Well I'm about to upset my own thread now... But since it's my daggum thread, I'm gonna do it.

Until I rode this bike, I've never had the desire to ride anything by my 26" AMHT. My terrain is peppered with chunk, sandstone and limestone Cliff drops, monster trucking, baby heads... General chunk.

I've been considering the Stache for a while now, so I didn't take this step blindly.

It's the best trail bike I've ever ridden. Small drops up to 3 feet are confident and cake, log rides to wheelie drops are a no brainer with all that meaty traction, small doubles, tables, etc... It flies great!

For now, I've got no intention of selling my 26, but it will get less love.

 

Well I'm about to upset my own thread now... But since it's my daggum thread, I'm gonna do it.

Until I rode this bike, I've never had the desire to ride anything by my 26" AMHT. My terrain is peppered with chunk, sandstone and limestone Cliff drops, monster trucking, baby heads... General chunk.

I've been considering the Stache for a while now, so I didn't take this step blindly.

It's the best trail bike I've ever ridden. Small drops up to 3 feet are confident and cake, log rides to wheelie drops are a no brainer with all that meaty traction, small doubles, tables, etc... It flies great!

For now, I've got no intention of selling my 26, but it will get less love.

View attachment 1152528

Wow- the 29 + look huge in that comparison. Stash has been well reviewed by many- Congrats. I'm on 650b+ and loving the confidence and stability as going from 26.

Today, I'm taking the 1991 HardRock out for a spin though. I bumped it to 2.4 tires.

 

Man, you've gone so far of topic it's crazy!!!!!

 

Word!

 

There is a little lens perspective foolery going on there making the difference appear greater than it really is.

 

Well I took the 26er out for a head-to-head against the Stache. My 26er is a 2005 Kinesis All Mountain Hardtail with a full-on brand new m8000 XT 1x11 build including m8000 cranks and 180/180 Ice Tech brakes. Super smooth 150mm RS coil fork.

I took the same route on both bikes. Both bikes were super fun.

My overall speed was faster on the Stache as well as less energy expended.

That said, there are just some days where I'll prefer the 26er. It's fun in its own way. Some days it's fun to Bob'n'weave and dance through the boulders. Other days it's fun to motor the tank up and over everything.

Will not be leaving this 26 forum any time soon, but will surely be spending time with the Plus-Boyz.

Accelerating into a new jump after a berm is super snappy on my 26. No denying that!

 

how many times have you ridden the trail?

 

Small trail maybe 100 times by now. Never could break 4 min before recently. Still need to test the time more, it's by memory and the GPS app would take a while to dissect because it times the entire distance of the ride. Larger set of connected trails, maybe 15 times by now, for sure this 7:55 time is the fastest ever and I did it on a 26" instead of my 27.5"!!! Newfound confidence in the 26" now after hydraulic and front tire upgrades. I'll keep the 80mm fork for now. Just wondering how it would be with a 100mm or 120mm air fork, kind of like how a teenager dreams of some poster swimsuit model in their room.

 

I always wanted a Cannondale but never could afford a full suspension Cannondale let alone any other full suspension bike when I was younger. I ended up with a Gary Fisher Hard tale but after 20 years of EMS my back cant take the bumps that it provides. I found a Cannondale RZ 120 frame with a lefty for fairly cheap and built my own Cannondale. With everything I have on it the bike would be $3500 new and I really cant afford that.

 

well you need to wap your gps app for strava, that will dissect the ride for you on the fly.
yeah 100 times is good enough to know the trail well, just sounded like you had only done it 3 or 4 times.
I just smashed a decent time on a trail i know backwards on a 80mm forked, v-braked bike, over a 120mm forked disc braked bike, travel isn't everything

 

i agree with jb weld. there is some trickery going on because the 29 is easily 3 to 4 inches in front of the 26

 

Dont forget, that 29 is a 29+, therefore bigger than a "plain old" 29er

 

This has been a fun & funny thread. Once or twice I nearly went back to hitting the sauce...

