Why are 27.5” eMTBs dwindling?

[Good Times]

I tried a 29er (analogue) and found it super efficient but boring as heck, so went back to 27.5 bikes without looking back. Way more playful for my liking.

Now I’m eBike shopping, all the things with promise are 29ers! I like the Levo which used to be 27, but now 29. The Meridas are 29 front. Trek Rail, 29. Commencal Meta Power, the SX is probs too much travel for me, the other is 29.

 

[Jamsxr]

There are still plenty of 27 bikes about, Whyte, Commencal, Merida and Cannondale, to name a few!

If you look at EWS and Downhill, 29ers and mullets seem to be leading the way. Not that it’s better for your average rider, although it’s my preference.

 

[CjP]

Kenevos are 27.5

 

[Mcharza]

And with a good bike shop, you can definitely negotiate with Levo 27,5

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Crumbs, I hope not...

The 2020 Giant Trance E and Reign E were still 27.5 the last time I looked.

 

[iXi]

Norco 2019 & 2020 are 27.5

 

[R120]

What we are seeing is a bigger range of EMTB's now, with more options for riders, rather than any one sector dwindling - pretty much all the first EMTB's where 27.5 plus, now they come in lots of different flavours, that's all

 

[Herder000]

I have an old Giant Anthem X 29er and absolutely love it, it's very efficient and a few years ago when I was fitter it was extremely rare for anyone to overtake me. Just after I bought it the whole 27.5 thing came in and I was s bit disappointed tbh. Now I've bought a 27.5 Giant Trance, I really hope history won't repeat itself! I have to say though, putting my 29er with 29x2.35 next to 27.5x2.6, there is hardly any difference at all in overall diameter of the two. If I were a suspicious kind of guy I'd think the bike manufacturers are just trying to get us to buy new bikes

 

[Good Times]

Great point Herder

 

[Gary]

Lack of skill/flamboyancy in the actual riding done by the average emtb owner?
same reason so many have sky high BBs and massive chainstays.

that and folk finally realising plus tyres are gash

 

[steve_sordy]

Help this old git out with the youth speak please. Is "gash" a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[slippery pete]

Is "gash" a good thing or a bad thing?

In this context, not good

 

[steve_sordy]

@slippery pete Even more confusing; so gash can also mean good?
I guess that is why I'm an old git that doesn't use words like gash.

 

[Jamsxr]

Lack of skill/flamboyancy in the actual riding done by the average emtb owner?
same reason so many have sky high BBs and massive chainstays.

that and folk finally realising plus tyres are gash

29ers are due to a lack of skill/flamboyancy? ?
Pretentious much...

 

[Gary]

Help this old git out with the youth speak please. Is "gash" a good thing or a bad thing?

I love gash Steve

it's not to everyones taste though i know


Ps. it's not "youth speak"

 

[Gary]

29ers are due to a lack of skill/flamboyancy? ?

Have a wee think back to where they came from?
and why they're so popular now

 

[Gary]

I'm an old git that doesn't use words like gash.

Nothing to do with your age mate. You've simply not heard much Scottish slang. Most English folk seem pretty ignorant in knowing their own country's colloquialisms. nevermind foreign ones

You do however have google

 

[Herder000]

Have a wee think back to where they came from?
and why they're so popular now

They came from bike companies wanting to sell everyone new bikes? Or am I missing the point?

In my opinion 29ers are slightly faster XC, take a 26er if you want to throw yourself off a few jumps. I prefer to go faster, never had much appetite for anything other than small jumps and drop offs.

I also find my 29er easier in the wild (really bumpy shitty terrain) which would generally have me walking a 26er.

 

[Staley50]

Gash... Royal Navy term for rubbish in my Army days.

 

[Jamsxr]

Have a wee think back to where they came from?
and why they're so popular now

Yep, thought about it, what’s your point?
Does Sam Hill now lack flamboyancy because he rides a 29er, etc?

All your posts are basically stating how you ride, and your personal views, are all that matters - and everyone else is wrong! Does make for a good laugh though ?

 

[Rusty]

Meh - 27.5 are just a middling effort that just kind of works. 26" gives a much more nimble bike and 29" gives the mile eating lope of an Ethiopian distance runner.

To be fair - 27.5 with a 2.8" tire is not a not different than a 29er with a 2.5" tire ..... except the 2.8 makes the 27.5 ride like shite.

 

[Herder000]

But a 27.5 x 2.8 reminds me of my motorbike days. You'll be able to work out who I am on the trails, I'll be the weirdo making motorbike noises as I ride along...

