I really like the look of the 650b Orange Five and Santa Cruz Solo so there!! I couldn’t give two balls of goat dung what wheel size if I like the feel and look of a bike!!

ban? what did i miss?

🙂 ah bless, the 5 looks just like a 5, I thought there was something going on with the shock mounting before I spotted (read the blurb) that it had the wrong sized wheels! The Solo looks like a Blur LT or TR too

I know Mike!! I can’t see why 650b is such a big deal!! 😀

Meh. It’s all about 24.5.
Lower unsprung mass for better suspension performance, lower CoG for better high-speed gnar, and lower gyroscopic, er, quotient for better cornering. You heard it here first.

That’s the most sellable thing about 650b really… It’s an “exciting new change” for them that wants it, and for anyone who doesn’t care about wheel size, it’s more or less beneath notice. Someone had to tell me why the Solo wasn’t just a Blur. Still have no idea which of the santa cruz people were on blurs and which were on solos.

There’s a reason the tyres tend to have 650B on them in a ridiculously massive font, people would forget otherwise.

I know Mike!! I can’t see why 650b is such a big deal!!

or what the point is

or what the point is

It keeps middle aged it managers off mumsnet

Won’t be long till they are bigger than google. The BBC are using their spokenwomen now for children related crap.

So will the change be attritional then? No more 26″ bikes as time goes no we trickle across to 650 or 29er? To me the big issue seems to be no more 26er rather than another wheel size?

My next bike will be one I like. I really dont care how big it’s wheels are.

29″ wheels look very unappealing to me. I accept that this is because I ride very steep ups and very steep downs, and I’m a conservative, boring being who resists change.

However, the 650 looks acceptable to me. So if the 650 is purely a marketing ploy, it is quite successful at pulling me in.

Groundhog day….

And so the story goes 💡

Was out today and saw my first 650b bike out on the trail. Hardly and difference to 26″ when you put them side by side. Definitely not a mid size between 26 and 29. I guess a lot depends on tyres fitted, but both bikes had similar tyres on. Just an observation, not saying anything about performance benefits either size!