I'm new to the forum...Great stuff! I have a 1990 full rigid 26 cannondale and a 2004 26 scalpel lefty. These are the two best reasons I have for riding the 26. If Cannondale would graciously provide me with a 27.5 and/or a 29, I'd be more than happy to give them a fair try...and report back to the forum with my findings.

 

I'm new to the forum...Great stuff! I have a 1990 full rigid 26 cannondale and a 2004 26 scalpel lefty. These are the two best reasons I have for riding the 26.

I love your reasoning :thumbsup:. Two of my lightest-ever builds are 26ers. I'm enjoying them while they last. I ride 'em because I have 'em. It's as good a reason as any.

Next bike will be a 650b though. Either that, or a 27.5. Still deciding.

 

Love old bikes

I recently retired (62) and found an old 26" Omega 1800 in my back ally. I rode the hell out of that bike. It got me into fixing, riding bikes and restoring them.
Right now I have restored magnas, and given them to friends and family, I did a Trek 820, Nishiki Manitoba, Giant Cypress DX for my wife, Schwinn Seirra, Nishiki Century road bike, and in the last two weeks I bought a1986 Bridgestone MB2 all original in great shape for 15.00 (Had an old Wilderness Trail Bikes seat) and today I bought a Univega Range Rover for 5.00 in rideable shape. I sell a few and put the money into bike tools. I ride all these bikes, on flat trails and paved trails. 20-50 miles a week.
I only wish I could have discovered biking at 18-20 years of age, but I am happy with what I got and my wife and I have a blast. ( Rode my first BMX race last year and placed third, I will leave that to the younger guys due to bad neck. :nono: I will post pics in a few days.
(Never pay retail!!!)

 

I recently retired (62) and found an old 26" Omega 1800 in my back ally. I rode the hell out of that bike. It got me into fixing, riding bikes and restoring them.
Right now I have restored magnas, and given them to friends and family, I did a Trek 820, Nishiki Manitoba, Giant Cypress DX for my wife, Schwinn Seirra, Nishiki Century road bike, and in the last two weeks I bought a1986 Bridgestone MB2 all original in great shape for 15.00 (Had an old Wilderness Trail Bikes seat) and today I bought a Univega Range Rover for 5.00 in rideable shape. I sell a few and put the money into bike tools. I ride all these bikes, on flat trails and paved trails. 20-50 miles a week.
I only wish I could have discovered biking at 18-20 years of age, but I am happy with what I got and my wife and I have a blast. ( Rode my first BMX race last year and placed third, I will leave that to the younger guys due to bad neck. :nono: I will post pics in a few days.
(Never pay retail!!!)

Congrats on your new interest. I also learned by fixing up old bikes. Have fun and welcome to the site.

 

That sounds awesome, dg5228!! sorry about the neck trouble...third place is rockin'!

I still have the frame of my wife's old Bridgestone purchased back in 1990...have been eyeballing it lately to maybe restore it.

Happy trails!

 

Why 26? Well.....I've been riding MTB's since the mid 1970's, when the sport didn't even have a name yet. I've seen 40 years of tech advances, trends, improvements, and some downright dumb $hit (18mm rims w/2.3 skinwalls?!?!). Anyhoo, the ole "bigger& better" train just keeps on a rolling, year after year. At some point along the line, I decided actually riding was a lot more fun than buying/building something new every year just to be "cool." For my riding style and trails, (YMMV....) It's a solid, 26" platform, with mid-to heavy duty parts, ISIS BB, wider double-wall rims, 2.1-2.3 blackwalls, cable discs, etc. And yes I have several variations- Haro Sonix VL 120 (1x9), Mongoose black-diamond single-speed hardtail, no-name rigid 3x8 gravel pounder, and even a Hoffman 26" MTB/BMX pumptrack rig. Good thing is I've got TONS of interchangeable parts in the shop room, new replacement parts are cheap and plentiful, and they're all set up for minimal maintenance and max riding time

 

I've probably said this too many times in various forums, but I love my '01 Schwinn Homegrown Hardtail! As my build currently stands, I'm into it to the tune of nearly $3k. I bought it as a NIB, unbuilt frame. I built it exactly as I wanted it. King hubs, Stans Alpine hoops, Huntchinson Python tubeless tires, carbon bar, Thomson post, blah, blah, blah... It is the most fun, fastest accelerating bike I've ever ridden. At sub 20 lbs, it's also the lightest mountain bike I've ever ridden. Maybe it's the short wheelbase, maybe it's a lucky fit, I don't know, but It's the bike I choose over all others.

