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650B.com found this article by Joe Breeze on the origins of the 650B wheel size. It is a really interesting read.
The 650B wheel size has been drawing a lot of attention over the past year. Many see it as the compromise between 29" and 26" wheels, and also a way to get bigger wheels to longer travel bikes. The long travel market is not a great fit for the 29er market, but with the 650B wheel size, frame and component manufacturers can stay closer to the 26 inch wheel specs to get increased travel. For those of you that have just heard about the 650B wheel size, you can see by this article that it has been around for a long time. With the introduction of 29 inch wheels to the mainstream market over the past couple of years, designers are looking for that next big thing to hit the mountain biking market. The 650B wheel size may be the answer...only time will tell. One thing is for sure, judging by Sea Otter's offerings, manufacturers are jumping on the 650B bandwagon much faster than they did on the 29er one.
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August 8th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I modified a first generation steel trek road bike frame in about 1978 for 650B’s. Wheelsmith had the canti braze-ons done for Mafac Canti’s and built my wheels with Super Chammpion rims. I imported Nokia 44-584 and 54-584 tires through Canada (even studded tires). I road that bike until it was stolen in 1990 in the Netherlands where I was living then. It had a triple TA crankset (Phil chainring adaptor) campy record derailleur (with Phil long arm modification) a specially modified shimano front derailleur (Spence Wolfe design). It was my first off road bike. I also used 47-622 Nokia tires on a Raleigh Grand Prix (had to oval the chain stays). Glad to see the exploration of these tire sizes returning. In the early 80″s there was a group of 650 B enthusiasts riding out of the old Cupertino Bike shop in Cupertino Ca. (Fremont Older Openspace quite often).
August 9th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
@tomas jonsson: Thanks for the history!
November 6th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I bought my first 650b Mountain bike in 1984. It was built by Cleland Cycles in England and designed by Geoff Apps. It used 650b x 2inch Nokia snow tyres from Finland.
I believe that Geoff sent some 700c versions of these tyres to Gary Fisher for evaluation about 1981. I still own and use the bike and another I bought in 1988.
Geoff Apps has been designing bikes around these tyres since 1978.
To see pictures of these bikes link to:
http://www.james-walters.net/cleland…nge-rider.html
or
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5903&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=cleland&start=0&sid=e6be51a819ee3ebd8fb35e027fac10d2
November 6th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
@Graham Wallace: Thanks for that info! Interesting stuff…