David, I believe it is the best size for the handling and ride we want (I know others may/will demur, which is ok by me), and as a bonus, and it will also work better for the travel bike aspect -- 700c wheels are a snug fit in the 26x26x10 max airline size case, and w/40-45c tires would be quite tight.
Not too worried about our size and 650b -- we're going up in tire volume, so that's not an issue. What is your concern? Aesthetic w/ too tall a head tube? That doesn't worry me, and w/ a small stoker the 650b actually offers subjectively better looks in the back, so... :) Julian Westerhout Bloomington, IL On Friday, February 8, 2013 2:34:07 PM UTC-6, davidfrench wrote: > > Julian, I'm 6f6 and my stoker 5f10 and we just bought a used Trek T100 to > play around the idea of a tandem > I put 45c on it (Resist with gum wall... wrong idea they're too fragile) > and changed bars/seats. > It's great! > But at our size, I wouldn't go with 650b. Why did you chose 650b for your > Bilenki? > David > > > On Friday, February 8, 2013 6:49:34 AM UTC-8, Julian wrote: >> >> We've ridden a 700c steel Trek tandem from the early '90s for a number of >> years w/ 35c tires and fenders. I'm big (6'7"), stoker small (5'2"), team >> weight somewhere around 340 total. Ridden mostly on road, but on some >> non-pave trials, the worst of which was the C&O Canal (roots, rocks, mud, >> and ruts), and while a little extra cush would sometimes be good, we've >> been fine. We bought our Trek used and really enjoyed it. >> >> That said, we've been saving our pennies for several years and have >> ordered a custom Bilenky 650b randonneur/travel S&S coupled bike that is >> designed for Hetres w/fenders. You are right in your observation that the >> majority of stock road tandem makers (esp. Santana) seem to be trying to >> emulate single bike styling and design w/ low spoke count wheels w/ narrow >> tires. There are a few exceptions, but custom is not too far off the cost >> of an upmarket stock bike, so if the budget allows I'd definitely go custom >> (or look for a deal on a used bike w/ room for at least 35c tires and >> semi-sensible geometry). >> >> Julian Westerhout >> Bloomington, IL >> >> On Thursday, February 7, 2013 12:53:35 AM UTC-6, Salween wrote: >>> >>> Don't know if Grant and Co. will ever produce a tandem, so in the >>> meantime will be getting one elsewhere. >>> >>> Seems like most tandems out there follow the skinny tire theme, with the >>> exception of R+E in Seattle and Bilenky in Philadelphia, and even their >>> tire clearances don't seem to push as far north as nearly all Riv singles. >>> So wondering if there are any tandem riders here and what tire widths they >>> prefer. On my Sam I ride 33/35mm tires often on marginal roads. So >>> wondering what that might translate to on a 700c tandem? >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
