Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - 650s on a 700 frame?

Besides looking silly (and not being able to brake) is there any serious reason not to run 650 wheels on a frame designed for 700s? A lower bottom bracket is the only real problem I can think of.

You pretty much have it all covered. Also remember that it's more of a pain to find 650 tires.

And rims. But you get all kinds of fender clearance!

650 = barspins.

650 = barspins.

Barspins = ****ing stupid.

Hating = ****ing stupid. Grow up, let other people have fun.

Hating = ****ing stupid. Grow up, let other people have fun.

Oh blah. Buy a BMX bike.

You'll be dropping your BB by around 2.5cm,
Bad idea unless you're running 140mm cranks.

i have a 650 wheel/fork and its not all that noticeable.

What about a 650 front wheel/fork and a 700 rear wheel?

pursuit?

What about a 650 front wheel/fork and a 700 rear wheel?

You could put one on there, but why bother? Do you want to carry around two different types of tubes or otherwise inconvenience yourself?

Why stop there? Why not run 20s?

Best reason- you probably will start a ridiculous copycat fad, in six months everyone will be doing it.

Oh blah. Buy a BMX bike.

go ride a bike and stop worrying.

Therefore 650 = hating.

I'm sure this is redundant, but you'll lower your BB by twice as much if you use a 650c fork rather than just slide the 650c in the 700c fork.

changing one wheel (and or fork) wouldnt do it nearly as much as both wheels

Besides looking silly (and not being able to brake) is there any serious reason not to run 650 wheels on a frame designed for 700s? A lower bottom bracket is the only real problem I can think of.

Not being helpful at all: I went the opposite way with 1.5 of my bikes. Got higher BB in one case and steeper front in .5 case.

ht and st angles get a little bigger... not sure by how much though

ht and st angles get a little bigger... not sure by how much though

Not at all. By changing both wheels, you are just moving the frame 2.5cm lower, still parallel to the ground. The front trail gets affected, though.

Umm, are we talking about 650B or 650c?

Umm, are we talking about 650B or 650c?

If they were talking about 650B, this thread would be in the Touring forum.

Fair enough.

pursuit?

Only the frame makes it pursuit. Not the wheels you decide to roll with.

I've ridden a 650 spinergy on my KHS aero track. Yes , mostly for barspins and for fun. I wouldn't recommend it for a frame setup for 700s because pedal strike's a *****.

If you plan on doing this for a permanent fix, at least change out your fork.

I set up an IRO Mark V with 650B wheels. Worked out pretty well. I used some Tektro R556 brakes (an old set of center-pulls will also work).

You don't say in your post whether your using 650C or 650B - I don't know how much difference between the two.

Check out these sites...
http://www.freewebs.com/650b/index.htm
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/650b.html

& a photo...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/318999544_6e7277f58b.jpg

Good luck! :)

^-Classy bike.

The bike industry is phasing out 650c rims/tires. racers were tired of buying fancy wheels for TT's and Tris and having to buy another fancy set for road racing. there is a reason that Trek's CF TT bike used to have 650's and now has 700's. That being said, in my garage right now, I have bikes with 20's 26's 650's 700's 27's and old schwinn standard. I love planned obselesence.

Not at all. By changing both wheels, you are just moving the frame 2.5cm lower, still parallel to the ground. The front trail gets affected, though.

Like you said, it does change the trail which has the same affect on handling as changing the head tube angle. I don't feel like thinking about how it would affect the handling but it's something to keep in mind.

The bike industry is phasing out 650c rims/tires. racers were tired of buying fancy wheels for TT's and Tris and having to buy another fancy set for road racing. there is a reason that Trek's CF TT bike used to have 650's and now has 700's. That being said, in my garage right now, I have bikes with 20's 26's 650's 700's 27's and old schwinn standard. I love planned obselesence.thatz why i'm stock piling them : )

The bike industry is phasing out 650c rims/tires. racers were tired of buying fancy wheels for TT's and Tris and having to buy another fancy set for road racing.
That's too bad. 650c's made a lot of sense for smaller riders. But I guess they have to remove one tire size if they are going to push 29'ers and 650b's on us now.

The bike industry is phasing out 650c rims/tires. racers were tired of buying fancy wheels for TT's and Tris and having to buy another fancy set for road racing. there is a reason that Trek's CF TT bike used to have 650's and now has 700's. That being said, in my garage right now, I have bikes with 20's 26's 650's 700's 27's and old schwinn standard. I love planned obselesence.

"The bike industry is phasing out 650c rims/tires."

This is not true... An entire industry can't "decide" to phase out anything... The MARKET makes decisions by voting with its dollars. 650c rims and tires will continue to be manufactured as long as there are people buying them, which there are.

I understand that you may have noticed a trend of fewer 650c products, but you're overstating the situation by stating that "the industry" is phasing them out.