News
650B will be all over Vegas
Carlton Reid Sep 19 2007, 11:45pm
The new/old 'tweener wheel size is set for a successful Interbike
On the 23rd episode of The Spokesmen, the fortnightly industry podcast, Tim Grahl of the Crooked Cog Network of blog sites waxed lyrical about the 650B wheelsize.
The what? As always, Sheldon Brown has it nailed.
Many bikes at Interbike will favour the traditional French wheelsize, bigger than a standard 26-inch MTB wheel, but smaller than a 29er.
Bike designer Kirk Pacenti of Pacenti Cycle Design in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is into big wheels. He was riding 700C and 700D wheels in the early 1990s, has been a long-time proponent of 29ers, but now he feels the wheel size of the future is 650B.
With 650B wheels (which measure 27.5-inch), full-suspension bikes can be produced with to 6 inches of travel and throughout a wide range of frame sizes without abandoning proven 26-inch wheel frame geometry.
650B wheels are said to offer great obstacle roll-over capabilities for a smoother ride.
Pacenti said: “I believe 650B wheeled mountain bikes will allow builders to use proven 26-inch wheeled geometries, coupled with the largest wheel possible in a bike with little or no geometry compromises. As 140mm travel bikes become the norm, even for XC bikes, the 650B wheel size is going to make even more sense.”
But where are the tyres? A Pacenti-designed and branded Panaracer-made 650B tyre – the Neo-Moto – is currently in production. In addition, White Brothers is producing suspension forks for the new wheel size, and Velocity USA, which has built 650B rims for the bicycle touring market for many years, is already in production of their new Blunt all-mountain MTB rim.
Because the 650B wheel size is compatible with many 26-inch wheel components, numerous parts are already available. For instance, Maverick forks can be easily optimised for 650B wheels with a travel reduction kit, and some current 26-inch and all current 29-inch disk specific suspension forks will work with the 650B wheel size.
Numerous independent bike designers are embracing the 'new' 650B wheel size and producing 650B frames. The current list of 650B-friendly frame builders who will be at Interbike include:
Carver Bikes - Dirt Demo booth # 3631, booth # 4871
Engin Cycles – booth # 4383
Haro – Dirt Demo booth # 1002, booth # 2385
Lynskey Performance Products – booth # 5213
Origin 8 – booth # 1741
Pacenti Cycles – booth # 671
Rawland Cycles – booth # 6577
Soma – booth # 4745
Sycip – booth # 2951
Vicious Cycles – booth # 4201
ZR Cycles – booth # 1424
In addition, 650B Component makers who will be displaying at Interbike include:
American Classic – wheels - booth # 4147
Panaracer – Pacenti tyres - booth # 351
Velocity – rims and wheels - booth # 3776
White Brothers – suspension forks - booth # 4383
Haro will have a fleet of 650B bikes at Interbike's Outdoor Demo but isn't about to ditch the 29er platform.
Jill Hamilton, Haro’s MTB/adult bike brand manager, said: “29-inch wheels and 26-inch wheels each have their own unique sets of strengths and weaknesses. Having both sizes on the market gives riders a choice. We see 650B wheels as not only being another option for riders, but we also see the need for a 'tweener size between the two."
At the Outdoor Demo Haro will have Velocity Blunt 650B wheels mounted with Pacenti Neo-Moto tyres fitted to Werx Xeon all-mountain bikes.
Noel Buckley of Knolly Bikes, who understands the impact wheel size has on full-suspension frame design, said: “Kirk’s forward thinking vision is correct in that 29er wheels don’t work well for frames with more than 100mm of rear travel. While working on the design of a 29er version of our new Endorphin frame, we started realising that serious compromises would need to be made to the frame geometry due to undesirable forward wheel paths, chain stay lengths, and BB height all caused by the large 29-inch wheel diameter.
“Kirk knows what he’s talking about. The 650B wheel size makes more sense for a company looking to produce big wheeled bikes in the 100 - 150mm travel category because they get the rolling benefits of the larger tyre, but don’t have to modify frame geometries much, or have to contend with the design compromises imposed by 29 inch wheels.”
