My reasoning was not made clear. I was answering "what would I do?" in my situation, not yours.
1. The initial pictures sure presented one heck of an optical illusion. That top tube looks waaaay longer than the seat tube in the pics.
2. I'm one of the few here who admits to having more than enough bikes already. I figured that with the apparent (from the pictures) dimensions, it wouldn't fit me - and therefore, would best be sold. Besides - look at personal profile, and tell me which of my current bikes would go to make room.
3. One of the few configurations I don't have is a 650b bike. it would be fun to set one up, but looking at the clearances at the fork on this one, probably wouldn't be practical.
Sounds like you're excited about it, and you have a handle on the size/measurement issue, so it should work well for you. I'd be reluctant to sacrifice original paint, but if setting the bike up in a way that suits you involves adding/removing any brazing, and/or you just like that new bike look, have at it. It's not like you'd be defacing a museum piece.
Originally Posted by
Lenton58
Hi Zorro: Yep. The frame just arrived about two hours ago. (Fast — but then I was forced to pay up.) Anyway, using the Paterek manual for measuring seat tubes, I get 56 cm. And using a vernier to find the tube centers, I get 54 cm for the TT. Also 2.9 ... what's that 1 1/4" ID for the head tube. The head tube is curiously short — about 128.5 mm. My Vitus is about 55.5 'seat tube and 54 TT, bu the head tube is about 139 mm. I've not pulled out the BB yet, so I don't know the bracket inside diameter. You Campy people will know anyway. OK ... now I did not start this thread to be a cheering session, and I welcome all and every comment. So here are two follow up questions from me — cuz I know that you must have some reasons for ...
(a) Selling? ... if it were yours. What's your take on it?
(b) 650b wheels? Well, OK. I'm not necessarily a worshipper of 700c. But what is in this? Geometry? Overlap? My initial response is ... if I want to ride this sort of wheel, I'll climb on my Trek 930, modded hybrid with Panaracer slicks I run at 90-100 psi. Heavier, but a cinch to ride in the Japanese city chaos.
BTW: The finish is better than in the pics. And what I though was a bit of rust on the rear drop-outs turns out to be old grease. The entire frame seems to have been chromed. What I thought was a good scrape down to pimer on the TT turns out to be a decal on both sides .... four (4) yellow stars on a stick-on decal. In fact, all the decals are stick-ons. Four stars. Now that rings a bell somewhere, but I just can't dig up the right synapse.