650b – feel alittle underwhelmed

welshfarmer – Member
Have a read what the guys at Liteville say on the subject of 26/27,5 mixed format. Makes sense to me.
http://www.liteville.de/t/25_579.html

That was really good cheers.

I got a 650b hardtail a month ago. The wheels felt a bit unwieldy to me to start with, but after 8 or 9 rides, I’m getting used to it and really like it. Rode my 26 a couple of days ago and it felt really small and twiddley!

I don’t know anyone who has switched to 650b who hasnt got on with it and preferred it to the 26″
not journos, in fact a lot of riders rave about the size.

but then some people always blame their bikes, when the really good riders just get on with what they have.

Let us know how you get on with 67.5er wheels….

Hope Cross, Beast, Gores, Fairholmes, cheeky, cheeky. Hope today.

Can I just come back to this comment quickly:

I’m 3inches over the manufacturers recommended guidelines.

Look at that on a ruler and contrast it with your overall height?

So I’m 8cm’s taller or 4% over their guidelines. Is that insurmountable?

It’s not your overall height that you need to be comparing it with, but the difference between the smallest person Commencal thinks their bikes fit and the largest person.

Sizing chart is here. XS is recommended for people of 5′ upwards. XL suggested at 6’2″ upwards.

So the range is more like, say, 15″, covering 4 sizes. Your 3′ accounts for c.20% of the range.

That’s not to say it necessarily matters, but it’s the same point with height really as with ground clearance – it’s relative rather than absolute. I’ve had a long agonise about this before getting a Large Transition Scout on order. At 5’10″ish, I’m in the M/L overlap. Sized up after a bit of thought.

🙂

Have a read what the guys at Liteville say on the subject of 26/27,5 mixed format. Makes sense to me.

http://www.liteville.de/t/25_579.html

That was really interesting. It does actually make sense. I’m tempted to experiment and try it.

Hora – I can’t add much more to this debate other than i’ve recently just gone to 27.5. I hated it initially. It’s taken me half a dozen decent rides to get used to it, but now I have I love it. I wouldn’t go back to 26. So, just stick with it, it will definitely click eventually.

I was talking to turnerguy not renton. Rentons funny, turnerguys one dimensional.

I apologise Mr Hora, my mistake

FWIW 650b to me, i can tell a small difference but changing from 1 bike to another is a bigger change. I just adapt me to the bike, personal prefs aside eg saddle grips etc

I ride tech.

Getting that on a t-shirt.

I was reading this http://normallyaspiratedhuman.com/?p=1528 and there was this phrase in the middle of it: “Choice is often a curse. Those with no choice are free of the burden of endless procrastination and can simply get on and do what is necessary.“

I’ve one MTB. Is it perfect for everything? No. Is it perfect for anything? No. Can I make it perfect for anything? No. Is it good enough for what I want? Yes, by a long, long way

I got a 650b hardtail a month ago. The wheels felt a bit unwieldy to me to start with, but after 8 or 9 rides, I’m getting used to it and really like it. Rode my 26 a couple of days ago and it felt really small and twiddley!

The problem with this is that you’ve got used to the bigger wheels even though you didn’t like them initially. If you went back and rode your 26 for 8 or 9 rides you’d probably go back to liking them too.

Rode my 26 a couple of days ago and it felt really small and twiddley! fun and lively!

FTFY.. 😀

Ok we did a rock (Beast), fast (Gores/Lockerbrook) and steep steep switchbacks and at no point did I grumble. I was using a borrowed Reverb and noted I fitted/placed the saddle on the rails almost perfect whereas previously I’d constantly adjusted (that could be something else) but also on any fireroad/trail I could pedal no handed or coast and the bike was rock solid. I could feel the loose/two spokes in the rear though (more pressure on the rear/rear wheel?), it didnt feel chopperish at all and on steep climbs (slabs climb to Whinstone lee tor) I’d hop off anyway on any bike.

As Tom mentioned earlier I felt some low speed ‘flop’ which irritated me initially but became a strength. It cornered better than full 650b but still felt great to pop off things. I need to drop the fork psi alot more though

Pics to follow, hopefully an action one too. Im keeping 650b/26 for now.

As with other comments on 67.5’ers from here/mtbr etc I can echo it marrys two positives of both wheelsets for trail riding

What part does fork offset play? I also have some 40mm 160 Mazz forks that could play with

“Choice is often a curse. Those with no choice are free of the burden of endless procrastination and can simply get on and do what is necessary.”

I’ve one MTB. Is it perfect for everything? No. Is it perfect for anything? No. Can I make it perfect for anything? No. Is it good enough for what I want? Yes, by a long, long way

Yep, for the best part of 12 months i had a medium/long travel HT while we consolidated funds to buy a house, it was great….going out for a ride meant checking the tyres and nothing else….no fretting over which bike to take, no having to avoid one bike because its due a service or some work needs doing…i used that bike for everything from uplift days to XC pootling and didnt worry about it once, even entered some races on it.

Now i have a full-suss built up (Giant Trance) and i’m eyeing up either a short travel 29er (thinking Orange Segment but open minded) or full on DH bike project as my next one with the aim to have both by the end of the year giving me:

a 26er HT playbike
a 27.5 Trail/enduro race FS
a 26/27.5 DH rig
a 29er Trail/XC FS

….and having choice is causing me no end of stress as i hunt for overtime shifts at work, spend far too long researching sites like CRC and pricing everything up, watching videos of the bikes i have in mind, scouring mags for reviews etc etc….i find i’m actually riding less and the recent thread on here about people going to a HT and regretting it or not did get me thinking about ditching the others and just going back to something like a Cotic Soul and doing everything on the one bike.

Stuff does not make you happy, cycling does, all stuff does is give you short term satisfaction and take up room.

