650B Elephant National Forest Explorer

@Ed .. just saying .. I have purchased regularly from xxcycle and always had a great service

Thank you two, gonna order them for the g/f.

Hey Ed, is 2.1" / 42c+guard generally the biggest you can go on a 45mm chainline chainset (presume you'll be running road running gear)? I'm guessing that'll be indentations on both inner (tyre) and outer (chainring) sides of the chainstay(s)?

Looking forward to seeing it come together

^^ Rue du Velo sent mine very quickly (and most importantly) with Haribo.

They seem like a bargain, though I've not used them yet.

Just a nice picture;
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CGYQGxEMolw/TFjiJzPq6GI/AAAAAAAAKG4/I_DS6582l1c/s1600/P1010693.JPG

Can anyone tell what the front rack is on the above bike? I bet it's custom, the racks i want are always custom....

I have some very lightly used Pacenti 2.1 Neo-motos and 650B marathons if you were after tyres. Going Cheeep!

Home build - like baking bread;

http://cyclingspokane.blogspot.nl/2010/12/tried-and-liked-2010.html

Hey Ed, is 2.1" / 42c+guard generally the biggest you can go on a 45mm chainline chainset (presume you'll be running road running gear)? I'm guessing that'll be indentations on both inner (tyre) and outer (chainring) sides of the chainstay(s)?

2.1 is probably the biggest I can go (and the easiest size MTB tyres to obtain, hard to find a 1.9 one), it will fill in the clearance that a 60mm mudguard usually take.

The inside chainstay will have dimple, and possibly a dimple for the chainring.

It also mean you can get away with using normal road crankset, thought I will put a White Industries VBC (46/30) on it, or a Middleburn road 46/30 with external BB if I'm certain that external BB will last as long as square taper does, my experience said otherwise.

Subscribing, looking forward to seeing this finished

or a Middleburn road 46/30 with external BB if I'm certain that external BB will last as long as square taper does, my experience said otherwise.

I really don't think they last well at all, I'm going back to square taper on my commuter.

9:29 am
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
SPOKANE, WA

Cheque should arrived soon, was a bit nerve wrecking posting it without insurance.

I know what you mean, I paid for some wheels before the weekend, then complete silence. Chap came back to me with the tracking today.

Update - Glen going to switch from TIG to fillet in Apirl/May for his custom build, the latter have a price hike.

Luckily, Glen need some photos for his site, and offered fillet brazing without any extra charges.

Oh yeah, cheque arrived safe and sound.

lucky git!

Why not, but the price is one good reason to keep up with the Confrerie . They are also lighter (260g vs 310g)...

Just got the Confrerie, compared to the Cyprès, they look rather cheap with no tread pattern whatsoever (may not be good for resisting puncture), but giving how other rave about it, I'm happy to be proven wrong.

The Cyprès is actually 285g (or 261g for the Extra Legers) so it's not that much different in weight.

Not sure where the 310g come from.

And you can't compare a Confrerie tire and a Grand Bois tire, it's like to compare a Michelin Dynamic and a Veloflex.
I get a pair of Grand Bois Cyprés Extra Léger 650b next week, I will give you the true weight.

I've never had any Grand Bois in my hands so I can't compare them.
It might sound naïve, but what are the main differences between the Confrerie and the Grand Bois (that could explain such a strong statement ...).
BTW, it's Cyprès, not Cyprés ;)

@Ed : In my experience, the Confrerie are not very puncture proof, but (again) I don't have enough experience to compare as I maybe rode about 2000 km with them and they're my first 650B tires. Only had cheap 700c stuff before...

The casing (GB) is a lots more supple, it have great tread pattern that help in poor road surface and puncture, and felt (in my hand) more pileable than the Confrerie which felt very stiff.

the sidewall of the GB is a lots more flexible, which help reduced road vibration considerably.

These are only at first glance, I still need to try it first to compare it properly.

Ed, did he mention why he's switching from TIG to fillet brazing?

Glen wanted to do custom bicycle with fillet braze, while keeping the stock/production bike with TIG construction.

This is all I got.

Fair enough. As far as I understand it's not superior, but it certainly is prettier. It's the wishbone though that really does it for me.

Definitely, lighter too (TIG), fillet should work even nicer with Glen's own wishbone and fork crown.

As I discovered stainless steel frametubes need to be TIG'd or lugged, fillet brazing is a) very expensive and b) seemingly only works for a while before the tubes make a bid for freedom.

I ♥ good TIG.

Any reason something similar to the National Explorer couldn't be replicated with a custom fork?