aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
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I have a Lemond racing bike, and it won't even take 700x28 tires. A kind BFer gave me a pair of inexpensive 650b wheels and tires to try. They fit on the Lemond. They have Pari-Moto 650x38 tires. They barely just fit. In fact, I think they've stretched and are threatening not to fit anymore, so I'm not sure how I feel about all this. But I love the ride. I go over a bump and ask myself, "Did I just go over a bump?" It's fun.
The conversion was super easy. I just put long reach Tektro dual-pivots on, and presto. I haven't done the gearing yet. The rear wheel has an old fashioned freewheel type hub with a 7-speed freewheel. The drivetrain until now was a Campagnolo 2x10. Oddly, the 10-speed shifter works on the 7-speed freewheel. On some shifts, I have to click twice, but the whole operation is noiseless.
I might move these wheels over to my McLean which willingly takes 28mm tires. The clearances are not nearly as tight. Then I'll make a decision and rebuild the rear wheel properly.
As I said earlier, I considered going to 650b on my Raleigh Super Course, but I'm going with 700x37, and I expect that will work well.