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As the title suggests....i am facing the choice between upgrading my much loved 26er or getting a new 650b.

For roughly the same money i can get a new bike for the same amount of money as upgrading my current dmr frame setup.

I love my frame, and when i was last into riding i was doing alright, being modest.

But obviously my other components arent new, but work fine. I really maintained them. The upgrades would be slightly better or far better than the new bike equivalants.

Though with a new bike i will get new everything, at a slightly lower spec, on a 650b.

And yes im talking a hardtail as well. I enjoy the simplicity and air time without a sapping rear shock, and nothing is really that unrideable either (been les gets, loads of uk places).

Any thoughts?

Stick with 26", sounds like you love it so why move for the sake of moving.

You can get some seriously good deals on 26" wheels/forks now and rest of it is the same no matter 26/27.5/29...

David

As I said on one of the other post, my frame can and has run 26" and 27.5" wheels. Was there much difference? Not loads but going by strava time I was quicker going up and down on the bigger wheels. You do roll over rougher ground quicker (which to be honest you don't get local. rocky Wales or national peaks riding or abroad is where it's worth it). The only other thing I would say is the newer 27.5 frames have way better geometry which make the biggest difference.

If you have still got the dmr I would just carry on using it to get back in to ridding before upgrading in 6 months time

PS I would also say there are even more new hub spacing standards now so it may be worth waiting to see what becomes the norm before committing (142 v 148 boost for rear and 100 v 110 boost front)

If you do look at new bikes have a look at whtye's 900 range

The geometry of my dmr exalt frame is near on identical to the nukeproof scout, which is a 650b- even with ride sag taken into account. So the frame is absolutely no issue.

And i looked at the whyte 900s but (here is the eternal which bike chatter) think that due to my 6ft3 height the scout has better sizing, and the other maybe is a ragley marley or piglet.

But it appears i could have a bunch of saint stuff and premium wheels, etc for the same price as the deore spec new bikes.

If theres not much in the ride then i think ill maybe go for the upgrades. I will mostly ride danbury and colchester bike park where theres a fair bit of twists and turns so it could well be the smaller wheel is better suited.

Then....heres a thought...if i leave my new fork (160 or 170mm) steerer tube long enough i could have option of getting a fs frame and transferring the trick stuff.....

Oooo choices.

What do you intend to ride? Xc, trail, messing around in the woods with jumps and dh style lines? I say this as the Dmr is very much a messing about in woods rather than pedalling bike, nothing wrong with that if that's what you want it for.

Also what geometry are you looking at for the Dmr to be similar to more modern frames? Are you loooking at smaller frames for the larges or xl in their range?