride old-school, and Schwalbe, Conti, and Maxxis have pretty comprehensive lines of 'proper' 26'er MTB tires. There's also some cool retro-cult stuff being produced (panaracer, again) but really, online/boutiques are the way to go.
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Whilst there's enough demand for them, sure. But eventually they'll get rare and expensive, and companies will dedicated production facilities to better selling products.
I'm also not sure how many folk with top quality 26" wheel bikes will stick with 26" indefinitely. Should they trash the bike, would they get another 26" or would they change size to something like a 27.5 or 27.5+? Are there many disciplines where people are still using 26" at the top end?
I'm also not sure how many folk with top quality 26" wheel bikes will stick with 26" indefinitely. Should they trash the bike, would they get another 26" or would they change size to something like a 27.5 or 27.5+? Are there many disciplines where people are still using 26" at the top end?
I have a couple of really nice vintage MTBs (a KLEIN and a Cannondale) and I still enjoy riding them, but I'm well aware that even a mid-range new bike has way more capability off road. If I were to start racing again, it would definitely be on a new bike.
Just because it's outdated, though doesn't mean they're not still really nice bikes, and people who own them and ride them don't want to put cheap junky tires on them. Retro MTBs are pretty popular as trendy urban "scrambler" builds as well, so the demand is still there
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Oh I'm not saying they are bad bikes, I'm just saying that the bulk of 26" bikes being made now are pretty low end and will likely never have high end tires fitted, whilst the number of nicer 26ers that'd get high end tires will decrease gradually over time as rust, accidents and neglect takes their toll.