Orange did good work on making the 29er ride, basically, like a Five should. So I reckon the 650b one will be similiar, instead of obsessing about chainstay millimetres etc they’ll have just made an overall package that does the same job as the 26er one in a slightly different way.
why else would dan atherton choose not to ride the new tweener GT force and instead ride a 26″ wheeled prototype?
Eh, Affy’s proto is a 650b, according to Pinkbike and Steve Jones anyway… The main differences are the geometry, he doesn’t like the production model. It’s his teammate that’s on the 26er.