On Jan 7, 2009, at 11:06 AM, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:
> I will say that lots of people, including me, just like the way 650B
> wheels feel, especially with the modern rims and tires. Now if Grant
> had gotten Panaracer to make a lightweight tire with a road tread in
> 26" MTB size, and someone had introduced a rim optimized for them,
> maybe those would have felt just as good. But those of us who had old
> French bikes with 650B (in my case an old LeJeuene tandem)are happy he
> did it the way he did.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
>
The "no good 559 road rims and tires" thing is a canard. About 10 years ago I wanted to make myself a 650B bike but the lack of availability convinced me to use 559 wheels. I have nice fairly narrow rims and Avocet 1.25 slicks and they work very well, thank you. There are plenty of other road tires as well. Doesn't mean that I won't make myself a 650B but there isn't anything wrong with using 559 wheels. Heck, even Gilles Berthoud is doing it. Phil Brown Off soapbox now in Berkeley, Calif.