Spoonrobot 

I've been shopping for a disc gravel/road wheelset all morning and it seems that everything currently available in 650b is more mountain bike focused. Everything is overbuilt for my purposes since I mainly plan to ride the 3-4 local gravel grinders a year and then decent shape gravel/service roads around my home. No techy singletrack or jumps or anything, I plan to run 42c Hetres on the road and 40c Nanos for gravel grinders. I plan to build up a Double Cross disc and I've been trying to find an analogue to my road wheelset, a pair of Flo 30 wheels. They weigh just under 1600 grams and are pretty solid.

I was looking at a prebuilt Stans ZTR Crest but then I started playing around with the Universal custom wheelbuilder and came up with this. I'm using the same hubs on my MTB and I've been happy with their performance, spokes and nipples are pretty good so I guess I'm just wondering about the rims and the concept of the wheelset overall? I'm trying to stay within 2-300 grams of the Stans wheelset and I think this is pretty close since on the hubs/nipples are significantly different.

I'd really like to go 28h in the front but there aren't really any options for this in the wheelbuilder.

ColinL

What kind of drivetrain are you going to run? The reason I ask is that 11 speed road cassettes require a different hub than what you're thinking.

Or, if you're trying to run a SRAM 10-42 11 speed MTB cassette, you need an XD driver. And in doing so, options like this become really interesting: DT Swiss X 1700 Spline Two 27.5" Wheelset XD11 | Wheel 27,5" Tubeless Shop (set pricing to USD in the top right menu.)

MudvilleStomper

By the way, Panaracer makes a pretty sweet 650b tire called the paramoto or something like that. I think Kirk Pacenti was involved with that one. Check it out...

Tim_Iowa

Where did you find 650 x 40 Nanos? I've been looking for 650b x 38-40 tires with a light tread (like a cross tire).

Regarding your wheels, I built my own with Pacenti PL23 rims; they were on sale recently but unfortunately seem out of stock.

+1, Pari Moto tires are the fastest 650b tire I've tried. They're faster than the Grand Bois Lierre (I haven't tried the Compass tires).

They're a great value at $32 from Boulder bicycles.

However, they're very lightweight and that means flimsy. They hold up fine on gravel, but I've gotten some flats from debris (mostly glass shards) on pavement that don't seem to faze the tires on my other bikes.

Spoonrobot 

I'm planning on keeping my dead-ender 9 speed going so the hub should be ok. Thanks for the heads-up.

I ordered a pari-moto tire as a backup since there were some listed on ebay for $27 shipped and it seemed like a really good deal.

You know, I searched for 650b nanos and wasn't finding anything so I thought I was going crazy but then I remembered I had to search for them as 27.5. They're in stock at a few places, I plan on getting the nano race from Jenson USA. I raced a couple of really challenging gravel grinders on the 700c size and have been happy with the performance.

The surly knard also comes in 650x41 and seems like another good tire, but I don't have any direct experience.

ColinL

Ah, that'll work well.

I'm not sure if you poked around on the site where I linked those wheels, but due to the strength of the dollar, some seriously good deals can be had from German webstores. I'm confident you can find what you're looking for with a big discount. Like these, maybe.

Tim_Iowa

Sorry, I'm still not finding any 27.5/650b/584 x 40 mm WTB Nanos. The only 27.5 Nanos I see are 2.1", and the only 40 mm ones I see are 700c. Please post the link if you can find them.

The 650b x 41 Knard is a nice size and I know folks like them, but they're only available in 60 and 27 tpi casings (aka heavy and heavier). I definitely feel the difference with the heavier, lower tpi casings and pretty much only ride 120 tpi or higher if I have the choice.

I recently picked up a Foundry Auger (700c cyclocross/gravel bike) with fresh 700 x 38 Bontrager CX0s, and I'm really digging these tires. I wish they made them in 650 x 38. Or that anyone made a tire in that size with just a little tread.

+1 on the big discounts from Germany. I've ordered lots of stuff from Bike-discount.de. Great deals on wheels, Shimano components, dynamo stuff, and Schwalbe tires.

Spoonrobot 

Oh man I'm so sorry! I was incorrect about the 650bx40c Nano, turns out 2.1 inches is 53mm.

Thanks for the link to the German site, I've been shopping around there and I'm seeing some really good deals!

fietsbob

in France they were a Utility tire 1.5" wide .. the streets in Paris are laid down in a lovely fish scale like cobbled pattern.
There still are .

then the tire companies made better tires .. Francophile?