Make the old 26er great again!

Scotty T

Walks the walk
My mate has a 2009 Specco Stumpy, he came off it about 18 months ago and ripped the tendon off that holds the thumb on, surgery and recovery etc. He was applying for a job as a postie at the time, that got delayed but eventually he got the job and then moved from petrol bike to e-bike postie, he's the one who built these.

He was entertaining a new bike but didn't have the budget so I gave him the advice that the best things to fix the bike would be tubeless, wide bars and dropper, in that order. We did the work over the weekend, but not knowing what to get for the tubeless since I've only done it on tubeless ready wheels he didn't get rim strips. Watched more Stan's videos on it and found the correct one about the rim strips, went out and paid the Canberra Pushy's in-store tax ($15 more for a pair) then went to buy a beer there and discovered they aren't licensed so the beer was free, good result drinking a free beer drooling over bike pr0n.

The Stan's kit and Maxxis High Roller 2's went on perfectly, he got the cheaper KS external routed dropper which was a bit tricky for him to install because the manuals suck, and on advice passed by me from here, he got Spank vibro-core bars. Had his first dirt ride in 18 months yesterday, we did a short run around lower Stromlo and he was digging the massive tranformation of the bike.

For general speed and confidence, I think those three things outweigh most other advances since 2009, particularly if you were MTB'ing in the 90's. His first impressions were that the bar was making the biggest difference, but I reckon on his first ride with tubeless he's nowhere near exploring what they are going to do for his speed yet. He also came from a low 600's bar width and now running 760 so that difference would be exaggerated. He's stoked and keen to get back into riding.
 

flamin'trek

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I’m amazed how wired my old 26er feels when I ride it - I’m sure it is to do with the 600ish bars. I probably should switch in a short stem and wider bars, but it’s kinda inning old school 90s setup.
 

safreek

*******
Super stoked for your buddy, he is getting back into bikes on the real size wheels.
Keep him from the darkside
 

nexusfish

El Mariachi
Rolled the old 2008 Reign out for a spin for the first time in 6 years and ripped a bunch of dudes at Maydena. Had all these young guys looking at my bike wondering why it went fast. Told them it was a pre-release model from Giant as they will be moving back to 26 for descending bikes in 2020.
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
Rolled the old 2008 Reign out for a spin for the first time in 6 years and ripped a bunch of dudes at Maydena. Had all these young guys looking at my bike wondering why it went fast. Told them it was a pre-release model from Giant as they will be moving back to 26 for descending bikes in 2020.
Awesome.
 

dancaseyimages

Mountain bike pornographer
Rolled the old 2008 Reign out for a spin for the first time in 6 years and ripped a bunch of dudes at Maydena. Had all these young guys looking at my bike wondering why it went fast. Told them it was a pre-release model from Giant as they will be moving back to 26 for descending bikes in 2020.
Retro BMX's have made a comeback with a drivetrain tweak so the retro MTB could do to. ;)
 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
In skateboarding, we've reached peak re-issue. Several times a year for about the last 5, we see new colorways of the same re-issues over and over, and even unpopular boards are done. Some people have no OG boards in their collection because NOS is too expensive. All but the rarest of boards have gone down in value. Won't happen with mtb, too expensive.
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
Is there still much of a market for retro MTB gear? About 10 years ago there was a surge where retro gear went from being cheap to pick up to insanely over priced. I wonder if it's settled.

Interesting to see similar trends with bodyboards (I had an old one sitting in a shed for 20 years that I sold for more than I paid for it, and more than a new better board would cost) and lawn mowers. Scott Bonnar mowers are going mental at the moment with people paying more for them than you would to get a brand new mower of similar or better quality.
 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
And for the most part old mtb's are worth less than their original price but rare boards can fetch 20-50x. That'd be like paying 200-500k for a unique multiple world champ's bike they made two of and kept one brand new.
 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
@ashes_mtb retro mtb has definitely settled, and much smaller groups than other collector stuff, anecdotally. Good stuff doesn't hang around long. Seems to be lots of tall guys and small bikes.
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
The price of replacement parts to build up good bikes is ever increasing but I've really enjoyed the 26ers that I have. I've updated them with most of the current model trends with new shocks, dropper post, wide wheels & short stem and they seem to do what all my friends bikes can do. 26 is definitely a fun wheel size, even heard in the States that a lot of shorter people are still looking for 26" bikes to ride as they find the bigger wheeled bikes a bit cumbersome.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
I don't care about wheelsizes between 26 and 27.5. They feel much the same to me but I'm sure a MTB magazine will tell me otherwise.

As long as you can get decent tyres and forks then that solves most of your 26" problems right there. Either aren't too hard to find now, it is just a question of how much you want sink into an older standard.

As you know, I've had my grandpa's axe Heckler for a looooong time now and I still enjoy riding it. That is what matters in the end. A visit to a newer Giant/Trek/Specialized 'experience' store usually leaves me cold anyhow.

I'm not against a schwanky upgrade but not complaining about what I have now either.

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
Good for you . We need to fight back against new standards and mindless consumerism.
Its about riding not the bike.
Must be my age but i have 3 x 26ers I still ride I like the shorter wheelbase for cornering on the narrow Yacktracks.
They are highly hotrodded w wider bars, different gears and wider wheels.
Can feel the difference w 27.5, roll a bit better and higher bbs.
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
It's not really about the wheel size for me. My two bikes are 26ers because they can do what I need them to do, and I hate the waste of needlessly upgrading stuff that is perfectly functional.

At this stage I can get everything I need to keep them rolling, although it takes a bit more searching than it used to.
 

moorey

call me Mia
26 never stopped being great. Those of us riding both...if we’re honest...can’t pick a difference...and if we do...it’s the more modern geo of the 27.5 bikes.
I have 3 bikes that can convert between wheel sizes. When I’ve swapped wheels back and forward, and compared apples with apples on the same bike, no difference to me.

I’ve opted for an older 26” bike for this weekends enduro. Have raced a 27.5 in other rounds...but the 26 wins for fun. I’m not there for medals.
 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
3rd ride with my mate. We did Stromlo up Blue Tongue and Heart Breaker then down Wedgetail and Pork Barrel to Three Amigos. He was cooking, starting to get used to the tubeless, stoked on how different it was.

But we had a good look afterwards and he's still running Bonsai, a hangover from the 90's that made me buy the wrong size bike before my current bike. He sits on the borderline of m/l in the old money. He obviously needs a new bike but the smile on his face will keep him going for a while.
 
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