Do you ride 650B or 700c with your gravel bike?

[unterhausen]

I ride 700cx38mm gravel king SK. I rode a 100km ride on the road this year on them, it was fine. Maybe a little noisy.

I have been 650b curious, but inertia takes over when I actually build a bike

[Hakkalugi]

I ride 650bx48 and 700cx36 depending on mood and route of the day. Love the 650s on Singletrack and the 700s on gravel roads, but I don’t treat them as ‘dedicated’ to any surface type.

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Not specifically on topic, but I am curious how many people ride smooth 35-38mm tires? As in, not gravel tires, but effectively road treads, but really wide?

Though I am not inclined to have one bike , I wonder if a nice balanced gravel bike like an Open UP width some of those high end Herse tires (Jon Bon Pass, I think?) allows a bike like that to pass as a road bike (not for racing, but for riding fast and having the sensation that we all love of flying along on paved roads.

Anyone?

It's close but not really the same, for 700c. One of the main trusts of 650b was that in a tire close to 700cx23 diameter - 650bx38-650bx42 - the larger tire, due to the smaller wheelsize, feels almost exactly the same as 700cx23.

Something like 700cx35/38 feels fine but obviously slower - not as spritely - than 700cx23, moreso than the difference between 700cx23/650bx42.

My main road bike is 700cx38 and although I miss out on the pure speed of narrower tires the comfort benefit for my riding style is a worthwhile tradeoff. You can try it cheap with the latest round (inside casing color is now natural, from black) of GK slicks in 700cx35 or 38 - they tested as no statistical difference (Δ<1%) in my rolldown testing vs the most recent Herse Barlow Pass.

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Not specifically on topic, but I am curious how many people ride smooth 35-38mm tires? As in, not gravel tires, but effectively road treads, but really wide?

Anyone?

I currently do. 700x38 Schwalbe G-ones.... not totally smooth, but pretty darn close, plus the tiny knobs wear off at an expected rate. This is my current set-up.

AND, this OP question is one I'm wrestling with currently. My wife and I bought the same gravel bike (cute I know) but with the idea of sharing three sets of wheels. She uses her gravel bike for everything except the grocery getter - so truly all road.

The bikes can fit 700x45 or 650x50. So, do we go 2x700 and 1x650? or 3x700?

The thinking is to have a set of 700x28ish, a set of 700x38ish and maybe a set of 700x45 OR 650bx50 ... all tubeless. Same rotors, same cassettes. Different rings up front (Mine 50x34.... hers 44x28)

But when you look at weights, availability etc. the 650b almost doesn't seem worth the bother?

When we ride off road, she can use the largest and me the middle. When we ride on road, her the smallest, me the middle. When we ride alone, we can choose the wheelset which makes the most sense.

Sounds ideal, but what do I get. 650b or 700c for the widest ones.... and then what tire? cause the differences seem small with very little weight advantage (50g wheels) (basically nothing at the tire)

[NHAero]

I ride Vitoria Randonneur Hypers in 700x37 on my Anderson. Smooth tread, low rolling resistance, but also great on dirt roads and hard packed trails that I take as short cuts. My Firefly has 700x28, pure roadie bike, and it's hard to compare because its also lighter and has no fenders or disc brakes like the Anderson.

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

I currently do. 700x38 Schwalbe G-ones.... not totally smooth, but pretty darn close, plus the tiny knobs wear off at an expected rate. This is my current set-up.

AND, this OP question is one I'm wrestling with currently. My wife and I bought the same gravel bike (cute I know) but with the idea of sharing three sets of wheels. She uses her gravel bike for everything except the grocery getter - so truly all road.

The bikes can fit 700x45 or 650x50. So, do we go 2x700 and 1x650? or 3x700?

The thinking is to have a set of 700x28ish, a set of 700x38ish and maybe a set of 700x45 OR 650bx50 ... all tubeless. Same rotors, same cassettes. Different rings up front (Mine 50x34.... hers 44x28)

But when you look at weights, availability etc. the 650b almost doesn't seem worth the bother?

When we ride off road, she can use the largest and me the middle. When we ride on road, her the smallest, me the middle. When we ride alone, we can choose the wheelset which makes the most sense.

Sounds ideal, but what do I get. 650b or 700c for the widest ones.... and then what tire? cause the differences seem small with very little weight advantage (50g wheels) (basically nothing at the tire)

I would go 650b if you have single track or rough trails to ride. It also will give a bit of a different ride than 700c that you may enjoy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[merlinmurph]

My Seven Evergreen SL currently has two sets of wheels:
700x28mm for road use
700x40mm Clement/Donnelly X'PLOR MSO for dirt/mixed

Very little of my gravel riding is on actual roads, but rather, a lot of singletrack. In the northeast, that can mean roots and rocks. I avoid the really gnarly stuff, but anything else is good and there's a good of amount of local trails to keep me busy.

