All The Six Fifty Bees Thread! (650b, 27.5 etc.).

How do you know what shape they're gonna take when they're inflated though?

I'm after a new pair of rims. 650b, rim brake, light.
They are to replace some old Pacenti Sl23. I'd prefer something that has a black finish like these but it's not a deal breaker.
I can't spend Hed money but would like soemthing nice. What's the best options out there?

How light? Kinlin XR 31, about 470grs, £50 a rim.

Geometry nerds - what does putting 650b wheels in a 26" mtb frame do? Same tyre width. Please you words like trail in your answer.

Raises the bb height.
Oh, and gives you more stoke and gnarrrrr on the trail.

The Thorn ones on SJS? I don't actually have any but they're decently light and fairly cheap so I always ending up saying this.

Does anyone know why you can buy a G-One Speed in 40mm (e.g. here) but it doesn't appear on Schwalbe's site, only a 30 (not tubeless) and 50 mm in 650b?

Basically, I'm wondering if the 40 mm is end of line, and if so whether I should buy a pair or two now, even at that price, to replace my aging 38mm Gravelking slicks, which I've found a bit fragile.

Also, why does it say on the Schwalbe page 'also available in an extra wide, yet incredibly fast 60mm' and not list that either?

@umop3pisdn @Silly_Savage
Thanks I'll have a look at them both.

Have been thinking the same thing. A 90s mtb frame with some 2.1/2.2 inch 650b tyres would be a decent go-most-places tourer I reckon?

Yup, 1.9 at least. 2.22s messed with my brakes.

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Nice! What size tyres are those? You look to have a decent amount of clearance still?

EDIT: Ah, I got done by your ninja editing!

Nice ride, is that a cheese board?

I could have gotten away with bigger tyres if I stole my wife’s parallel push brakes. I thought about it...

Yup, picnic ride and all that.

Hmm interesting. What brakes you got on at the moment?

XT 780s I believe

This is Mrs upsidedown's 26" inbred with 650b wheels - whether I ride it it always feels super twitchy and I don't know whether that's down to the 60mm stem and Mary bars or the wheel swap

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Maybe the fact it's quite a lot too small for you?

Does she think it feels super twitchy?

It could be as simple as that, but I don't know enough about bike geo to discount the wheels being a factor.

@oheyitsdrew I don't really know- she's not really the type of cyclist to draw conclusions on bike feel so I'm mostly guessing. She's not massively in love with the bike though but that could just be because it was second hand.

I don't notice any difference with 650B from 700 other than the massive amount of extra drag from doubling the tyre width. Stem length is definitely a factor in "twitch" but you get used to it pretty quickly. My Inbred has gone 110mm to 50mm to I think it's 80 or 85mm on it at the moment. After a couple of rides I forget the difference.

it was second hand.

Snob!

All the best bikes are second hand! Who wants some boring, overpriced, factory thing that everyone is afraid to scratch for the first 12 months?

mrs upsidedown, apparently.

n+1

Did you also change tyre sizes?
For example:
26x2.2" gives 559+55+55=~669mm
27.5x1.9" gives 584+48+48=~680mm

Does 11mm (5.5mm change in ride height?) make that much difference? I don't know, but you should be able to choose tyres to make it equivalent if you wanted.

When people go 700c to 650b they'd talk about how it lowers trail and increases stability with a front load, maybe going from 26 to 650b has the opposite effect and is twitcher? Again I don't know.

I'd be inclined to guess that the backswept bars and short stem might be having more impact.