[Closed] Has anyone tried 650b front,26" rear?

I'm planning on giving it a go 🙂

Am also thinking of giving this a go, Canyon Nerve AM with a Fox 36 so front should be fine, rear there is no chance of a 650 fitting

cant you just use a bigger volume tyre?

I was toying with going 659er on my inbred, but it's my hack bike so am reluctant to spend a wad of cash on 650b tyres and rims.

whats wrong with your bike currently?
Try a bigger tyre

Plenty of our chums over the pond have done it.

http://forums.mtbr.com/650b-27-5/650b-front-wheel-790542.html

Looks like a waste of time to me though when you can just run a bigger tyre.

YOU CRAZY MAN!

YOU'LL DIE!

THE WORLD WILL STOP SPINNING ON IT'S AXIS!

I have 26 on both ends but with a 2.5 tyre on the front and a 2.1 on the rear- so exactly the same as 650b/26 really. It does nothing interesting tbh, if there's a difference in "rollover" I can't feel it. Maybe if I'd paid money for a new wheel I could convince myself it's ace 😉

I hate 29ers to be clear, but just want to point out that running a larger tyre is NOT the same as a bigger wheel, even if the diameters get close. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

To try to give a clear example - on a road bike would a 650 wheel with ( say) a 40mm tyre be the same experience as 700c with 19mm tyre?

I see a new niche for tyre makers - tall n skinny! "Yes you can now run our tall 2.0 tire (sic) to get that 650b feeling on your old 26 inch wheel..."

What would be the sound reasoning for doing this?

Perhaps 26er tyres will come with a zip all the way round, so you can un-do it and have two volume sizes - 26 and 650b ....

mattjevans - Member

I hate 29ers to be clear, but just want to point out that running a larger tyre is NOT the same as a bigger wheel, even if the diameters get close. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

OK that's fair, I was getting a bit too into the swing of things, there are important differences. What is exactly the same though is the circumference, which gives the same angle of impact change that 650b advocates tell us we want new wheels for. So you can wang a big tyre on a 26er rim and find out what difference it actually makes to that. Which is basically ****-all 😉

Til the 650b PR train got rolling, I don't remember anyone ever saying "Lets fit bigger tyres because they'll roll over rocks better"

it might make a difference, but what will make more of a difference is if you pedal harder, or brake less, or lean in a corner more or have more shreddies for breakfast

TBH the whole thing seems like a wasted exercise.

"Let's fit a slightly bigger wheel into a space we can squeeze it into but it's not really meant to go for a slight potential benefit rolling over rocks."

26/29 I can see some benefit. 26/650b seems more than a little daft.

I run a 29 0n the front of my rigid bike and a 26 on the back and it certainly makes a positive difference but I don't think that adding less than half that difference would be worth it. And bear in mind that I would have thought that as a rigid rider I'm experiencing the most possible benefit from bigger wheels, I'm sure as you add suspension the benefits would be less noticeable.

Pointless IMHO

it might make a difference, but what will make more of a difference is if you pedal harder, or brake less, or lean in a corner more or have more shreddies for breakfast

Heresy!

(although I am prepared to have a bigger breakfast)

I've tried 29/26 in the past and got on well with it.
If you fancy trying it, just give it a go! It certainly won't have a negative effect on the bike, any more than fitting different length stem, or longer travel forks etc.

Dont let the marketing chaps read this thread 🙂

I hate 29ers to be clear, but just want to point out that running a larger tyre is NOT the same as a bigger wheel, even if the diameters get close. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Actually, if the tyre pressure, contact patch, sidewall stiffness / sidewall height, rotational inertia and overall diameter are the same then they'll feel the same. So a wide 650b rim with a low profile but wide tyre with soft sidewalls will feel like a 559 (26") rim with a taller profile tyre of equal width and stiffer sidewalls if the rotational inertia and total diameter is the same.

The difference between 650b and 26 is sufficiently marginal that whichever you believe will perform better will actually perform better for you.

And yet 26" is still going to die.........

So that's it then. Bikes will never be better than they are now!

Which is what the marketing machine is telling us. Otherwise bike companies wouldn't be messing about with a wheel size they discounted all those years ago.

I have a 26" FS and a 29" rigid/HT, they are different, which is good. I won't be adding anything in between any time soon.