Originally Posted by
southpawboston
2) bottom bracket height: the drop is 63mm. that's a fairly high bottom bracket, no? and that's good for 650B, right?
Anton, how are you measuring? The number that I use is that the height from the center of the BB to the ground should be no less than 10"/25.4cm. You can get away with a bit less, but risk pedal strike.
Originally Posted by
southpawboston
3) tire clearance / tire choices: since the fattest part of a 650B tire would be approximately 320mm from the axle center, i measured the clearance that far from the front and rear dropouts and came up with 46mm between the chainstays and 45mm between the fork blades. while that would probably exclude using 41mm hetres with fenders (unless the fenders were modified), what other decent 650B tires options exist in the 35-40mm range?
The new Pacenti PariMotos measure about 38mm and are very nice. I've also ridden the Col De la vie quite a bit, and they also measure about 38mm. Some find the tread too "squirmy," but it didn't bother me. I also run Nifty Swifty tires on my porteur; those measure about 35mm, and I've been very pleased with their performance.
Neal