Actually, I talked to a custom frame builder a few months ago... he's gone to 650b on all his frames. (He specializes in touring and randonneuring bikes)
Better ride, and fewer issues with toe overlap, among other things.
Oh... and it's not a 'new' standard... it's a very old standard that just hasn't seen a lot of use here in the US.
__________________
"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
