MichaelH wrote, "the Ram. is designed to be optimized with 28 mm tires. I didn't see any point in trying to make that frame into something it wasn't intended to be."
I agree with that. When I think of my Romulus, I know it was designed around the Shimano medium reach brakes and for 28mm tires with fenders or up to 37mm without. That determined the design details of the whole bike. As it is, that's pretty darn versatile! It is a "road" bike, afterall. I run mine with 28s and fenders, and I've been riding 35mm Paselas, and those are a dream - I would say almost equal to a CdlV. One can always get another bike built around 650B - and the producers mentioned earlier are not the only ones - seems like younger Rando riders and custom builders are really going after the "classic" 650B rando bike. All this being said, I just did my first long-ish ride on the Hetres now on my 650B Custom Protovelo (kinda like a Saluki). Wow. Those are some fast, smooth tires. Its like they're not even there like you're floating along -- and fast! And with the 38mm Grand Bois and the Pari-Motos coming down the pipe, they should offer some very nice 650B performance options for distance events and general distance/ camping riding. I really do wish Rivendell offered 650B in the larger sizes, up to 62cm. I don't know whay I like 650B so much - it doesn't make much sense. True, there's nothing in 700c that can equal the Hetre, and the same will probably be the case for the new 650B tires. One can always go Riv custom for that Grant magic! I heard a rumor that there is a 650B Pasela in the pipe... Esteban San Diego, Calif. On Jan 13, 6:01 pm, EricP <ericpl...@aol.com> wrote: > Interesting. As I just inflate the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 700x40 > to whatever the mood is. Usually about 45 front and 60 rear. And > after about 2,400 miles on them last year, do perfer them to the CdlV > in 650B. Those were good tires, but I didn't find them in the same > quality league as the Schwable. At least for my riding preferences. > > Again, that's probably just my preference and my weight. If I were to > lose a lot more weight, things might be different. > > No matter, right now, 40 is about the narrowest tire in the lineup. > Although maybe my 700C studded on the Hillborne are not so wide. But > that bike hasn't been out yet this year. Weather too crummy. > > The differences in folks getting tires to fit in the Ram make me > wonder if there are either rim issues involved or - and this is highly > unlikely - one batch might be slightly narrower in the stays? > > Eric Platt > (who has cabin fever and the Atlantis on the "road to nowhere" trainer > isn't helping) > > On Jan 13, 11:05 am, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, 2010-01-13 at 08:52 -0800, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > > > I remember the article that Mike mentioned. I think the point was that > > > Riv bikes already have good clearances, so why bother (not to mention > > > BB height issues...) In the early days of RBW's promotion of 650B, a > > > lot of people were converting 27/700 bikes for no clear reason, since > > > many of the conversions already had ample tire-space (many 1970s bikes > > > had loads of room). Of course, if you have an early 80s Italian racing > > > bike or something else with minimal clearance, then there are clear > > > benefits to the conversion. We did many of these, which were well > > > received by their owners, and made the bikes much more useful and > > > interesting. > > > > On Jan 13, 10:17 am, Mike <mjawn...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Jim makes a really good point here. The Rambouillet works fine with > > > > fenders and 32s so why bother with 650b. If you don't use fenders you > > > > can fit a tire up to 37mm. There was an article or note in one of the > > > > RR, I can't remember which one, where Grant mentioned that their bikes > > > > weren't good for 650b conversion. > > > On the other hand, if you can fit it, there is a WORLD of difference > > between a 650Bx40 Hetre and any 32mm tire. There's even a world of > > difference between a 38mm CdlV and any 32mm tire. I have all these > > sizes, and I speak from experience. > > > Also, I've used 35 and 38mm 700C tires in the past (although not the > > current gen. Pasela 37mm, which by all accounts is the best wide 700C). > > In my opinion, based on my experiences, there is simply no comparison > > between the plush, velvety ride of the wide 650Bs and the harsh, > > unpleasant, heavy-feeling ride of the wide 700Cs I've tried. > > > And the best of the wide 700C lot, the now-defunct Bruce Gordon Rock 'n > > Road knobby, had other issues: very fast wear, and a wicked rebound. > > Hit a good sized bump with it, and it was like slamming a basketball on > > the ground: BOING! Hang on to the handlebar, lest you lose it. > > > In my experience, the wide 700Cs just aren't the same as the wide 650Bs. > > They're generally much higher pressure (in some cases, labeled "inflate > > to" 90 or 100 psi) than the corresponding width 650Bs, which often are > > labeled 50psi max pressure, with much stiffer sidewalls and beefier > > construction all around. Supple, they're not.- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -
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