26" Wheel in a 650b Fork?

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This topic has 10 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by ruffride.

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26" Wheel in a 650b Fork?
tom.nash
Full Member

I am looking at getting new forks but want to ‘future-proof’ – can I run my current 26″ wheels in a 650b fork until they break then get 650b wheels? I know it will affect the height/head angle very slightly but I don’t see a reason why it won’t work…….

Cheers!

Posted 10 years ago

maurizio
Free Member

Surely the only difference (other than marketing 😆 ) is the arch will be a tad higher – running 26″ in 650B will just mean you get awesome mud clearance height wise

Posted 10 years ago

ahwiles
Free Member

it’ll be fine.

Posted 10 years ago

FGF 701 The Hydrate Or Die Edition

discoduck
Free Member

There was a picture somewhere of a YETI I think ? That was a 650b but had 26″ wheels on it, I thought it looked quite good ?

I had a crosser when I was younger RM 125 with wheels off an RM 80 it reminded me of that so that’s the recconing behind my theory?

Do it, and then upgrade the wheels at a later date if it does eventually take off,

Posted 10 years ago

chiefgrooveguru
Full Member

You’re looking at gaining maybe 15mm of axle-crown height, so a sagged 120mm 650b fork will give you the same geometry as a sagged 140mm 26″ fork. And a ton of mud clearance!

Posted 10 years ago

tom.nash
Full Member

Cheers, kind of what I thought 😀

Posted 10 years ago

Northwind
Full Member

The only thing that might cause bother- usually the arch flares out around the tyre, so with the tyre sitting slightly further “in” you might lose some clearance. But the odds of that being a problem seem slim

Posted 10 years ago

br
Free Member

Put a big 2.4 tyre in to fill any of the gap?

tbh My 26″ 140mm fork has died and I’ve been considering options like this too.

Posted 10 years ago

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR
Full Member

My X-Fusion Vengeance are for 26″ wheels but can also accept 650b – apparently

Posted 10 years ago

goodgrief
Free Member

if it’s a true 650b fork it will have increased offset so might be a little twitchy with the smaller wheel.
as said, the x-fusion forks cater for both but I’m not sure if they are inbetweener offset-wise or just sitting on the old 26″ offset and making do.

Posted 10 years ago

ruffride
Free Member

It will slacken the bike abit so more fun

Posted 10 years ago