26 vs 29 touring internationally

[ymakux]

Not sure...Might be true for good developed countries, but what about Bolivia, Venezuela, Pakistan etc? Touring isn't that popular world wide as it's quite expensive and time-consuming entertainment.

[chrisx]

27.5 x 2.1
is coming up the winner for new bikes all over the Americas. The mountains of Peru still have 26, 26, and 26. 26 is every where South of Texas.  27.5 x 2.1 is still a long bus ride to Pa Capatal, but gaining strength.

[chrisx]

Spring 2019

I talked the talk then failed to listen.
I bought a cheap single speed to ride to some trail heads, and stash in the woods while I hiked.
Figured I would take it to Guatemala, and ride to some ruins, places the bus does not go.
While inflating the tires at Aeropuerto de Guatemala-La Aurora, Boom, lost a bead on a tire I bought in 2006.
It takes about two hours to walk to zona 1.
Over the next couple of days, I visited 7 or so bike shops.  No luck!  
The only 700, was a 23 mm.  They did not have any schrader tubes either.  The old women that sold me the tube and tire for $13, from a table in the streets of Treble,  also gave me a washer to fit the presta valve.  

The roads to the ruins are not paved, sometimes the mud is so bad a jeep can not make it.

Tire on the left may have made the bike 2 pounds lighter, but Guatemala is not made of smooth roads, "no sirve para nada"
on Flickr

Ok, this is an old topic but I'll answer anyway.

Sorry for my english!

So, in 2011 I had a long trip from Texas (USA) to Ushuaia (Argentina). It took 6 months. I had a very simple bicycle which I got from REI. The bike was equipped with 700C wheels.
What I learned from that journey: NEVER EVER use 700c for international trips! It was a pain in the ass!
I was able to get to Guatemala, then I stuck there for 2 weeks waiting for 700c tires an tubes I ordered from USA because the local stores did not have 700c! Next stop was Buenos Aires (Argentina), same problem!

All America outside of USA has no clue about 700c! Probably Asia too.

My advice: use only 26" to be able to change your tubes and tires in every bike shop!

All the bike shops in Guatemala have 26 inch mt bike tires.  
At Maya pedal, a week later,
http://www.mayapedal.org/
I found an old used 700 x 28 I think it was.
With no plans to bring the single speed home a used tire was good enough.  The tire with the blue stripe was of little use outside the Capatal.

Note:
in Antigua Guatemala you can buy a 700 x 35, for 65q from a table near the old bus station.  Or from Old Town Outfitters, you can get a Schwalbe 700 touring tire, for a price.  That is it for the entire country.

I sold the bike for 150q about $20, about the price of a bus ticket back to Pa Capatal.  No rain at the ruins.  41c = about 105f every day




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYUMm8BRjY8

[brambor]

My thinking is get a 29er wheels and head out. I believe you will find wheels but in the absolute extreme situation when the while town only has 26 inch wheels... well they will still fit onto a 29 inch frame ! It may look odd but it should work out .

OTOH a 26 inch wheel frame arriving somewhere with zero 26 wheels you won’t fit 29 inch wheels onto that 😃


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[chrisx]

In hot low land town of Morales Guatemala the police have two 29ers.  They waited 29 days for a replacement tire.  They had to order it from Mexico City.  Morales is a small town with a bus station where you can change for Rio Dulce, Puerto Barrios, or Honduras.  The police thought they could catch a couple of criminals if they had 29ers to chase the bandidos on the 26ers.  And they did.  Until one of them had to put a 26 inch wheel on his 29er.  Because of a lowered bottom bracket, the police man crashed 3 times.  Pedal strikes a rock in the cow path, and boom, police man hits the ground.  The bandido escaped that day.  Because his arm was broken, I had to help him mount the new tire. The wait for the other bus can be a couple of hours.   With a new tire on his bike, at last, the police man was mounting up to look for the criminal. I had to convince his friend to take him to the clinic first.

Welcome to Guatemala.

In the mountains.
Ekaterina is standing in front of her house with a green water jug in her had.   She is about to walk to the well and fill it with water.  
Those boys use a wooden plank like a sled to slide down the cobblestone hill.
No 29er in their village.  Many places in the world just do not have luxury items.

12 miles away, in the next village.  Cantilever brakes, 26 inch x 1.9 tires, and cables are for sale at the hardware store.  Anything else is a long bus ride away.
Flickr
Manuela makes tortillas as I heat water for coffee.

What are you going to do.


They would be delighted to teach you how to speak Ixil while you wait a month for a tire.
The nearest bike shop with a 29 inch tire is 607 miles away.  you have to change buses 7 times to get there.

[brambor]

Aah pedal strikes 🙂 got to put it into ny nemory


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