I have owned to Bleriots at two different times. All of my riding is on pavement with only the occasional fire road or hard pack. While I like variety and can understand the 650b choice, for my riding it was an answer/option to a problem or riding situation that did not exist for me.
My Fuji Touring has room for 700c to at leat 32 with fenders installed and that completely alleviates the desire/need for me and 650b. In the end, I prefer faster and lighter to balooney and heavier. Give me a pair of Open Pros on Ultegra hubs and Roly Poly's or Challenge Parigi Roubaix and I am a happy guy. On Feb 8, 9:51 am, Doug Van Cleve <[email protected]> wrote: > Lots of good answers already. Most likely you'll be ordering wheel goods > (including tires) so 650B vs. 700C doesn't matter much. In a pinch, 700C > will be easier to find locally but I don't think that should really affect > your decision. A couple things that I don't think have been mentioned that > might influence you one way or the other are appearance of the frame and > interchangeability. In a 55-56cm frame size (mine FWIW), the 650B frame > will look a bit bigger which can be a good thing in a small to mid-size bike > IMHO. To me, something in the 56-58cm size is the best looking frame and a > 650B frame looks about like a 700C frame that is 1-2cm taller. Second > thought, since the AHH uses caliper brakes, there is nothing preventing you > from running not-too-fat 700C wheels and tires on the 650B version. You > will most likely need standard reach brakes as opposed to the long reach > Silver/Tektros, but you should be able to fit up to about a 32mm 700C tire > (most likely without fenders though). It may not be optimum, but I suspect > everything would still fall into the normal range for a 700C bike. That > said, a 700C bike from RBW is very versatile and you can do some fairly > serious off-roading ("underbiking" in RBW parlance) on 32mm+ width 700C > tires... > > Regards, Doug > > > > On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 9:51 PM, Zaelia <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello - I'm a new member to the group, and I'm in the process of > > ordering an A. Homer Hilsen frame from Rivendell. I've been given the > > option of both the 650B frame (56cm) and the 700c frame (55cm). After > > conducting as much research as I can online and talking with my bike > > knowledgeable friends, I'm still finding the decision to be > > difficult. I'm not sure how much information I should give here, but > > I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts about my dilemma. > > > My AHH will be primarily a commuter bike, but will also serve me on > > longer weekend rides and perhaps some light touring in the future. > > What I like about this bike is its ability to tackle a wider range of > > conditions - road and off-road (nothing gnarly, mind you) - and it is > > just a beautiful looking bike! In my adult life, I've only ever known > > my current ride - a Rocky Mountain Fusion mountain bike from the > > mid-90s. I'm looking forward to riding a bike much more suited to my > > style of riding. The Fusion makes me work pretty hard and it's h-e-a- > > v-y! > > > Availability of the 650B wheels is my biggest issue. I have only > > found two stores locally that can help me out with this (they don't > > have anything in stock but would have to order), though I've not > > conducted an exhaustive search. Talking with the folks at the local > > stores was quite illuminating. The first kept telling me that the > > tire was a new fad - something for the folks who want to be > > different. The second had no idea what I was talking about. I'm not > > all that mechanically inclined, so I depend on my LBS (to my chagrin) > > - though I hope to change this in the future and become more adept at > > working on my bike. > > > I'm leaning heavily toward the 650B because of the many things I've > > read about it on sites like 650B Palace (http:// > > 650bpalace.blogspot.com/) and La Confrérie des 650 (http://www.cyclos- > > cyclotes.org/650/index_ang.html). Even the Country Bike Shop (http:// > >www.countrybikeshop.com/) makes me feel the 650B is the choice I > > should make. But still a lingering doubt remains. I can't imagine > > I'll regret my decision, but I worry that I might. > > > While I have you - the second part of this question might be what > > width should I get? And what brands/models do you recommend? I know > > much of this is subjective, but I'd be happy to read your thoughts. > > Thanks. > > > Cheers, > > Zaelia- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
