Steve said: >>I suppose nobody cares that much about 559.
Au contraire. The number of real-world bike shops (i.e., those that focus on mass- produced bicycles retailing for under $1,000) doing a roaring business in 650b is VERY low. 650b, while it offers a lovely ride and a great in-between wheel size that certainly fits a niche, is more likely to be found through custom builders, and from mail-order houses specializing in outfitting those custom frames. At our shop, we do carry 650b rims and tires. We probably get asked to build custom wheels in that size four or five times a year; and we've sold exactly ten 650b tires to customers in the last 6 months. We also carry 26"/559 wheels, rims and tubes. We sell them by the hundreds. The largest number of bikes I've ever seen with 650b wheels -- about twelve of them -- were all in one room at the recent Oregon Manifest bike show. All of those gorgeous bikes were custom built. Some were available for sale and among those the cheapest one sold for around $4,000. The winning bike at the show is currently for sale, for a cool six grand. While these bikes represent some fantastic -- and even, in many cases, truly sensible -- ideas in bicycle design, I do not consider them to be real world bikes. I consider a real-world bike to be a mass-produced, LBS-quality bike that would retail for between $400 and $1000 complete. That is a bike that the majority of hourly-wage workers in this country can afford, even if they have to save up for it for several months (as a number of our customers have had to do). Based on that criteriae, there is not yet a real-world bike on the market that is built around 650b wheels. That's not to say it won't happen. I certainly could happen. But in order for it to happen, 650b proponents would have to be willing to accept a lower common standard in order to make the bike accessible to many more people. At present, 650b is still being sold on its performance, and in no small part its hip, French coolness. As an individual who loves hand-built bikes and beautiful components that perform beautifully, I GET cool, I actually DIG cool and in fact I am blessed enough to be able to RIDE cool to work every day. But as a bicycle salesperson it is very hard for me to sell that kind of cool to someone who rides daily for transportation, works in a dicey neighborhood and has to lock their bike to the gas meter in an apartment building basement every night. That level of cool is simply too expensive to buy, and to risk, at the present time. For my money, THE way to go for real-world bikes IS 26"/559. The wheel size has been around for ages, offers zillions of tread choices and price ranges, and can be cobbled together with a used frame and parts to provide a VERY servicable, extremely rideable bike at a price that an hourly wage worker can handle. I love -- no, I ADORE -- the 26"/559 wheel size and I am sure I'm not alone. That is why I worried when I heard that the Atlantis might go away. The Atlantis is an absolute wet dream of a 559-dedicated bike and it should live forever. I hope it will. -- 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-bu...@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.
