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

Ah, yeah, I'd thought about trying to get hold of an old rosdrat...

I did for several years. 650b fixed on a converted late 80s road frameset. The bike handled well, rolled quickly and smoothly.

Edited after remembering that I have ridden my current 650b bike fixed with 38 and 60mm tyres at different times. Both great.

650b fixed has been my obsession for the last month or so. I'd like a front disc brake, fattest possible tyres and ideally rear track spacing. Currently looking at frames.

• Omnium CXC seems to take at most 41 (surly knard) and has 135mm rear spacing anyway.
  
• All-City Nature Boy might work although it's sold out everywhere and All-City email reply wasn't encouraging (though largely "don't do this because the bike wasn't meant for that", not "we tried and it doesn't fit").
  
• Steamroller looks like it could fit the bill too, with a disc fork.
  
  

The Escapade looked nice but the current version has vertical dropouts, so it's a no :(

Any other idea?

Of course I could go custom too...

A wolverine works well with 2.1 650b and has sliders and replaceable dropouts plus you can use belt drive if you fancy

Fixie Inc Peacemaker?
https://www.fahrrad.de/fixie-inc-peacemaker-locked-grey-379521.html

Joking aside - I think you wont' find any off-the-shelf bike with disc at the and track spacing at the rear.

I was in the same situation as you ; I went with an All-City Big Block, which I equipped with a custom disc fork.

Not suitable for 650B though.

At the moment, I ride a Pompino with the same fork. There is a lot of clearance at the rear, so the conversion would be an option.

Thanks for the ideas. I should have said, I know I won't be able to get a rear disc brake and a track spacing; I'd rather have the later as it will give me more options for hubs.

Pompino conversion could be an option too.

I'm planning to convert an old road frame to 650b, I measured the clearances at 320mm from the middle of the dropouts. The forks have 42mm clearance whereas the chainstays are a bit closer to 41mm despite being dimpled. I'm planning to use rims with an inner width of 19mm and outer width of 25mm. With this set-up, will I get away with 38c gravel kings or do you reckon it will be too tight? Other suitable tyre options (within a reasonable budget) are also welcome!

The cheapest panaracer randonee tires are 38mm and ride totally fine.

My tired brain thinks you should be fine in that frame for clearance.

584/2 = 292mm from axle

Most tires aren't widest at thier circumference, especially road tires. So 38/2 = 19mm

292 + 19 = 311mm will be closer to the spot where you will need widest clearance.

Old escapade works quite well because of high bb so still have corner clearance with fixed and the smaller wheels

You can still get the Cotic Roadrat I think, which horizontal dropouts. And they've spec'ed it with 47mm Horizons themselves :)

Why not use a 135mm fixed hub? Or a track hub and spacers?

Thanks a lot, that's good to know! 38 would also help me with the BB height so I'd prefer them over 35s :)

Ah, the roadrat looks super cool, thanks!

@miro_o I'm just discovering about these possibilities too :)

Most track hubs come with enough axle to space out to 130mm ok, probably not 135mm.

There's also the chain line problem to consider. According to velosolo when using a 135mm spaced frame bolting a cog instead of a disc on the rear hub can work nicely.

Surly does a fixed, disc hub, I'm sure it's nice but it's expensive!

I have a 650B fixed gear wheelset for sale - all brand new.

Happy to relace the front wheel onto a disc hub for you if you want!

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/303696/

Photos - all brand new, includes rim tape / inner tubes / tyres.

4 Attachments

Unless they've changed in the last couple of years the shape of the chainstays on a Steamroller don't give you any more clearance with 650 than with 700. I have a feeling you might even end up with less clearance if you convert it, it was a while ago when I checked though.

Well, that's sad. Although with the clearance the frame has already 650b is less interesting. A guy put 42s on his!

@Vince I saw your ad, thanks :) I won't be committing to buying wheels until I'm sure about the frame (might end up having 135mm spacing at the rear)

Bargain IMO: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hope-Pro-4-Wheelset-650b-27-5-WTB-KOM-i23-142x12mm-Rear-15mm-Thru-Axle-Front/272852461322?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D46661%26meid%3D05502508fea44233a3e08e6d951d7f21%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D272852468564&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%253Aa7cf277c-a751-11e7-ba06-74dbd18027a4%257Cparentrq%253Adc5aa18d15e0abc01052facdfffdb510%257Ciid%253A1

Bargain ATMO*

exactly the wheelset I want to build, but I want 700 :(

Final crosspost - here's my 650B all road bike

I found this interesting cheap frame on bike24 last week https://microcosm.app/out/QKA4h

Yes! I found that you found it :) It's in my list too, though I'm not sure 700x40c clearance translates to 650x47b.