Road bike recommendations

26" would be an idea as budget wise it's easy to get wheels for, and you can get decent road tyres in that size than 650c.

650B starting to have more choices of tyres, but still not as many as 26".

^ exactly.

What she wants is a Commuter (that can go fast) single speed bike with disc brakes and clearances for 35c tyres + mudguards.

After the last try with Civilian bikes I have accepted the fact that it cant be OTP.
Will go and meet Matt at Talbot this weekend mostly.

The frameset will be the most expensive part of the build, I am still trying to keep it on a budget but the difference between zona with TFG and 853 with talbot isnt much.
Would be hard to accept the fact that she will have 853 and I will have zona ;)

Steve Goff? you can get one made in 525 for half the price.

72 ST, 71 HT (+ fork with 45mm rake), 52cm TT (realistically 51cm), 44cm ST (compact geo), etc. should fit well with a 26" wheels with minimal toe overlap.

Girlfriend's 650B Soma have no toe overlap at all, which is a nice surprise.

why not get a chinese carbon cross frame like zdrenka?

Steve Goff? you can get one made in 525 for half the price.

72 ST, 71 HT, 52cm TT, 44cm ST, etc.

What is his waiting period atm any idea?
Thats a good option ..

Also she currently rides a charge hob in xxs which is a centimeter too big (with layback post)

No idea, give him a ring as I couldn't, frame only for a Reynolds 525 is £350.00 according to him (£450 with steel fork).

Price included; one color stove enamel + transfers + lacquer

Wait period is 6 months or something like that I think

Sound about right for a custom jobs.

If you're having discs then surely now for 650B there are more rim options than with rim brakes?

Still limited tyres choices.

Still limited tyres choices.

What is this talk about limited tyre choice. While more limited than 700c/622mm, for a road ("racing") bicycle-- as distinguished from a touring, cross, hybrid, ATB, roadster, cruiser etc. even if they all are ridden on a "road"--- the selection of 26" tubular and 650c/571mm clincher tires in 19mm-23mm is quite good. "Open Clinchers" in 25-571mm, so-called, Paris-Roubaix tires are less common but findable--- in 27" tubulars, despite being commonplace in the Spring Classics, they are also hardly ever found in bicycle shops (some vendors that make them don't even list them in their catalogs). In 26" tubular sizes one can get excellent tires in 25mm and even 27mm (Dugast Silks are even available in this size). With excellent tyres from Dugast, FMB, Continental, Michelin, Veloflex, Vittoria, .....

^ Plenty of choices yes, but I think Ed's point was..

650B starting to have more choices of tyres, but still not as many as 26".

^ Plenty of choices yes, but I think Ed's point was..

I understand.. But these bicycles have only 2-wheels and need only 2 tyres.. with a selection of excellent tyres from all the best names (Dugast, FMB, Continental, Michelin, Veloflex, Vittoria, .....) I don't think tyre choice is a relevant paramter and if its a varaiable in the function it points to 650c rather than 650b. While there are very large numbers of ETRO 584 tyres on the market they are overwhelmingly not of the highest grade. I don't know single maker of open-tubulars in that size. For MTB its a fine size--- part of the shift from 26" to 29"--- but offroad is not road.

Even for touring.. 650c comes out better.. One might want a robust tyre but not a tyre with poor cornering, high rolling resistance on dry and poor traction on wet city roads. Here those heavy threads on the MTB tyres are counter-productive-- we can debatte how and if they make sense off-road but off-road != road.

What is my idea of a good clincher touring tyre? The Continental Grand-Prix 23-571. Its inexpensive, has a good proctection layer (woven Polyester "Poly-X") and fantastic rubber ("Black Chilie").

Does she really want to have wide tyres? In designing a frame for 650b and big wide tyres with noppies one is going to get pretty darn close to designing a frame for 700c with usual tight clearances. The point, I think, of this exercise was to design a frame for a small rider. 571mm (650c) versus 584mm (650b) and average 23mm width "slicks" versus wide threads is a big difference in size! The popular 38-584 demands at least as much frame space as a narrow 700c (19-622) tyre.

A few valid points there.

Let me just remind myself how I got involved in this thread.....

Ah, here we are :-)

This is precisely why the only criteria I ever seriously take into consideration when purchasing a new bike is the colour.

Never mind what size the tyres are. Just make sure they're the right colour!

Like so..

The tyres limitation is more about which tyres are readily avaliable from a typical bicycle shop, those consideration I usually take into when you're building a commuter.

650c can be found in some shop, but you'd need to do some hunting, there may be 650b mountain bikes tyres as we speak but for road tyres, even less likely.

Hence 26" being easier to find in almost every shop, especially since it's still fairly common for people to convert their MTB with slicker tyres for commuting.

Does she really want to have wide tyres? In designing a frame for 650b and big wide tyres with noppies one is going to get pretty darn close to designing a frame for 700c with usual tight clearances.

It's still possible to build a small frame without toe overlap, 650B with 40mm still come out smaller than 700c with 23mm;

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I've only once needed to buy a tyre in a hurry- having just skidded straight through it.

I'd actually got a spare at home to fit when the one on the bike died, but it happened when I was out and about.

In general a tyre purchase is something that doesn't need to happen that very second, so I think citing availability in a local shop is not that credible.

You can get most things next day from the Internet Machine.

Fully slick 26" tyres are available in halfords, they're that easy to find.

Yea but we are bike people, my misses isn't ;)

^^^ ed's soma up there is one of the best forum bikes for ladies FACT
Shame it's too expensive

In general a tyre purchase is something that doesn't need to happen that very second, so I think citing availability in a local shop is not that credible.

Well, I do get customers whose tyres blew up/completely worn out during their commute and need to pop round to replaced them, partly where the consideration come from, for some people a tyres is very important, a matter of life or death when trying to do the Regent Park laps, but for other, it's just something to hold air in and grip the road.

650c can be found in some shop,

Who buys tyres from a shop?

^ I have actually bought tyres from a shop.

Condor would probably have things like 650c.

Does she really want to have wide tyres?

What she wants is a Commuter (that can go fast) single speed bike with disc brakes and clearances for 35c tyres + mudguards.

I know it doesn't have massive clearance or discs but what about a Fuji Track. They come in 650c.

Actually, given that they have a higher BB and as she wants an SS she won't need the ground clearance couldn't you switch to 26"? That should then give you the extra room. As I recall the 650c Fujis can be had for cheap, which leaves you change to have a powder coat and some braze ons from Vaz (£5 each)... plus you live South don't you?

Job done.

she had a go on the 650c fuji track at evans in west end, didnt like ..

Also it got a very steep 76 degrees seat tube - meaning top tube is theorically longer (more like 53-54cm than 50cm) if you set it as a road/commuter.