I only have one mountain bike for everything ,well actually thats not technically true, I have 2, but the second is only a spare bike for when the first is broken and is very similar in ethos/style to the first.

If I had more than one style/type of mountain bike, regardless of which bike I was riding at the time , I’d always be wishing I was on the other bike at some point in a ride.

I like both my 650b bike AND my 26 😀

I’m not really qualified to comment on the pros and cons of 650b, being such an average rider and probably wouldn’t know the difference, after a 650b trail bike purchase, all i can say is that out on the trails the bike feels awesome, i am sure it out rides my previous bike, the emperors new clothes maybe, but it feels better, in fact i’m riding so well now, i might even enter the EWS 😉

What part does fork offset play? I also have some 40mm 160 Mazz forks that could play with

How much would you pay for some 46mm offset solo air pikes – from a Giant Reign? I will probably end up selling them for some Fox 36s at some point. I believe Mattocs are 42 or 44mm offset and the new x-fusion closed cartridge damper forks are 46mm offset as well.

All of these means the steering will sharpen up a bit and be less floppy!

I actually think 650b/26 sounds like a great idea, a bit more rollover and comfort where it matters…a small wheel for easier manuals and faster acceleration at the rear. If you have a spare 26 inch wheel lying about – why not!

The 46mm pikes would make the handling heavier/slacker?

A lower offset on a slack HA would counter the HA somewhat? Sharpen the steering? Or is it vice versa

No, believe it or not increasing the offset speeds up steering. This is why 29er forks have 51mm offsets.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/To-the-Point-Wheel-Diameter-VS-Fork-Offset.html

Happy to help out Hora if you have any other questions, I know what its like to be a little OCD. 😛

Lets get this right.

Trail is the the distance between the tyre contact patch and projected steering axis to the ground, it is a result of the steering axis not being vertical (HA).

Imagine zero rake, the steering axis will intersect the ground in front of the point in which the wheel contacts the ground.

When you add rake, you bring the contact point of the wheel forward in relation to the steering axis, shortening trail.

No rake = more trail = more stability at high speed (flop (instability) at low speed)

Rake = less trail = less stability and high speed (less flop more (stability) at low speed)

Make sense?

Haven’t read the PB link above, but anticipate explanations of the difference in trail, different wheel sizes produce, hence why different wheel sizes can have different HAs and offsets, but end up with same trail, hence similar steering.

http://m.pinkbike.com/news/liteville-601-mk-2-review-2015.html

Some more interesting reading about different wheel sizes on the same frame

If it helps I just rode a 650b bronson C back to back with my 26″ Bandit.

The bronson felt really high and unwieldy compared to my bandit. I’m sure I could get used to it but I was happy to get back on the bandit.

Thats how I felt on the M and L that I rode as mentioned earlier. Rolled really well though

Tbh I want to feel the trail not find it easier.

jam bo – Member
If it helps I just rode a 650b bronson C back to back with my 26″ Bandit.

The bronson felt really high and unwieldy compared to my bandit. I’m sure I could get used to it but I was happy to get back on the bandit.

Not surprising BB height on a bandit is 335 the new 26 Surpressor is 339 and the the Bronson c is 346. Transition have always been fairly low bikes….

Can someone summarize the 7 pages for me in a few lines please?

rickon – Member
Can someone summarize the 7 pages for me in a few lines please?

Bike for sale.

OK, can someone summarize the last 7 pages in a Haiku?

rickon – Member
Can someone summarize the 7 pages for me in a few lines please?

Man needs a fatbike.

OK, can someone summarize the last 7 pages in a Haiku?

Hora buys a bike
It is not to his liking
Hora sells a bike

OK, can someone summarize the last 7 pages in a Haiku?

Something’s Wrong in your Bicycle
Who you gonna call?

IGMC

Loving the measurement brigade out all over this one still, now it’s fork offset 🙂

I think OCD is the right term. All men (and women) need a hobby to keep them involved and sane outside of work. Some are happy to just ride, or fish or drive etc. Others are inquisitive and need to stick their nose in and its good to understand your hobby more..

Heres yesterdays shot. On the bike I think its difficult to spot the wheelsize difference?

I don’t subscribe to ‘ride 10times and you’ll forget about the old wheelsize’. That means you are having to adapt to something that is different to what you particularly like. You are being forced to adapt what makes you work/your skill to something else. bigger wheels would work on some trails- if I lived in the South Downs etc I wouldn’t look back from a 650b swap but where you ride the bike in lots of different types of trails?

I must say I’m really glad I took the day off yesterday. I felt nicely tired post-ride but I also wanted to ride again in the evening 😀

All men (and women) need a hobby to keep them involved and sane outside of work.

I love the way you consistently project your own beliefs onto everyone else in the world – I find it helps when reading Hora-speak to simply substitute the word ‘Hora’ for ‘all men/people/women/everyone/you/other forum member’ and similar Horalisations…

I like a slack bike (I’d have kept the 26 inch wheels in there and run 2.35 Mary’s front and rear) but that looks weird now, like a dog dragging its arse, everything is tilted backwards too much for my liking, what does it climb like because on pics alone it looks like it’d be a pig to get uphill?

Bloody hell Hora!….check your front tyre down at the ‘tactic’ logo where it meets with the ground in your photo….looks like the tyre is partially off the rim?!?!….I know Tactics are a bugger to get a tyre on but that’s ridiculous.

i have just bought two new 26 frames. to replace my small bandit and medium bottlerocket. loving the saracen 16x 🙂

Loved my 26 inch Ariel, thieving bastards put paid to that though!

Hora, why not swap to a V3? Buy some 160mm lyriks, stick a spacer in the shock and away you go in 26 inch bliss.