Is Bigger Really Better?
Shooting out the 26er and 29er Gary Fishers
MBA BIKE TEST
The battle lines have been drawn
between the conventional wisdom
of 26-inch-diameter mountain
bike wheels (that are the sport’s
unofficial standard) and the larger
diameter 29-inch wheels (adopted by
mavericks who will defend their big
hoops to the death). Never ones to sit
on the sidelines, the MBA wrecking
crew decided to join the battle (with a
lot of help from Gary Fisher). The 26
versus 29 shootout pits two similar
Gary Fisher bikes with dissimilar
wheels against each other.
THANKS TO GARY IN ADVANCE
This comparison has never been done
before. It would not have been possible
if it weren’t for Gary Fisher himself.
The primary motivator behind the 29-
inch wheel craze, Gary offered to build
two identical bikes, except one would
have 29-inch wheels and the other
would have 26-inch wheels. One was
Fisher’s top-of-the-line production 29
Paragon hardtail trailbike. The other
bike used the identical frame, but with
geometry correct for 26-inch wheels.
That frame happens to be the same as
the top 26-inch hardtail trailbike Fisher,
the Hoo Koo E Koo. But even though it
was the identical frame, the rest of the
Hoo Koo E Koo isn’t close enough to the
Paragon, so that’s why Gary Fisher took
the HKEK frame and built it up with
the identical components used on the
Paragon.
DOUBLE-BLIND EXPERIMENT
Gary Fisher handed us the bikes and
challenged us to shoot them out—sideby-
side, on the same days, with the
same riders, and on the same trails. It’s
the first ever truly objective, scientific,
double-blind comparison of 26-inch
wheels versus 29-inch wheels. We were
after results that would stand up in the
Supreme Court. The Mountain Bike
Action Supreme Court, that is.
MAKING A PARAGON 26er
Gary Fisher took a striped 26-inch
Hoo Koo E Koo frame and bolted on the
parts off a 29-inch Paragon—that is,
except for the 29-specific RockShox
Reba fork and 29 wheels. Hardware
that is so good and worth mentioning
includes Bontrager Race oversize riser
bar, Bontrager Race stem with two-bolt
bar cap, Bontrager Race grips,
Bontrager Race Lux hollow chromoly
rail saddle, and Bontrager Select offset
seatpost.
Using the same hardware created two
bikes that were identical except for
wheel size. Unfortunately, that means
you cannot purchase the same 26-inch
bike Gary Fisher custom built for us.
The $1100 Hoo Koo E Koo that you can
buy has a full Shimano LX RapidFire
drivetrain, a 3.9-inch RockShox Pilot
SL fork, V-brakes, standard-duty
Bontrager wheelset, and more economical
components throughout.
WHAT ABOUT THE FRAMES?
First, let’s get to know these bikes.
Both the Paragon 29er and our custombuilt
Paragon 26er use beautiful, externally
butted 6000 series aluminum
frames that are built in Waterloo,
Wisconsin. The cool thing about external
butting is that it relies on tube diameter
and not tubing wall thickness to
increase tube rigidity. On both frames
Fisher uses external butting on both
ends of the downtube and at the front of
the top tube. The remainder of the tubes
are tapered and custom butted for less
weight and better performance.
aconselham algum modelo/marca especifico?
