650b – feel alittle underwhelmed

Ran my Commencal 650b frame with my existing wheels, felt super low of course and had pedal strikes. Ive finally upgraded my wheels and it feels unwieldy, like a **** knobbly roadbike.

Before I give into the urge to swap wheels back do I need to keep at it? Yes it rolls quicker down trails but Im losing that…. Zing?

i havent liked any i have tried. they dont feel right. in fact i have bought a new 26 fs frame 🙂 🙂

same tyres, rims, spokes, hubs and the rest?

Hope/Stans rear – Check.
Ardent rear – Check

Front – changed to a Superstar with Hans Dampf (Maxxis dont do 650b Beavers in 2.25) 🙁

Its gone from slack/low to tall/ungainly

I might park the 650b wheels for abit and refit with 2.4’s Maxxis instead of 2.25’s on the 26’s

the beaver to hans dampf is a bit of a change.

I stuck 650b wheels in my Blur LTc felt slightly high but fine, no drop in zing but my zingomiter might need calibrating.

Which wheels did you go for, flex or arch?

My 26 XC bike got nicked, at the time it was very obvious they were being made obsolete so I bought a 29er. It’s taken me 2 years to get to the point where I feel confident ragging it without that unwieldy floppy wheel feeling.

The zing was probably flattened by the weight of expectation 🙂

Give it at least a few more goes, may just be a case of getting used to the differences to give a better basis for comparison

I had the same, broke my 29’er frame, got lent a 650b version of the exactly same bike, rode it, didn’t like it. In fact my old Cove Handjob was a far better ride than the 650b HT

Was on Flow front, Arch rear.

Now on SS Tactic front, Arch rear.

BTW the Tactic rim is hateful. You can put on/remove Maxxis on Stans with 99% of the time finger/pressure.

Tactics? THREE tyre levers = old school style tyre changes.

Expectation- yes I was hoping for ‘wow’. Yes the wheels do pick up speed but it feels slugging/shit basically for the fun bits that arent straight blasting.

Now the ‘born in the US’ stories make alot of sense? Wasnt the bigger wheels started in the US market where mountain biking for the masses is different?

Forget your can I squeeze 650B into my 26″ frame niche, this IS the new niche, Hora in good and early, buying 650B frames to put 26″ wheels in! Accelerate like lightning and carve like demons. 😀 Anyone tried 650B wheels in a 29er frame? Oh wait, that’s next’s years niche, it’s just they’re also using slightly bigger tyres!

Jedi – what frame have you bought? Were you still running the Bottlerocket?

Is this the beginning of the end for hora’s Commencal?

of course it bloody well is.

bought a saracen 16x . no more bottlerocket

No its 650b folly wheels hung in the shed.

I doubt any other 650b frame will be better. I really like the V4 alot.

Now the ‘born in the US’ stories make alot of sense? Wasnt the bigger wheels started in the US market where mountain biking for the masses is different?

Basing it on a couple of rides on a single frame that you have changed from how it was originally set up it’s a bit of a bold statement – especially as the variables of rims and rubber has changed.

I’ll give it one more ride

hope it works out because with a sales pitch of pedal strike on 26″ and slow and laggy on 650b it’s going to be a hard sell 😉

Basing it on a couple of rides on a single frame that you have changed from how it was originally set up it’s a bit of a bold statement

Are you somehow unfamiliar with Hora’s work? He can fully analyse, then condemn any frame/set of forks/wheels/goupset as rubbish with a mere jaunt round a car park.

Classifieds by Monday

NEXT!!!!!…..

Run a 650b frame with 26″ wheels and its super low and rails like a demon. Might be something to do with the fun feeling before (but of course beware pedal strikes).

I bought a Canyon Strive a while back. Loved it. Then realised they’d fitted the wrong shock (too short i2i). Got the right length shock fitted and it was never the same. Guess in my case I was lower and slacker but you get my point.

last year I bought an 650b steel HT frame, 2souls 41.5 evo
because I have an 2souls QH 29″ and its brilliant
used it with 26″wheels, was “ok”..but felt a bit long and too many pedal strikes !! awful
rode it 4 weeks with 650b wheels..
forced myself to get it,…no way..it never felt right
went back to my old rigs 26″ and 29″ 😀
and sold the frame !

