Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "29er (bicycle)" in English language version.
Mavic's engineers, however, put a much finer point on it. Twenty-nine inch wheels, they contend, are 39 percent less stiff than a similar 26-inch model built exactly the same and will weigh 10 percent more than the 26'er.
The longer wheelbase adds stability but has the unfortunate effect of also reducing a bike's maneuverability. Compounding the cumbersome, long wheelbase problem was sluggish steering. The increased gyroscopic effect of the bigger front wheel requires that you apply more effort at the handlebar in order to make quick steering changes.
The usage of the term 29er comes from the first production bike available to the masses from the Fisher bike company, called the Two Niner, which came out in 2001.
29ers are mountain bikes built around 700c sized wheels resulting in an outside tire diameter of about 29 inches
Between 700c and 26″ there is no difference in the AREA of the contact patch.
Unfortunately, evolution of tires and rims has made these measurements lose contact with reality. Here's how it works: Let's start with the 26 × 2.125 size that became popular on heavyweight "balloon tire" bikes in the late 30s and still remains common on "beach cruiser" bikes. This size tire is very close to 26 inches in actual diameter. Some riders, however were dissatisfied with these tires, and wanted something a bit lighter and faster. The industry responded by making "middleweight" tires, marked 26 × 1.75 to fit the same rims. Although they are still called "26 inch", these tires are actually 25 5/8″, not 26″. This same rim size was adopted by the early pioneers of west-coast "klunkers", and became the standard for mountain bikes. Due to the appetite of the market, you can get tires as narrow as 25 mm to fit these rims, so you wind up with a "26 inch" tire that is more like 24 7/8″ in actual diameter!
29ers are mountain bikes built around 700c sized wheels resulting in an outside tire diameter of about 29 inches
Niner staked its entire existence on the 29-inch wheel, a radical idea in 2005.
