Everything on the bike has been getting lighter for decades. Or has been, because components are allowed to increase in the interest of better rideability. Handlebar and tyre widths, for example. And above all wheel sizes. More and more 29ers are levelling the forests, bringing tears of indignation to the eyes of traditionalists and delight to those of progress disciples. 26, 29, one world, two camps - until 2012, because recently 650B is supposed to combine the best of 26 and 29. With success?
BIKE once again used the latest 2D measurement technology to compare the effects of the three wheel concepts: Editor Peter Nilges drove three identically equipped Scott Scale hardtails (see p. 43) over a course of individual tests. He did this remarkably consistently, which not only made it possible to compare the section times, cornering speeds, lateral acceleration and sprinting ability, but also the maximum and average vibrations that shake man and machine. With quite astonishing results - why is that?
You can find the entire article below as a PDF download.
