You can be annoyed by the "disruptive" machinations of the bike industry with different axle widths and wheel sizes - or you can look past it and make the best of it. Namely to play with the wheel sizes 26, 27.5 and 29 inches. What is meant by playing here?

Three wheel sizes: Annoying - or the chance for more riding fun?

99.9% of mountain bikes are fitted with wheels of the same size at the front and rear. There are extremely rare exceptions with manufacturers such as Flyer or Liteville; in the heyday of 26-inch wheels, 24-inch wheels were popular with radical riders with a penchant for steep slopes. Looking over the garden fence, however, it quickly becomes clear: a large wheel at the front and a small wheel at the rear brings advantages, and motocrossers have long since understood this.

For a wheel test with 26, 27.5 and 29 inch wheels, Ride will not be using a motocrosser, but an e-mountain bike. The test vehicle is a Cannondale Moterra AM1 with 27.5" plus tires. Here, the 26" and 27.5" rear wheels and 27.5" and 29" front wheels are to show what they are made of. The wheel material comes from DT Swiss.

Rare, but works perfectly: big at the front, small at the back

In a second part, you can read which wheel combinations are ideal for which purpose. Last but not least, this test gets to the bottom of this question: Which wheel combination is the most fun?

So much can be revealed in advance: With 29 inches at the front and 26 inches, even the most terrifyingly steep terrain is nothing but pure joy. With the 29/26-inch combo, you can master downhill riding challenges that previously could only be mastered by dismounting (or OTB/flying over the handlebars).

The wheels in the test:

• Rear wheel 26": DT Swiss 240s hub, installation dimensions 12mm, 157mm / DT Swiss Competition 2.0/1.8mm spokes / DT Swiss Prolock Squorx Brass nipples / FR570 rim (rim width 27.5mm, outer width 33mm), 32 spokes, triple-crossed
• Rear wheel 27.5": DT Swiss 240s hub, 12mm,157mm internal dimensions / DT Swiss Competition 2.0/1.8mm spokes / DT Swiss Prolock Squorx Brass nipples / HX581 rim (rim width 35mm, outer width 40mm), 32 spokes, triple-crossed
• Front wheel 27.5": DT Swiss HX 1501 Spline One 35 system wheel, installation dimensions 15mm/boost (rim width 35mm, outer width 40mm), 28 spokes, triple-crossed
• Front wheel 29": DT Swiss HX 1501 Spline One 30 system wheel, 15mm/boost (rim width 30mm, outer width 35mm), 28 spokes, triple-crossed

The rear wheels were individually spoked by DT Swiss due to the rare installation width of 157mm specified by the test bike. The front wheels are from the current hybrid series from DT Swiss, which are designed for the loads on an e-mountainbike. A check of the wheels before the start of the test shows excellent concentricity, minimal deviations in radial and lateral runout and ideal, high spoke tension.