650b for touring: bad idea?
#26
multimodal commuter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times
in
339 Posts
As for the Trek 720, the '82 being a unique beast designed for 700c wheels anyway (they went to 27" in '83 ff), I don't see it as a great 650b candidate. You can do it, of course, but I don't see much benefit.
As for touring with 650b, as has been stated, you can do it. You can carry a spare tire anyway, and probably should. Depending how far you're going, and how much time you have for your tour, there may or may not be a down side to 650b. Most likely, wherever you are, you can call a bike shop and have them FedEx a tire to you while you wait a day or two. If you're out on a week long tour, that may not be an option; but if you're out on a leisurely cross country trek and a day or two delay doesn't bother you, then what the heck.
On my last tour, a comparatively new 650b tire blew out for no apparent reason. I had a spare; no problem. Had I needed to get a replacement 650x38b tire, even in Saratoga Springs NY, it would have been a major hassle that I didn't have time for. 700c would have been easy.
As for touring with 650b, as has been stated, you can do it. You can carry a spare tire anyway, and probably should. Depending how far you're going, and how much time you have for your tour, there may or may not be a down side to 650b. Most likely, wherever you are, you can call a bike shop and have them FedEx a tire to you while you wait a day or two. If you're out on a week long tour, that may not be an option; but if you're out on a leisurely cross country trek and a day or two delay doesn't bother you, then what the heck.
On my last tour, a comparatively new 650b tire blew out for no apparent reason. I had a spare; no problem. Had I needed to get a replacement 650x38b tire, even in Saratoga Springs NY, it would have been a major hassle that I didn't have time for. 700c would have been easy.
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
www.rhmsaddles.com.
#27
Senior Member
I had a mid 80's Schwinn Collegiate three speed, which was a Taiwanese model (probably made by Giant.) And to my frustration, it used the 597 size wheel/tire.
#28
Senior Member
all this weird rim size touches on the whole 700x38"B" 635mm rim size (vs 700 "C" 622mm rim size)-- "B" are postal bikes in some countries and some older bikes too----don't make this mistake ("B" vs "C")