650B has been buried many times, but it's always come back from the dead. I believe there is a real, technical reason for this. As we outlined in the Spring issue of Bicycle Quarterly, wheel size should scale with tire width and tire/rim weight to optimize bicycle handling, because gyroscopic forces affect how a bike corners. And in the range of 33-42 mm wide tires, 650B is the best size of the three popular sizes. If you like narrow tires, 700C is a better choice, and if you want super-fat tires, 26" is great as well... All three sizes have a good reasons to co-exist, but I strongly feel that bikes with 35-40 mm tires offer the most versatility.
For those worrying about future availability of 650B tires and rims, consider that in recent years, many thousands of 650B bikes were added to the pool, and most of those belong to cyclists who ride a lot. Even if all makers stopped producing 650B bikes tomorrow, there would be demand for tires and rims for many years to come. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly 2116 Western Ave. Seattle WA 98121 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
