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Yeah, thats what I had in mind. Running knobby 35s now and reckon i'd have to go down a few mm to be able to be able to fit proper mudguards. Question is how much I would gain by going 650b, if its only a few mm its probably not worth it. If I could fit something like 38 with guards and 42 without i'd probably have a go...
scottparsley-
Question is how much I would gain by going 650b
You're moving the fattest part of the tyre about 19mm closer to the dropouts. Given straight stays, that would be about (19/350)×(135-40)=5mm extra width between the chainstays, but the Pompetamine stays are actually dimpled to clear 700C tyres. Looking at mine, I'd say there might even be less tyre room if the rim shrunk in radius by 19mm.
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As usual @mdcc_tester is right, when I went 26inch i couldn't go any bigger on the tyre, in fact there was less room than for 700s (with the chain the optimal length) because of the position of the dimples.
Also going 26 on both wheels does lower the bb something rotten. Probably fine freewheel, but fixed (esp. Polo) was pedal strike city.
gbj_tester
Khornight2
650b will put the bb 19mm closer to the ground if using the same width tyres.the bb is quite high anyway. With 700c you can get up to about 35s. You may be able to get a fatter tyre with the smaller rims into the frame. Definitely worth a shot.