First the request for help. Any of you that own a 650B Hilsen or
Saluki or Bleriot or Protovelo. Could you please take an approximate
measurement of the straigth line distance from the center of the front
hub axle to the base of the fork crown race? I want to figure out how
close it is to the 365mm length on my current 700C fork. If it's 10mm
or so longer than mine that would be perfecto. If it's shorter, that
would be bad for my conceptual project. Thanks in advance to whomever
can help.
OK, ride report. I did a 650B conversion on my Davidson Signature.
It's a lugged 700C road bike that I had built custom in 1992. Photos
of the conversion are on my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45758...@n04/sets/72157623997627595/
I rode the bike on about a 30 miler in the East Bay hills on Sunday,
and also rode it in to work today from El Cerrito to South Hayward. I
really enjoy road riding on 650B. The bike feels just as light and
fast as it does with 700C wheels, but it rolls over the patchy
pavement of the East Bay hills far better than I've ever felt on
700x23 tires. I'm running Maxy Fastys at about 65psi. It's really
very fun. I have both wheelsets, so I can switch back and forth from
700C to 650B in under 20min.
The lowlight of the conversion is that with 650BX33 tires, the BB has
dropped almost a centimeter. I need to get a lot quicker about
flipping in to my left toeclip after a stop. If I'm not in, the
dragging is beating that thing up. Pedalling through turns is not a
problem that I can tell. I've never been aggressive in that way, and
haven't noticed any issue there yet. I could obviously solve the toe
clip issue with clipless or platforms, which I may do. I hoped to run
Pari Motos, which would make up another 5 or 6mm of my BB height
reduction. The Pari Moto fits in the back, but not up front. Hence,
the measurement above. Riv said they could sell me a Saluki/Hilsen
fork. If that fork is a bit longer than my 700C fork, then that might
give me a little more of my BB height back. If it's shorter, then
it's probably not worth it, and I'll stay with Maxy-Fastys and use the
PariMotos on my Bombadil for smoother stuff.
I'm now leaning towards the idea of having 3 700C bikes: A gofast
(Davidson), a middleweight (Hillborne), and a heavyweight (Hunqa).
Add to that 3 650B bikes: A gofast (this Davidson with the 650B kit),
a middleweight (TBD) and a heavyweight (Bombadil)
For the middleweight, I'm thinking a 58cm 650B Hilsen, or an Ebisu, a
VO Polyvalent, a Betty Foy, I'm not sure. Something that can go to
PariMotos or Hetres should be ample. It's really a great alternative
in my view. I can say pretty emphatically that I likely will never go
back to 26.
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