I don't commute but I ride primarily on pavement in an area that is not known for maintaining the streets and I also have this dilemma. It seems that most or all "general purpose" bikes max out in the low-to-mid 40mm tire range and you have to step up to a 29'er MTB for fatter tires. I really want to run Schwalbe Big Apples (come in 50-55-60mm size...I believe) but I don't want to ride a full-blown MTB. I've looked and looked and can't find a bike I like that will reliably fit even the 50mm Big Apples. Some people have squeezed them onto LHT's & Cross Checks but I have relatively wide rims and I'm skeptical that even those bikes would take BA's mounted on them. One option is that Velo-Orange is getting ready to produce and sell a general purpose bike that will take 50mm tires. It's called the Camargue or something like that. It's designed along lower-trail lines with a trail in the 50's with 50+mm tires.

I'm riding a Handsome Devil and I think a BA would fit on the back but I don't want to spend $50 bucks on a "maybe" just to find out. I'm certain it won't fit on the front because they chose a really short fork length. Switching to a Long Haul Trucker fork MIGHT work but again, it's back to my wide rims and whether or not they are too much for the LHT's fork clearance.


I'm pretty sure Salsa is adamant that people should not convert their bikes to 650b. I think the Fargo was the specific bike I was looking at when I read that but I don't know if the same Q&A applies to all of their bikes or not.

Other than tire clearance issues, how do you like the Vaya? If the Vaya had cantilever studs and would take even just 50mm Big Apples, I would have one right now.