Confessional: The Marketing Machine Breaking me Down

[audios89]

I have a touring rig in a Surly Troll that I've ridden on several types of tours over the last couple years and have grown to embrace its versatility. I bought it specifically to avoid this first world problem. I've got 3 different wheelsets for it which all have the overall same rolling diameter depending on tire. I'll ride 26x3, 27.5x2.3 or 29x40mm depending on terrain, and even have a 80mm fork for the 27.5 wheelset. Between my road and FS mountain bike, the Troll covers all the bases, it's a flickable mule, so I'm frustrated that I'm even considering selling it now.

I love the bike, and now trying my best to avoid the nagging upgrade bug, but I can feel myself breaking down. I keep reading these blogs/forums that laud the 27.5+/29+ platform for bikepacking/touring, especially when switching over from the 26 platform. I've never ridden one for extended periods, but they sound to have real benefits. So I'm now considering 27+/29er rigid touring bikes like the Salsa Fargo and hate myself for it. Is the marketing machine is winning me over, or are the real-world reviews solidifying it?

On backcountry tours I've loved the 26+ size. Compared to the larger plus options it seems a bit easier to manuveur in slow technical sections and the lighter weight is easier to repeatedly turn over extended climbs. But I'm a tall rider @ 6'2 and now that I'm a much more experienced cyclist (only started 3 years ago), could probably handle the extra heft. It also sucks that the 26+ platform only has a few tire options. Would it be worth it to change over to a 29 platform?

Anyhow, I write this not only to talk myself out of making another upgrade (I do love what I ride), but to hear any other stories people have had over the years resisting upgrades and how they justified eventually doing so. I joined the bike community at either the best or worst time; with 3 wheel standards, plus sized tires, etc. there really can be too much of a good thing.

[Adam Alphabet]

Get off the internet and go ride the awesome set up you've got, 3 wheel sets!! Boost, plus, super boost, mid fat, 1x12 ugh..  Don't sell out don't buy in, fight it, fight it!

[dave]

Posting on a forum about a first-world problem is just creating another first-world problem, I'd say.

[offroute]

The only way to justify a bike purchase is to ride like there's no f'ing tomorrow. If you're doing that, it doesn't matter whether or not you upgrade – you're winning either way.

[bakerjw]

No problems with upgrade plans but don't let it box you into a mindset.

I'm hoping for word on a warranty replacement frame here soon for a collection of parts that are laying around but I still ride Steve when I hit gravel. Steve is my Karate Monkey. Next year I'll likely build up a mountain tandem for me and my wife to be used for road and gravel riding. I might even have to put off my Tour Divide departure into July so it'll be warm enough to get her to go along.

You'll find that everyone has upgrade plans to some degree.

[chrisx]

For less than the upgrade, you could buy a plane ticket to South America, or Greece, or the North Pole, or the equator.  Maybe even visit someplace nice. 

Upgrade your flight to bring along a bicycle.
Could be better to fly with an older bicycle.  remember the Samsonite lugage monkey?   

[Sparkyga]

I survived for years with a 26" Troll. One bike for all riding.... Well until I discovered 29" is just a heck of a lot nicer. Which was great for awhile but then the fat bike bug bit me and I'm now convinced that 4.8" rubber is a around good time....

Is everything the bike industry creates a good thing? Not usually, but a lot of technology that has come out in past few years is pretty sweet. I'm thinking that 27.5"+ will become the industry standard and fat bikes are about the most versatile bikes mankind has ever created.  I can't wrap my head around why we keep reinventing the bottom bracket a 100 different ways though....  Or why we can't just have 1 or 2 hub sizes and call that good enough.

It's your call if you want to change up your bike but I'm just saying I don't miss my Troll in the slightest

[Hayduke]

I'm a 26"x2.4" to 29"x3" convert, the difference in ride quality where and how I ride is simply startling, I would never go willingly back haha


I ride much farther, with less wear and tear on me than I ever did on my much lighter 26" bike. You can put me firmly in the plus camp. I've put maybe 75 miles on my son's 27.5+ FusePro Fattie, we switch bikes for kicks on trail rides but I've never packed it. It rides good, but the roll over/momentum  advantage of the 29"+ is really noticeable on long rides on the rough roads and trails I ride. My son likes riding my ECR, but it's not hip enough for his 'shredder' image haha

Personally, I wouldn't fret over moving on from the Troll, it's not like you would be cutting it up with a torch and tossing it in a dumpster. It will sell to someone that wants to experience the "Troll Thing".

I find myself jonesing for a ridgid 29er to compare to my ECR for gravel grinding, maybe a 1x10 Karate Monkey or Fargo haha It's a good thing I live 3.5 hours from the used bike rich area of Phoenix/Mesa area :- )

.....definitely a First World problem.

[MikeC]

Go demo a Trek Stache with 29 x 3" tires.  It's not the only bike out there that'll give you an idea, but it's probably the most popular and best executed of the genre.

After that one ride you'll have your answer -- for better or worse.

[bong crosby]

I toured/bikepacked for years on a Surly LHT and 26" wheels and it was adequate but I hadn't ridden any other wheel sizes so I didn't know what I was missing.  This summer, I demoed a 2016 Trek Stache 7 and was so impressed I went back to the shop and bought it.  I outfitted it for bikepacking and like Hayduke said in a previous post, the difference really is startling.  The 29+ wheels gobble up gravel.  Roads that were a chore on 26" wheels are a breeze on 29+.  And when I'm not bikepacking, it's a fun trail bike.

Someone else had a good idea, demo a Stache and take it out for an overnighter.  If it doesn't blow your mind, then stick with your current steed.

[Smithhammer]

It's easy to avoid the marketing machine - simply evaluate what you need, what you don't, and what would be a tangible improvement over what you currently use that would justify the expense.

BUT much of the various recent developments in bike design aren't simply about the 'marketing machine' - there are a number of improvements that truly have merit and real-world usefulness.

Believe me - I have my own retro-grouch tendencies when it comes to certain aspects of bike design, but at the same time, I get a little tired of all the complaining about how we must all just be victims of some vast marketing conspiracy when it comes to bike innovation, as though we should all still pretend it's 1972 and that nothing has been figured out since. There have been a lot of improvements that have made bikes better, more versatile and more capable in recent years. Whether those things are actually worth it to an individual are something only they can decide.

For bikepacking off-road, I see absolutely no downside to going with a plus rig, and many real benefits. In fact, I recently sold my Fargo in favor of an ECR, because I've been that impressed with 29+.