24" rear wheel

I've been riding a 24 inch rear/ 26 inch front for a while now. It seems like it was popular 5 years ago, but nobody does it anymore. I have to replace my rear rim and I am trying to decide if I want to stick with the 24 or switch over to a 26 for my Banshee Scream…

The way I see it,

24:
stronger
faster acceleration
increased maneuverability

26:
faster
better 'rolling over stuff' abilities

I can't decide! Help!
I ride the north shore (Fromme) and hit Whistler a few times a year.

Scream

Honestly, I rocked a 24" rear for a while with my Scream and didn't have any issues with the smaller size. If you didn't have the wheel already, I would say go with 26" as it is easier to get good tires and all that, and sure it rolls slightly easier over things. However, if it was me and I already had a perfectly fine 24" wheel, I think I would just save the money. If your rim is really beat and/or you need new tires and can't get any good ones… then 26" might be the right thing to do.

Edit: On second thought, with such a tall fork up front… that has a ridiculous bias to the rear of the bike and a 26" might help balance that out a bit. I was running fairly low axle to crown height forks with my 24" rear. And also my reading comprehension sucks and you need a new rear rim anyways. If you don't think the BB will feel too high if it goes up a bit, then might as well go 26".

24:
stronger
faster acceleration
increased maneuverability

.

Doesnt a 24 just give lower gearing so couldnt you get the same acceleration with a gearing change …dropping a few teeth on the chainring?

doesnt a 24 rake the bike out and slow down handling ?

depending on the tire you might be suprised at what your actual wheel circufrence is

How big are you. I'm 200LBS and ride my bike hard and with a good wheel builder I would never consider going to 24" for increased strength. I'll put it like this, I see a lot of big dudes on Banshee Screams. They ride the bike because they need a burly bike, well they run 26" wheels because they are able to be made strong enough. Get a 26" and you will be surprised at how much faster it goes. Acceleration really doesn't matter compared to the ability to not get hung up on little stuff and maintain a higher speed with less effort

I've been riding a 24 inch rear/ 26 inch front for a while now. It seems like it was popular 5 years ago, but nobody does it anymore. I have to replace my rear rim and I am trying to decide if I want to stick with the 24 or switch over to a 26 for my Banshee Scream…

The way I see it,

24:
stronger
faster acceleration
increased maneuverability

26:
faster
better 'rolling over stuff' abilities

I can't decide! Help!
I ride the north shore (Fromme) and hit Whistler a few times a year.

stronger?

the 26" rims of today are different than 4 years ago.

Faster acceleration?

Maybe on flat land, but in mountain situation, it can provide faster deceleration . It may not retain speed as easily as a 26". Also won't float over rocky section as easily

increased maneuverability?

probably, but rolling resistance/geometry/suspension probably plays a bigger role.

the 24" will feel better on really steep stuff, but pretty much everywhere else it's a detriment, IMO.

26 inch. The geo on your bike looks like it could benifit from slightly steeper angles.

oh yeah, drop your crowns to the "min" mark on your stanchions if they aren't already.

26" all the way. maybe look into seeing if you can get some flat crowns from marzocchi too, im sure they'll just give them away at this point. maybe its the camera but that bike has some craaaaazy angles

Yeah this bike is built for riding some strange gnarly shore stuff. I'm going to get a 26, though. Can anyone comment on the difference of riding tight skinnies with 24 and 26 rears? That 24 rear has lasted me a freaking long time and I can't even remember what riding 26 is like!

I could see the way yer bike is set up right now being difficult on skinnys/slow tech stuff. Switch to 26, lower the fork. You will feel way more balanced
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by putting a 26 onto your bike it will actually be better for skinnies and slow tech stuff. The larger wheel will steepen your head angle and raising your bb just a bit = quicker handling and easier to get over stuff.

I liked the geometry with the 24 rear; I found that it worked really well on slow technical trails with drops. Manualling over drops with no run ups was a breeze. The low centre of gravity was also nice. Nevertheless, I bought myself a 26 rear. It feels good, but I haven't had a chance to ride it on any trails yet.

Also, my camera has tons of distortion so don't let that fool you.