Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

*Googles 'titanium race bike' *

Toe overlap. I have 700x50 and mudguards on my vagabond and I catch my feet on them all the time.
Smaller wheels = less overlap.

The main advantage is that you can have big tyres without the weight and sizes penalty, especially if the 700c version is bigger than originally come with the bike (spec with 38mm but can fit 45mm which increase trail, thus handle a little slower), on a road bike it’s more obvious whether on MTB, a 29ers abet massive, roll over terrain well.

Meh, tyre weight >> htfu

Also you still mean whereas not whether

Already got one thanks. And a cross bike.

Do not post a ti singlespeed cross bike. Okthxbai.

It sort of is tho, slowly, isn't it. When I bought my 29er everyone on the MTB thread said get a 27.5 instead!

naeh last few years have been all about big travel 29ers, enduro 29ers and such.
Pole, Trek Slash etc

fat bikes are dead. plus bikes are dying in 3.0. Salsa is putting 2,6 on their full sus fat platforms.

Huh? Quite the opposite. Most are settling towards 29er derivatives with changes in geometry instead.

p.s bollocks. @negaatio hit the nail first.

Last years slash/remedy choice confused the shit out of me. Makes sense now.

Seems that the Arkose is a bit slacker and better off road than the Pyrolite.

Arkose can be ridden 650b as well, and apparently rides great in that mode.

Loved my recent test ride on Pyrolite, but have also heard about a gravel specific Fairlight dropping soon.

Chain reaction cycles has got 109 29ers for sale and 162 27.5s. Dunno anything about high end fashions as I am a super basic MTBer but I'm seeing more and more 27.5s

But if you want to put 650b wheels and tyres on an Arkose it'll cost £200 more than if they specced them as standard?

I have an arkose.
Do I want 650b wheels?
Why?

If anyone's looking for 650b wheels Alpkit have a deal on where you get a free set of 650b wheels with a set of 700c. If you find a pal who wants some 700c wheels it'll work out to £110ish for each wheelset.

I don't know if they're any good mind but from what I've read they're not awful

CR isn't really the best method of gauging bike trends. 26" is still the most common tyre on there for example.
It's not about fashions, but changes in consumer uses and engineering.

Unlike (AFAIK) Evans with an Arkose, Alpkit will also sell you a Sonder Camino with a 650b wheelset swapped in. But they're not on my cycle to work scheme :-(

I'm looking for a frame. I don't know if what I'm looking for exists.
Basically an arkose, but smaller.
Roughly:
52cm ETT
~48cm ST
Tapered or 44m headtube
Disc brakes
Alu over steel for weight
Space for big tyres, probably 650b since tiny frame.

The women's arkose is just so low, I'd prefer a higher top tube

What are alpkit clothes and stuff like?

Sonder Camino Al in small. 525 ETT, 470 ST, tapered head tube, disc brakes, big clearance in 650b or 700c.

Sonder Camino Al

Looks alright though a bit agricultural. All external cables, untidy welds etc

Fuji Jari in 49? I'm leaning toward one if I can find a discounted frameset locally (which is already silly cheap given the spec).

That looks pretty sweet actually. I would want to see a picture of the frame in XS or XXS before buying though. Can't seem to find much

Basically want a Squid without the ridiculous price tag and available in the UK.

Custom Mielec?

@chak @edscoble can you get a 650 with big tyre in this?

https://www.evanscycles.com/jamis-ventura-race-2018-road-bike-EV306031#modal__product-zoom-modal

Dunno about this years, but last years, yes. 1.5". Not sure about this years.

Custom duratec