I've contemplated converting it to 27.5, but why? It does everything I need it to do.

 

I still love my 26er and there will never be a more versatile wheel size. I am thinking about building up a new one, staying classy with steel, and trying to create the most versatile mountain bike I can. Here is a link to my google sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/179qMQAysc2524YAZcf5SdC_UZSi_PG3LQgWTrZdCkSs/edit?usp=sharing
It also has a few other build ideas on it and me and my friend are constantly updating it. If any of you guys are thinking about doing a complete custom bike we put together this sheet setup and it works for almost all bikes. But 26 all the way. I ride my dad's old '97 Privateer Comp quite a bit. Works on the local trails, messing around town and the car parks, and great at the dirt jump park.

 

That cotic is a pretty sweet looking frame. Let us know if you get one.

 

Will do. I'm just a high schooler trying to make some cash so it might take longer to acquire all of the parts than it would for most.

 

Because they never made an SX Trail in any other size

 

Like many I ride 26" because that's what I have. The Kona Dawg and the Heckler (see sig) are both great bikes and set up nice but the Heckler is my #1. I'm a bit of a clyde (6-4/220lbs) so last frame I broke I was very focused on reliability and chose the Heckler based on it's tried and true, simple design. And I have not broken a frame since.

At the time, I was interested in trying a 29 but figured if spokes, swingarms, forks ect are all spaced out just a hair more in a 29 vs 26 they would be more likely to fail so I chose one of the toughest 26" bikes out there. I has not disappointed...I've worn out wheels, tranny, brakes, stem, seat, pivot bearings, etc. a few times but the frame is still rock solid.

But...time ticks on and I am making the move to the dark side. I have a 2018 Kona Process 153 on order (27.5) so I will soon be experiencing the 'big wheel' hoopla (get it...HOOP-la?).

 

But...time ticks on and I am making the move to the dark side. I have a 2018 Kona Process 153 on order (27.5) so I will soon be experiencing the 'big wheel' hoopla (get it...HOOP-la?).

You do know that 650 wheels are only 75mm more than 26 wheels in circumference ?
(With same width tire)

 

Just got to love the arguments, no bit of kit will make you a better rider. I have a HT 27" and an enduro 26" This past weekend I rode with some guys...... at the end of each trail damn, why you so fast... How come you 26" wheels roll easier over the rocks?........ I thought 29er wheels are supposed to better over rocks...... and it goes on and on and on. One was on a spez enduro 27" and the other on a Jeffsy. I just smiled and said, dont believe the hype about wheel size.
If 26er is good for slope style and dirtjump, it will still be around for a longtime!! Definitely not obsolete!
I like the 27" HT for what it is but I prefer my enduro bike. O and the Hardtail is an enduro Hardtail.

 

I kind of have one foot out the 26" door with my Pivot Mach 5.7C. I ran across a great deal on the frame and was going to build it up as a 26", but then decided to future proof a little and go 27.5. Not too bad, but a little taller than I'd like in the BB and limiting on the rear tire choice. Plus I had to give up a 1/2" of travel to make that work. Finally settled on running it with a 27.5" up front and a 26" in the back. Learned that a big 26" tire really isn't that much smaller than a smallish 27.5" tire. Anyways, the bike still rocks and I'll be keeping it a while. Of course I have a 29" hardtail that gets half the reps, too

 

Welcome to the 27/26er team.

 

^B26er... please.

 

The Marauder setup!

 

Very nice! Here is mine. I don't think I hold my friends up too much

 

There are many advantages to a 26" wheel if you are into dirt jumping. Lighter, stiffer, less gyroscope effect and less effects from crosswinds. Don't forget about half the pros at Redbull Rampage still ride 26".