mountaindave 

No fair, @djkashuba, we require details! Those look like Nervex lugs, I see what looks to be a 531 sticker, but I can't make out the headbadge. Ideal saddle, Cyclone derailleurs? Sakae cranks? with some beautiful drillium... This is a fun game!

djkashuba 

I have had this Don Farrell for years and finally put it on the road. Very eclectic mix of parts as @mountaindave has pointed out. Mafac racer on front and Weinmann Vainqueur 800 at the rear braking. Cinelli bars (Giros), record hubs and Velocity Synergy rims. 42 Hetres...
The Ideal 90 Diagonale is very comfortable. This is going to get lots of miles in 2017.


Don Farrell by djk762, on Flickr

Unkle Rico

80's Bruce Gordon Chinook that has been converted to 650b -- freaking love this bike!

mountaindave 

Very nice build, @Unkle Rico! I have a very similar build in mind this summer for my RB-1 - all the way down to the bar-end shifters and Pacenti rims. The SL23's look great on an 80's build with the tastefully minimal logos. I think the rims would have been just fine with one logo around the valve hole, but I digress.

otg 

Scwinn Tempo with 38's

bwilli88 

mountaindave 

Classy build, @otg.

nlerner

Here's a new one for me: Frame is an early 70s Clive Stuart from London, fitted with 650b x 38mm wheels. Otherwise, it's got Campy NR mechs, SunTour barcons, Planet X Holdsworth crankset, Weinmann 750 center pull brakes and Weinmann levers, V-O steel stem, Campy seat post and Ideale 90 saddle. Took it for a good shakedown cruise earlier this afternoon, and it all felt good (though my preferred approach with Campy mechs is generally to shift as little as possible).

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52telecaster

I always flip moustache bars. Don't know why you'd do em any other way.

WolfgangVerne 

This isn't a conversion, but I figured this would be the most appropriate place to post this bike. Yesterday morning I missed out on a Specialized Expedition I had intended to pick up, but was able to grab this as a consolation prize instead!

It's a 1984 (possibly 85?) Raleigh Portage, which was their off the shelf 650B touring bike. It appears to be all original with the exception of a replacement Vetta saddle and a later model Shimano Deore DX derailleur, as opposed to the Shimano Deore "Deerhead" that would have been original spec. I may end up trying to hunt one of those down as it would be nice for the front and rear mechs to match. The frame is Raleigh's 23" size, but has quite a large headtube as a result of the 650B geometry. Based on the headtube length compared to my other 58cm frames I was worried this wouldn't fit, but I'm just able too, even if it is a litter tighter fit than I'm used to.

Grabbed a few quick pics this morning, but will likely take some more once I do a little overhaul and get some new tires, etc. Really looking forward to getting this one out on the road! Enjoy!

romperrr 

Nyce consolation prize @WolfgangVerne! Those Portage's are unique and beautiful.

noglider 

I bet that Raleigh is just as good as the Specialized.

nlerner

Nice Portage! I had one in green with dark anodized rims and pretty much original parts (including original tires, which were pretty shot). I ended up getting an offer I couldn't refuse and selling it off to fund my Ebisu 650B.

thumpism 

I had a green one also, in my size and in original condition and it was given to me. I kept it for a few months but had no space for it so passed it on (at no cost) to a friend. Wish I'd kept it and given it a chance. Raleigh tourers of that period all had those skinny Randonneur bars.

When I was working in a Schwinn/Raleigh shop in Seattle we had a young guy come in from Alaska to buy a bike for a cross-country ride. He said he lived near the Portage Glacier so guess what bike he chose?

*edit*

Found a pic!

WolfgangVerne 

Cheers @romperr and @noglider! The Portage is a beauty for sure and appears to be a solid touring bike to boot. I'm certain once I get it tuned up and am out riding I won't be having any regrets about missing out on the Specialized. And with this I get that added bonus of trying out 650B.

WolfgangVerne 

Thanks Neal! I've seen the green color scheme through browsing Flickr and it's quite nice. How did you like it in comparison to some of your other 650B bikes? Just curious if the differences in geometry may have had some effect on the ride quality as opposed to a conversion.

nlerner

It has really long chainstays, which is good for a touring bike (and something @photogravity particularly cherishes), but I found that makes for a bit of a sluggish ride. Still, I generally felt it was a solid rider. At the time, the only 38mm tires were Panaracer Col de la vie, and now you can get more supple tires in that size (e.g., Pacenti, Compass, Soma), so the ride might have been more lively with higher-end tires.

Dfrost 

After seeing @rccardr's Pelizolli variations with different sized wheels/tires for different applications (https://www.bikeforums.net/19342289-post57.html), I'm considering a 650B conversion on my '87 Marinoni SLX Sports Tourer for Cino Heroica next year (if I'm up for all the other challenges with that ride), or maybe permanently. It takes 32mm Compass tires now, and the increase from 28mm added a nice bit of "confidence" to this somewhat quick steering bike. I can fully appreciate the significant ride improvement going to 38mm or even 42mm tires, which look like they might fit. Fender fit isn't the primary motivation since I have those on the Miyata 912, which doesn't have clearance to be as good a 650B conversion candidate.

I've read through many of these 650B threads looking for the handling/steering effects of the conversion, but not seeing that mentioned. I'm particularly interested in those effects on a taller, steeper-angled frames (mine is 62cm ctc, 74 deg HT). @pcb, I suspect that your many conversions have given you useful insight for my question, including your own Marinoni conversion. And @nlerner, you've certainly done quite a few on more typically-sized frames.

I'll move this question to another thread if this seems like a hijack.

nlerner

David, some of my favorite conversions have been on steep-angled frames (like 74 degree head tube). It really softens out what can be a harsh, twitchy rider, but not so much that it doesn't respond well to steering inputs.

WolfgangVerne 

Thanks for the ride report! Take this all with a grain of salt, as I haven't been able to venture far due to the casing on the rear tire starting to split, but I haven't noticed any real sluggishness in my limited testing. This seemed a little odd as I would have been expecting qualities similar to what you described.

Did a little investigating and when comparing some pictures with other years of the Portage I noticed that the chainstays on mine appeared to be quite a bit shorter than the later models. I lifted a picture off of Google for comparison. I got out the measuring tape as well and the chainstays on my portage are 17", which while not short, doesn't seem excessively long either. Would be curious to hear if you remember the chainstay length on yours?

nlerner

Interesting! I actually did record some of those measurements on my Portage:

23.5"/60cm seat tube (c-t), 22"/56cm top tube (c-c), 18.5"/47cm chainstay, 41.5"/105cm wheelbase

So your chain stays are considerably shorter.

WolfgangVerne 

Interesting indeed! Just took some additional measurements on mine:

23.5"/60cm seat tube (c-t), 22"/56cm top tube (c-c), 17"/43cm chainstay, 40"/102cm wheelbase

Now I'd be curious to see if the rest of the Raleigh '84 touring line had similar length chainstays, or if this only applied to the Portage as a result of the 650B geometry.

jcb3

Came across a pair of lightly used synergy velocity rims on CL from a gentleman in Carlsbad last fall. Finally got them fitted to the PX-5. Loving the cush!

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gugie 

Should also note that if one were desiring the handling characteristics of low trail, the math sez that the steeper the head tube angle, the less the fork rake needs to be. Converting a vintage frame to low trail typically requires reraking of the fork - less reraking is required for steeper head tube angles.

Tende

Nearly pristine 89 400. Switched out the 170 cranks for 165's, converted to indexed shifting, Postino bar, and Tektro brakes. Still need to shorten the chain and I now see that the pink saddle doesn't work.