Originally Posted by
nlerner
I have no direct experience with V-O frame sets, so I can't attest to their goodness or ride quality, but having converted a few 70s and 80s road bikes to 650B, one big advantage I can see with the Polyvalent is that you don't need to make compromises: You can use canti brakes so no need to search for long-reach calipers; since it's built for 650B, you don't have to fiddle or worry about fender line; the long top tube is intended to compensate for the use of upright city bars, plus as others have pointed out, it has loads of brazeons for fenders, racks, etc. I'd guess that a lot of them will be sold as complete bikes built by V-O dealers, rather than as frame sets. You can go to the bike shop and walk away with a complete 650B city bike for about a grand. If you're in the market for such a thing, that seems like a pretty good deal.
Neal
It kind of seems to me that the compromise with a VO frame is that you're stuck with 650B. with a 27" or 700C frame you could convert it to 650B and if you get tired of it you can do it up a different way with 700C.
My modern Raleigh One-Way has all the same brazeons as the VO frame. Matter of fact you can get a pretty similar bike to the polyvalent in the new Raleigh Clubman
its got pretty much everything the VO frame does except you could (presumably) convert it to 650B or and go back to 700C when you got tired of it.
i've got nothing against velo-orange, i use a lot of their products...i just don't like this frame.