Big lolz from me

Am I right in thinking you have replaced the shock already too ?

Seriously hora stick with it.

Lol.

I found 650b slower to accelerate ,but a bit more stable feeling when up to speed. There is a definite but small detectable difference between the two, but nothing I couldn’t get used to.

One isn’t better than the other ,just different.

most predictable thread of the year.

I concur with Julians, there is a small but appreciable difference – however – they aren’t unwieldy. I reckon you’ve just become used to riding with a really low BB, Hora.

Ah my evil parallel universe twin has entered the topic

My slack 26er is less weildy than the more xc biased 650b I rode a couple of weeks back! So it’s more than just wheel size imo

i suppose i can’t really comment, i’m (quite happily) still on 26″.
but i suspect my next bike will be 27.5″, and i did quite like the feel of the bronson i had a quick lap of dalby on late last year…
where were you riding today? photos on fb looked a bit like the beast?

You’re over-thinking it. Worry about the ride not the bike and in a month when you’ve had time to adapt, you can swap back and see how you feel.

From hora on a previous thread …….

Im a serial frame swapper.
I own a V4.
You can buy mine in 2016 or 2017 if you can wait OP?

Looks like it isn’t going to last that long.

where were you riding today? photos on fb looked a bit like the beast?

Do you know anywhere else he rides?

Apparentley the wheels were so unwieldy that it led to a snapped dropper post today also, curse of the 650b

I bought a medium Commencal AM V4 after trying out another of this parish’s and liking it. I run mine with a 55mm Easton stem and 780mm bars.

So did you not pick up on the 650b thing on the test ride???

No one mentioned biscuits yet?
😆

Mikesmith it was good but subsequently with 26’er wheels it rocked. Knowing the difference exists is what prompted the disapointment.

I dont want to adapt to it. It feels better with 26’er wheels. If I’d never have done it this way round I’d have never know.. I’ll give it another ride but it aint low n slack feeling anymore.

I remember pedal strikes on my old blur4x so it aint no biggy 8)

Although I cant ride for toffee its funny that someone who can actually ride posted in favour of 26’ers on the first reply 😆

Why would you expect “wow” from a slightly larger wheel? The difference it makes is obvious – slightly higher bottom bracket, rolls over things a bit better, actually feels slacker due to increased trail (and gyroscopics). That what you’ve got – except you don’t seem to be able to tell the difference between slackness and lowness.

Sounds like you should have bought a 27.5 frame with a lower BB. 😛

Hora, why are you riding with 26 footer wheels? Surely you mean 26″ wheels? The marketing has 26″, 650b and 29er…are you sure you are riding the right anything as you aren’t following conventional terminology…
😉

I agree with the op. I run a 26 and 650b. 650 feels sluggish in comparison with similar builds. I would love to try a 26 with the long, low slack ‘modern geometry’. Still no point moaning it’s all about 650b+ now eh?

These people who are not liking 650b, what do they think to 29er? Just curious as everything I ride is 26″.

I’ve got both a 26″ (170mm suspension) and a 650b (140mm suspension) full sus bike – I spent the last couple of rides trying to get my 26″ bike feeling as lively and spritely as my 650b. It was feeling sluggish and dead over jumps and rough stuff. I’m off the the alps with the 26″ and wanted to get used to it beforehand.

After some tinkering of the suspension I’ve managed to get it feeling similar – although I prefer my 650b on steeper technical trails or over jumps at the moment. Still gonna take the 26″ bike to the alps though and sure I’ll get used to it.

I don’t really notice much between the wheel sizes personally – although I rode a 29″ Carbon stumpjumper in South Africa a couple of times a few months back and I did notice the difference, especially on tight twisty singletrack – but put that down to being used to less gyroscopic force.

Keep at it Hora – you should find the sweet spot.

I prefer my new 650B full sus to my newish 29er full sus.

But then it was twice the price and more than 5lbs lighter.

Maybe you just bought the wrong bike

I dont like 29’ers. Bushwacked what tinkering did you do?

Ive slowed both rebounds down.

Run more sag in both or run my sag in the shock?