650b wheels - is this still a thing?

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by Burning Pines

I really want to try a 650b bike but I'm 6' and a 29er convert for mtb so I'm not sure why I wouldn't want the rollover of a big 700c off road. I do more mixed terrain than gravel specifically. Would like to borrow a friend's bike at some point though and see what I'm missing! Anyways it doesn't appear to be dying if anything I see soooo many bikes with Horizons and Byways now.

I think I'm most drawn to those earlier implementations you see on bob or whatever with 650b x 40ish and fenders on old trek road bikes. Those are really appealing.

I'm also a 29er convert for MTB. My other bikes are a Hightower with 29x2.5 and a Mukluk that runs 27.5x4 in the winter and 29+ in the summer. This is is just to demonstrate that I loves me some rollover.

For me, the 650x2" small knobbies keep the bike feeling nimble and kinda like a road bike but also provide enough cush for chunky Front Range trails. When I get bigger than 700x40 on that bike, it starts to feel more cumbersome in tight corners and harder to spin up. Climbing sucks. The rollover is missed in some situations, but I'm already in a road-ish position with gearing that's too high, so this is just a different experience and I'm ok with that. Choose what's important to you, compromise on the things that aren't, work with what you have.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Drmojo

The 700 c bikes were 5% slower unless course was dead flat

This has be an exaggeration. If 700c bikes are 5% slower, no racer would use them. 5% is about 3 minute over a 40K TT - a disadvantage that would be glaringly obvious to anyone.

650c wheels were tried for a short time on the climbing stages of Grand Tours in the 1990s for their lower weight (this was before the minimum weight limit). They were abandoned after a year or two, because whatever small advantage they may have given was outweighed by the logistical disadvantage of using non-standard sized wheels.

[spoonrobot]

5% does seem extremely high for just a change of wheel diameter, on the road.

For me personally, statistics for all rides on each (about 400); demi-ballon 650b tires are about 7% slower than 700c racing tires. But that's going from 700cx23/25 to 650bx42/47 - a pretty big change aerodynamically in addition to weight/rolling resistance.

[d_douglas]

I have a set of 650b wheels with 47mm WTB Senderos to try, but have been waiting for two months for a Campy freehub body! Once that comes, I am looking forward to trying them out on my old-school (disc) Redline.

I was cruising home last night from work on this bike with 700x32mm tires and the ride was just so smooth and comfy. Not sure if 650b will be a good change, but wanted to try. I am sure I can sell the wheels off it is a bust. I want to use the bike offroad (or on nasty gravel) so the knobby tires were a priority. They might stink for commuting, so I bought a $40 Specialized hybrid from Craigslist to use as a commuter while I use the fatties on the Redline as my experiment.

[zross312]

I was thinking about picking up a set of Senderos, so I'll be very curious to hear your thoughts once you get them up and running. I've been running 650x47 Vittoria Terreno Dry Zeros, and while they've been OK overall, I'm sick of their awful performance in (ironically) dry conditions.

Originally Posted by d_douglas

I have a set of 650b wheels with 47mm WTB Senderos to try, but have been waiting for two months for a Campy freehub body! Once that comes, I am looking forward to trying them out on my old-school (disc) Redline.

I was cruising home last night from work on this bike with 700x32mm tires and the ride was just so smooth and comfy. Not sure if 650b will be a good change, but wanted to try. I am sure I can sell the wheels off it is a bust. I want to use the bike offroad (or on nasty gravel) so the knobby tires were a priority. They might stink for commuting, so I bought a $40 Specialized hybrid from Craigslist to use as a commuter while I use the fatties on the Redline as my experiment.

[marsh]

I'm not able to get out to XC trails as much as I used to, so I changed this from
26 with a Rockshox fork to rigid 27.5 x 2. This thing absolutely rips on gravel and light 1-track.
I will probably go with 26 x 2.4 when I make it back out to mtb trails, but I'm really happy with the bike now.

[Zian]

Originally Posted by marsh

I'm not able to get out to XC trails as much as I used to, so I changed this from
26 with a Rockshox fork to rigid 27.5 x 2. This thing absolutely rips on gravel and light 1-track.
I will probably go with 26 x 2.4 when I make it back out to mtb trails, but I'm really happy with the bike now.

That ride looks sick! What kind of fork are you running?