Originally Posted by
ironwood
Compass has some new slick thin 26'(559) tires that are reportedly pretty fast on the road. So maybe there is no reason to convert to 700c, since you can get low rolling resistance an a plushy ride. A while ago I considered converting a mtn bike to 650B, but found that the bb height would be too high.
I too am in the "why would you do that?" camp. As was mentioned, mountain bikes have a high BB anyway, so there's no problem putting skinny 26" tires on there. I commuted for years on a MTB with 26 x 1.25 tires.
+ 1. I'm skeptical of the utility of this conversion but I'm all for people tinkering with old bikes any way they want,
26 inch is great and there is decent tire and rim availability. I love my drop bar '93 bridgestone XO 2 with 26 x 1.75 tires as an all around bike for long days in the saddle and on gravel.