The 26" bike is dead, eh?

I'm not sure if you saw what Matt Panocha of Velonews fame had to say on the subject of 29" wheel bikes vs. 26" bikes, but it is worth taking a look:

http://singletrack.competitor.com/features/from-matt%E2%80%99s-mind-not-really-a-final-word-on-29ers/

Anyhow, I agree with him in some ways, and don't agree with him in many ways as well. I know a lot of people that ride 29" wheel bikes and with all of them it seems like it is the second coming or something. Some even going so far as to say they will never ride a 26" bike again they are so good. Well, I took the bait and had a 29er for a bit. Then I jumped back on my 26" bike a realized how great it was. To me, the 26" wheels feel much faster and more maneuverable. Yes, the 29" wheel roll over rough terrain well, and certainly feel stable on a downhill, but that stability leads to feeling sluggish to me. I don't think a bike can respond too quickly. I personally prefer a 26" wheel bike and especially like a full suspension 26" bike such as my lovely GT Marathon carbon.

My other issue with 29" bike riders is that for some reason most of them seem to have a huge chip on their shoulders about how bad 26" bikes are. I don't like to make generalizations about people, but so many of them I have run into seem to feel the same way. Somehow for them for the 29" bike to be good the 26" bike has to be horrible. I just don't get it. I say ride what you like and think is fun. That is the most important thing. Get out and ride and stop worrying about if your 29" wheel bike is better then my 26" bike. So that's my two cents worth on wheel size........................at least for the moment.