26 inch wheels vs 700c wheels

[Deus]

How much difference will there be between a bike with 26 inch wheels and one with 700c wheels as regard the torque for hills and the top speed (both bikes with the same hub motor) is it so minimal as to not be bothered about or would the 26 inch wheels be better in my hilly area ?

 

[RobF]

Gearing is more important than wheel size.

 

[Deus]

I will be buying a bike with a hub motor and both bikes have the same gears and motor the only thing different will be the wheel size so can anyone answer my question ?

 

[jackhandy]

Yes.

Given a similar tyre profile, jommetry says a 29er's wheel will travel roughly 91" per:
Whereas a 26" wheel will go about 81"

The difference of about 10% is significant, I guess.
Half-a-gear-ish on the top end?

 

[trex]

hilly area: 26" wheels. You need the rotational speed to avoid overheating the motor.

 

[Alan Quay]

My opinion is not a lot. The reason I say this is that 700c usually denotes a rim with a skinny tire, where as 26" usually means a fat mtb tire. In that case the circumference is fairly similar.

If you are talking about 26" vs 29er, then thats more of a difference.

 

[Deus]

hilly area: 26" wheels. You need the rotational speed to avoid overheating the motor.

Trex are you saying 26 inch wheels then ??

It will be an Ezee motor 250 watt 250 rpm all i want to know is will there be much of a discernible difference between the 700c and the 26 inch wheel or is it so close as to not be worth bothering about.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

With a Ezee motor, it's not so critical because it has plenty of torque. For smaller motors, a 26" wheel would probably be better. The Ezee torq has 700c wheels, and it has plenty of torque for steep hills. The bigger wheels seem to give more relaxed riding.

 

[trex]

the difference is easily felt.
if you use the ebike simulator at ebike.ca, the difference between 26" and 700C is about 5%, less than between 26" and 650B or 28.5" (10%). The 700C usually come with narrow tyres, less grip, the simulator can't show that. Look also at the time it takes for the motor to overheat on 10% gradient.
21 minutes to overheat with 26" wheels, 15 minutes with 28.5"
CD bikes do much better on this sort of situation.
http://ebike.ca

 

[Cyclezee]

the difference is easily felt.
if you use the ebike simulator at ebike.ca, the difference between 26" and 700C is about 5%, less than between 26" and 650B or 28.5" (10%). The 700C usually come with narrow tyres, less grip, the simulator can't show that. Look also at the time it takes for the motor to overheat on 10% gradient.
21 minutes to overheat with 26" wheels, 15 minutes with 28.5"
CD bikes do much better on this sort of situation.
http://ebike.ca

Hi Trex,

This simulation is with the old eZee motor not the V2 with which you can do a direct comparison between the same motor in both 26" and 700c wheels.

Link to simulator http://www.ebikes.ca/tools/simulator.html

 

[flecc]

Choose 26". Even the best e-bikes don't have an abundance of power and torque for climbing, so take every advantageous possibility for a hilly area.