 

[Gary]

Does Sam Hill now lack flamboyancy because he rides a 29er, etc?

TBH Enduro racing in general lacks flamboyancy.

As a rider Sam hasn't lost flamboyancy. No. But there's no disputing Hill back in the late 00s on a 26" Sunday Vs Hill now on a 29" Mega is a very different thing to behold.

Try reading what I've actually typed instead of desperately trying to pick holes in what I haven't.

.

 

[slippery pete]

Try reading what I've actually typed instead of desperately trying to pick holes in what I haven't.

It would be easier to do so if you didn't specifically write things that invite the reader to fill in the gaps like...

As a rider Sam hasn't lost flamboyancy. No. But there's no disputing Hill back in the late 00s on a 26" Sunday Vs Hill now on a 29" Mega is a very different thing to behold.

Erm. So the thesis is that the rider's flamboyancy is separate from the bike's flamboyancy? Or is it that DH is more flamboyant than Enduro? Or is it that things used to be better in the 00s but now things in general are gash? Nukeproof < Iron Horse?

TBH Enduro racing in general lacks flamboyancy

Agree with this. A racing format that favours consistency and blind riding doesn't favour flamboyancy. Not sure that has much to do with wheel size or the bike but is something to do with a racing format. I guess the most flamboyant competition format is something like slopestyle (not racing) which doesn't look like making a transition to bigger wheels.

Not seeing a convincing argument regarding the undeniable supremacy of one wheel size over another in here. Guess it falls into all equipment choices being compromises one way or another.

 

[Gary]

It would be easier to do so if

You'd maybe just stop doing it?

specifically write things that invite the reader to fill in the gaps

Are you for real?
FFS! You weren't invited to fill in any gaps. Take this pile of shite for for example

Erm. So the thesis is that the rider's flamboyancy is separate from the bike's flamboyancy? Or is it that DH is more flamboyant than Enduro? Or is it that things used to be better in the 00s but now things in general are gash? Nukeproof < Iron Horse?

WTF are you even on about?
There is no thesis
No one said anything about one thing being better than another.
Things have obviously moved on and improved since the 00s (riders and equipment)
Where the fuck are you making up this shit from?
I happen to have ridden many Nukeproofs and Ironhorses. Infact I rode a Mega and a Sunday last week. I like both (but for different reasons/purposes).
Hill's 27.5 Mega had really quite similar geometry/sizing and handling to his 00s Sundays

Not seeing a convincing argument regarding the undeniable supremacy of one wheel size over another in here.

And no one is saying there is. They're just different.

Any gaps you have filled are entirely your own thoughts, Not mine.

 

[slippery pete]

WTF are you even on about?
There is no thesis

Ok, so you're just writing words and none of them mean anything except to those with a rolled-up trouser leg and/or a tinfoil hat.

Any gaps you have filled are entirely your own thoughts, Not mine.

That's kinda the point of conversation. You don't get to do other people's thinking for them and words are the way we communicate and elaborate to find points of understanding.... Although the modern way does seem to be to pick flamboyant fights (because we're weaning ourselves off the ciggies?); it was all much more civilized on mailman lists in the 00s.

In case you've not spotted....

 

[Gary]

Ok, so you're just writing words and none of them mean anything

Words form these handy things we call sentences. Sentences when read are fairly easy to grasp the meaning of for anyone with basic English compression skills. Not so much if you're incapable of reading a sentence without adding in your own "special" meanings and getting all upset at what wasn't even written.

You seem the type of guy who'd happily pick an argument and get upset with his own reflection.

Enjoy the water.

 

[Jamsxr]

Sorry Gary, I know you are a very knowledgable guy, but on here at least, it’s outweighed by your extreme arrogance.

 

[Gary]

Yeah. mate. I actually agree.
I can't help myself sometimes.

 

[steve_sordy]

Nothing to do with your age mate. You've simply not heard much Scottish slang. Most English folk seem pretty ignorant in knowing their own country's colloquialisms. nevermind foreign ones

You do however have google

So I googled. I ignored the definition of gash that I already understood and looked for others. I found this in the Urban Dictionary:

Gash
'Gash' is a term popular in English slang, it has a number of meanings, them being;

1. A wound, or cut.
2. Another word for vagina.
3. Slang for women/girls.
4. Adjective to describe something rubbish.
1. "I've got a gash on my face where I walked into that door"
2. "I was balls deep in her gash"
3. "Mate, check out the fit gash at 3 o'clock"
4. "Can't you come? That's gash!"
#fadge#minge#girls#cut#vag
by shabbababa June 05, 2009

So it's number 4 then!