on 8/22/09 9:43 AM, Brewster Fong at bfd...@yahoo.com wrote: > On the Serotta board, someone pleaded for people to "invest" in Kirk > Pacenti's Pari-Moto road tire (584x38). The poster stated Kirk needed > 200 pairs pre-ordered by 8/15 at a cost of $118/pair. Does anyone know > if Kirk made it?
There is a 650B/584 specific list here: http://www.bikelist.org/mailman/listinfo/650b Kirk and many others are active on that list, and I believe that they did hit the pre-order numbers he wanted. But, I mostly quick-scan that list and may have misread it. I'd check through the archives for the answer, which are generously hosted by bikelist.org/phred.org: http://phred.org/pipermail/650b/ > I'm curious as to the size of the 650b market. If there's "growth," is > it mainly mtb (27.5")? I have a buddy who just build up a custom Rock > Lobster 650b bike, but its an mtb. He said Paul Sadoff has only done a > few of these and all mtbers. My buddy is only 5'7 or 5'8, but he loves > the ride of his new bike! Hard to extrapolate data from that, but there's interest, mainstream models, etc., and I would say "momentum. 559/26" was pretty dead until the mtb boom. > > What's the demand for road 650b? For example, 650b seems to make > sense for making older "racing" style bikes more useful, i.e., you can > take basically any old racer like a Masi or Colnago, put on 650b > wheels and run 32 or 35mm wide tires. Alternatively, 650b seems to > work for those with shorter legs too. Some racing bikes lend themselves better to the conversion than others. In addition to the Rivendell Reader articles on the topic, there are good references for 650B/584 conversions here: http://www.freewebs.com/650b/index.htm http://www.freewebs.com/650b/conversions.htm Ed Braley has converted more models than anyone I've come across, and you can find his projects on Flickr by searching for him. He had a 650Blog over on Bikeman.com for a while, but I haven't followed it of late. > > But, is there really that many people demanding road 650b or is it > just another fading fad? That's a good general question, but probably better suited for a more general list. In terms of Rivendell-specific topics, I like the way the tire size has become slightly secondary to the purpose of the frame design. On the Hilsen, smaller frame sizes use the 584/650B and bigger ones are designed to use a large volume 700C/622. A great deal of the benefit of a 584/650B approach was the recognition that larger volume tires have direct benefit. I think you see interest in the benefits from larger volume tires dispersing across all specific tire sizes - just look at the number of 622/700C/29er frames which are more "Monster Cross" than road or mountain bikes. What's really nice is now you end up with a tire sized specifically for your needs. Seems like 5 years ago, you could get any size "road bike" tire you wanted, as long as it was 700C x 23. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Send In Your Photos! - Here's how: http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines "There were messengers who named their bikes, but Chevette never would have done that, and somehow because she did think about it like it was something alive." William Gibson - "Virtual Light" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
