Where are all the 650c tires?

[bocobiking]

My wife owns a sweet Waterford bike with 650 wheels, Velocity A23 650c rims. Yesterday she went to order new 650c tires, but had a hard time finding any. The only ones we could find on the internet were Continental Gatorskins, and these were not widely available. She usually uses Vittoiria Rubino Pro tires, but even their website didn't have any. She has never had this problem before.

So now we are worried that these tires will become unavailable. Does anyone know what's going on with 650c's?

[ultraman6970]

Cant remember the size but there's some sizes that are out of stock in the whole country. No dealer has them.

[zap]

Colorado Cyclist has qty. 1 GP5000 650x25c tires listed as in stock.

[AngryScientist]

650c is dead as a doornail, unfortunately. i looked hard at a waterford on ebay several months ago that would have fit me beautifully, and it was a lovely bike, but used 650c wheels. that was a hard pass for me.

i'd say your chances of finding good road tires in that size are going to get harder by the year.

i'd look into a conversion to a more popular wheels size, if possible...

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by zap

Colorado Cyclist has qty. 1 GP5000 650x25c tires listed as in stock.

those are 650B, not 650C

[Davist]

forum sponsor bike tires direct shows the gatorskins in stock here: https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...650c-road-tire

[quehill]

Is it a pretty straightforward thing to swap 650C to 650B wheels, or are 650Cs closer to 26"?

I realize, of course, that I should probably just google the answer... but I must be feeling lazy or something.

Cheers!

[AngryScientist]

[Doug Fattic]

Terry Bicycles has some 650C X 28 tires available on their website. Her tires are usually made by Panasonic. Since a number of their bicycles used 650C wheels (probably the best solution to a smaller bicycle for which they are famous) they may continue to have them made.

There is no relationship between a 650B tire (that has roughly the same outside diameter as a 700C X 23) and the much smaller 650C.

[zap]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

those are 650B, not 650C

Ah, so it is.

[David Tollefson]

Originally Posted by quehill

Is it a pretty straightforward thing to swap 650C to 650B wheels,...

Definitely not. It "may" be possible depending on the frame clearances, but most 650c frames are road-oriented with clearances that wouldn't allow for the 650b (even with some pretty narrow tires).

[David Tollefson]

I've seen Panaracer Pasela at JBI in 25's, and Rodriguez Cycles in Seattle carries both the wire- and folding-bead in 28's.

[bocobiking]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

650c is dead as a doornail, unfortunately. i looked hard at a waterford on ebay several months ago that would have fit me beautifully, and it was a lovely bike, but used 650c wheels. that was a hard pass for me.

i'd say your chances of finding good road tires in that size are going to get harder by the year.

i'd look into a conversion to a more popular wheels size, if possible...

Of course, because all cyclists are medium sized males

I'm sick of the market dragging everyone to some standard of average. Last year I bought a steel Gunnar with mechanical shifting, a ten-speed triple drive train, 700x23 wheels, 130mm rear dropouts, and rim brakes. I had to get it custom made, because my size is not "average." It is exactly what I wanted, but how long before I can't get replacement parts?

[ColonelJLloyd]

32-559 (26" x 32mm) is about the same diameter as 25-571 (650c x 25). I thought Schwalbe made a really nice tire in this size. Maybe it was the G-One Speed in 30-559? Then there is the Rene Herse Elk Pass. The Pasela used to be made in this size and may still be.

But that conversion is only possible if the fork and stays will accommodate a ~32mm wide tire and most 650c designed bikes have pretty tight clearances.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

32-559 (26" x 32mm) is about the same diameter as 25-571 (650c x 25). I thought Schwalbe made a really nice tire in this size. Maybe it was the G-One Speed in 30-559? Then there is the Rene Herse Elk Pass. The Pasela used to be made in this size and may still be.

But that conversion is only possible if the fork and stays will accommodate a ~32mm wide tire and most 650c designed bikes have pretty tight clearances.

559mm vs 571mm, bead seat diameters..yer not gonna safely get a 571mm tire onto a 559mm rim and vice versa..