New wheel sizes

Bicycling
1

Lately a new wheel size has been gettting a bit of press. 27.5+ and 29+ are the traditional 27.5 and 29 inch wheels with a bit of a twist. They are wider than the traditional wheel. They are 3" or so rather than the usual 2.1-2.2ish.

A few examples:
Rocky Mountain Sherpa

Specialized

There are others out there as well, but some of the mainstream players are onboard with the trend.

What do you think? Another tire size good? Will it make the current trend of 26" fatbikes obsolete? Is it a complete marketing scam?

2

Got to admit that Sherpa looks fun.

I have a set of Vee Stout 2.6" tires from way back. I have used them but they’re boat anchors. Apparently the new wide tires are much lighter but I can’t imagine any application where I would run anything wider than 2.5"

Probably won’t kill 26" fatbikes but I could see some people liking the idea of 27.5+ wheels on their 29er frames for winter though.