I'm considering a set of 650b wheels with serious fatties for trail riding. Being old and slow, I prefer cush over speed (speed? what's that?).

[R3awak3n]

I have been a fan of 650B for many years now. Road I still prefer 700c but if there is more than say 40/50% gravel or any rough stuff I will pick the 650b any time. More volume = more fun. I do not care a single bit if they are slower.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

But when you look at weights, availability etc. the 650b almost doesn't seem worth the bother?

What do you mean there?

A variety of 650b tires are just a few clicks away since the internet happened.

Originally Posted by rain dogs

The bikes can fit 700x45 or 650x50. So, do we go 2x700 and 1x650? or 3x700?

When we ride off road, she can use the largest and me the middle. When we ride on road, her the smallest, me the middle. When we ride alone, we can choose the wheelset which makes the most sense.

It sounds like you and your wife want(have?) 700c sets because that is your safe choice. Maybe get a third wheelset of 650b and some different tires so you two can experiment, try it out, before going further down that road.

[Mzilliox]

New gravel bike: so far 650B, but only because i dont have a set of 700c. Id love ot get a set of discy gravel 700c wheels for running the 38 steelicoms or whatever they are called

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by sparky33

What do you mean there?

A variety of 650b tires are just a few clicks away since the internet happened.

It sounds like you and your wife want(have?) 700c sets because that is your safe choice. Maybe get a third wheelset of 650b and some different tires so you two can experiment, try it out, before going further down that road.

Yeah... should clarify. We have two of the three sets of wheels, both 700c. We mostly ride mixed terrain, like 60/70% road 40/30% gravel, nothing too technical. We always ride road to get to the gravel.

The third set that I'm looking for is either A. our first 650b or B. another 700c in any case fairly small knob toward smooth no matter the size.

Re: "the bother". There are tons of 700c disc wheelsets out there, less in 650b. And with tires, the max difference on our frames are 5mm more than 700c, but when you look up the tires, many of the same models come in the same width 650x45 or 700x45 for example, so in theory we could gain a little width, but those tires maybe don't exist. And again, so many more 700c tires than 650b (I'm looking at schwalbe and gravelkings primarily)

Lastly, all the MTB'rs now say 700c rolls best in off-road, which being a roadie has me confused. I last rode mtb in the days of 26" and I thought we were benefitting by going that way (smaller) for gravel/offroad, but mtb is saying go bigger > 29(700c)? So which is it?

[Duende]

I’ve been curious to try 650B for some time now, but the opportunity just hasn’t presented itself. The gearing differential as well as the wider tire control is definitely intriguing.

However with that said, I’ve been perfectly content riding my 700 x 38 Steilicomms for off road. They aren’t holding me back any.

For on road I’m riding 700 x 25. I like the feel of a narrow tire for road.

[Jaybee]

I've got 2 sets for my groad bike, one 650x2.2 front/48mm rear and a 700c set that I will run anything from 32mm file treads to 43mm GK SKs. There's a noticeable difference in cush from the fat 650s, and i find it spins pretty well on the flats too. I like this set a whole lot more for bigger gravel and singletrack, and because it's maybe only 3% worse for the mixed-terrain commute, I usually only use the 700c set when I need mud clearance.

Re: rain dogs comments above, I do prefer 29" wheels on my MTB. I notice the loss of rollover on rooty rocky terrain on the 650b gravel bike, though the geometry is probably contributing there also. I haven't ridden a roadish drop bar 29er that felt as sprightly in the other 95% of my riding as my 650b though - we're always making compromises.

[weaponsgrade]

I've got an old 650b hardtail mtb set up with WTB Byways; 700x38 Barlow Passes on my gravel (clearance for 42s); and a rigid 29er with Thunder Burts. All three bikes have been ridden at different times on the same roads/gravel roads. I prefer the 700/29er. Depending on what I feel like, I'll switch between the gravel and 29er.

I think the 650b hardtail will make for a good bikepacking bike when I find some time to get into that. I spec'd the gravel bike to have road-like handling rather than mtn-like handling. It's probably not a surprise, but overall I'm fastest on the gravel bike and the 29er is the most comfortable. Bikepacking excepted, for my local riding I've come to the conclusion that if the trail is gnarly enough to require something bigger than a 42, then I'll want a mtn bar for the control.

[donalrey]

My "road" bike has 700x35c Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass. Perfect balance between road and dirt/gravel.

My "gravel" bike, for the most part has on 26x2.3" Rene Herse Rat Trap Pass. This is my favorite tire - it just rolls so smooth both on paved and dirt. I have a 650b set up as well with Rene Herse 650bx48c Juniper Ridge - I'll throw it on if I know I'll be riding some rougher stuff.