Just an Observation

Left 29"  Right 26"

I do a fair amount of traveling and one of the things I keep an eye on is the regional differences of what cyclists will ride. Primarily I am a mountain biker even though I have been known to play with skinny tired bikes with drop handle bars they aren't my default means of two wheeled excitement.

Over the last couple of weekends I had ridden as far south as Santa Cruz California, Marin County and as far north as Santa Rosa. Not a huge geographical stretch as as some one like Richard Branson is concerned but a lot of traveling for some one of my meager means.

My last ride in Marin 29" bikes have gained a lot of momentum and now almost equal the number of 26" bikes I saw and what 26" bikes I saw tended to be older sub $1,000 hardtails or relatively new full suspension bikes. 

When I was in Santa Cruz I spotted a lot of 26" wheeled full suspension bikes, primarily a lot of Santa Cruz Bicycles (surprise) and a smattering of Ibis Mojos.  For the record, most of the people whom I was riding with were on hartail 29"ers with the exception of one person riding a 650b full suspension  bike and another riding a 26" full sus bike.

Even though it's just one county north from Marin, a lot of the Santa Rosa riders I saw were on full suspension 29"ers, especially a good number of 29" Specialized Stumpjumpers.

I think that it makes sense that there are these regional differences. Santa Cruz' riding is different than Marin's due to the fact that you need a bike that's adaptive to dramatically different terrains even on a relatively short ride. The recent ride I went on we road wide open fire trails, twisty, rocky single tracks and areas that wove in and out of trees like a humming bird.  While I didn't feel too much of being at a disadvantage of riding a 29" hardtail a 26" bike may have been more responsive in certain situations.

Marin is famous (or should I say infamous) for it's series of laborious fire roads. Most of the legal trails there require a lot of sustained power but for the most part even a short travel full suspension bike is completely overkill. But Marin is a fashion forward recreational destination that bills itself as the birthplace of modern mountain biking so there's a lot of "dig me" posturing at it's popular riding destinations. Any one who has an interest in marketing should keep an eye out for what's going on there because if you are trying to push 26" hardtail sales there you will be sorely disappointed.

I love riding in Santa Rosa. Annandale State Park is a great place to up your skill set and, for my money, a lot more fun that almost anything in Marin. There seems to be a lot less user conflicts on the trail, there's a lot less rider preening, and the over all vibe is a lot more mellow than neighboring Marin. The one thing Annandale is famous for is it was one of the homes of the Rockhopper race. The other thing it is famous for is a lot of rocks. Unless you want to a long travel / big hit full suspension 26" bike there I personally think a 29"er is the way to go there. A 29"er's larger wheel enables you to simply scramble up little rocky rises that would simply stall a smaller 26" wheel.

After riding a variety of 26" wheeled bikes in Annandale for over a decade  I feel that unless you either a) buy a long travel / big hit full suspension 26", b) you take the plunge and opt for an ultra fat tire 26" bike like a Surly Pugsley, or c) you are glutton for punishment then a 26"  wheeled bike is perfectly adequate for that area.

There's approximately 140 miles worth of freeways and suburbs that separate Santa Cruz from Santa Rosa and Marin County is somewhere near the middle of the two.  Perhaps this plays into Marin's over-exaggerated sense of self but like it or not Marin is still a place where a lot of bike trends debut. Even though there's less mountain bike innovation going on in Marin County then there's used to be it is an interesting place for trend watchers - even if the trails are grossly overrated.