Larry Black wrote answering an answer:
> In a message dated 3/27/04 11:29:44 AM Eastern Standard Time, olof@stroh.nu
> writes:
> Just a few generations of wide-spread use and cycling tradition before
> somebody in the 80´s decided to use a heavy crusier with the obscure bcd of 559 made
> for ballooners to go fast down some hill.
>
> cheers :-)
>
> Olof Stroh
> Uppsala sweden
> Olof
> I'm assuming the tongue is planted innthe cheek on your response.
> Ther 559 is arguable the most widespread bseadseat of any two )or more) wheel
> self-propelled vehicle
>
> I'm from the road background all my life I've been a 700 and tubular devotee,
> but I'm enthralled with the 559 because of its endurance and versatility from
> sub-inch rubber to three inches.
>
> Miyata, Bridgestone (then Rivendell)were on the mark D A O (Dead-On) when
> they bucked conventional wisdom and used the 559 oin their compacts and earlier
> 'hybrids' instead of sucvcoming to the pressure of our government protectionism
> that imposed artificial and excessive duties on 559 because of Huffy, Murray,
> and others that used to make bikes on our shores,
>
>
> I have a sneaking suspicion that the 650 might be a result of that tariff as
> well
>
>
> I'm relatively new to tires and wheels, started in the mid 1960's and have
> sold about 100,000 (we figure we've turned out 50,000 bikes since the shops
> started)and fixed/built/fitted at least three times that.
>
> That's the only perspective from which I can comment.
>
> Larry 'wheels' Black
> Mt airy, Md
--------------------------------------------------------------
Larry,
I´ll keep this on list as I find it of classical interest!
Of course my answer was with tounge firmly placed in cheek.
Tire history is not so easy to get a clear image of, I have searched the archives without finding much, not even the venerable Sheldon Brown says much on history.
This is as much as I understand; I may do mistakes:
Shortly after mr Dunlops invention praxis started to develope regarding sizes. Quite early in the 20th century there was a praxis with combined rim and tire sizes to reach two _wheel_ sizes, 28 and 26 inches, in the meter system countries called 700 and 650 respectively. As tires had different thicknesses, rims adapted and were asignated with letters. Thus 700A rims carried rather thin tires only ca 30 mm while 700C used fatter 40 mm tires. Rather early this system started to change so one and the same rim diameter would take more than one size tire.
>From the 20´s developed a system for utility bicycles - by far the most common - over most of the world with two rim sizes: 700B and 650B, also called 28' and 26', using 635 mm and 584 mm bcd. These were used in metric size Europe, in China, in India and Africa. My feeling is that these are still by far the most common sizes in the world.
650C/571 mm was within that system but not so common, more for special use. In England and in countries close to England like Denmark 650A - in England called E.A.3 - of 590 mm became the most common, later followed in the 30´s by a tire as much bigger the 700C as the 590 was the 650B: the 630 mm called 27' (for sports bikes and tourers). 635 was used in these countries too for utility bikes.
So called 26' bikes with 559 mm bcd´s were developed in the US in the late 30´s for balloon tired cruisers to get a balloon tire wheel with the same outer diameter as a traditional 26'. This size led a very isolated life in the US until it was adopted by the mountain bike crowd in the 70´s/80´s. I have lived with and loved bikes since 1948, but I had never heard of this curious size until the 80´s.
Someone knows better or knows of where to get knowledge, please!
Olof Stroh
Uppsala Sweden