650b or 29er

Debating what wheelset I should build for my Salsa Vaya. Originally was going to go with 29er but with so many adventure/gravel bikes having the ability to run 650b now unsure. I will be using a brand new set of hope pro 4 hubs

Any opinions/advice or real world experience welcome

Used to ride a Cotic Roadrat with 29er wheels, 40C tyres.

Now have a Surly Ogre set up with 650b+ wheels and 3″ tyres. Ride it off-road, on road etc. Don’t find the big tyres much of a compromise on the road (I’m not exactly a roadie) and the comfort is great off road.

Apart from getting splattered with mud (must sort some guards!) I’ve not found any drawbacks so far

What do you plan to do more of with the bike?

Efficient miles and rollover then 29er wheelset. More priority to manoeuvrability at expense of speed and efficiency then maybe 650b. I note randonneurs tended to prefer the smaller wheel as they could fit larger tyres for comfort.

I’m planning some off road bikepacking but to get where I want to go is 20 miles all on tarmac road , then 20 miles return. Plus when not bike packing it will be a mix of off road and tarmac. The new Vaya will run 45c tyres with mudguards and 50c tyres without.

I’ve just ordered some 650 rims that I’ll be building into a “gravel” wheelset in order to compare against my current 29er/700 setup. Give me a couple of months to formulate some feedback?

Scotroutes looking forward to it, that’s right around the time I’ll have the Vaya built so will probably go with 29er then if favourable can get a 650b set built

Cheers

Have a search on YouTube for “path less pedalled” – they did a 650b conversion on a Vaya a little while ago and there’s a couple of videos with their initial thoughts and a first ride report.

Currently have two pairs of wheels for my “gravel” bike. Hope/700c Open pro & 28mm road tyres, old pair hope/29er crests with 42 Nanos. Also am about to build a third pair pair of wheels with 650b rims and 47mm tyres do see what all the fuss is about.

650b plus WTB Horizons on my Vaya, I won’t be going back to 700 on this bike

@stevemackin how are the horizon tyres off-road?

Also Steve what are the benefits of them over 700c on the Vaya

pretty much as you’d expect a slick tyre to be

tighter feel, quick acceleration, very very comfy ride

Cheers Steve now I’m back to being confused
Just sitting with a brand new set of hope pro 4 hubs and a set of 650b rims and 700c rims. Now what to do?

The solution here is obvious. Buy another set of hubs and build two sets 🙂
700c

650b

Bregante at the moment I don’t want to shell out on a second set new hubs for a wheel set that might never be used Would prefer to make a definite decision. As much as that would be the best of both worlds

Really fancy the WTB byways any one know UK supplier

just for interest yesterday I ride my 700c x42mm Straggler, today I rode my 650b x 47mm Vaya, I much prefer the ride of the Vaya now

Also fitted a 650b Knard to the front wheel of the Vaya as a comparision, the outer diameter is an inch or so lower which means that to my eye anything less than a 47mm tyre will mean the bottom bracket sits too low

so I’m ordering some WTB Byways from Germany 😉

Try one of each 😉
For my last 4 rides I’ve been wondering why there was suddenly very little clearance between my front tyre and my little front mudguard thing, and then Mr Pea realised that I’d put his 29er wheel on the front of my 650b hardtail. He called me a ****ing idiot, which I thought was a bit harsh 😀

Hilarious that’s like something I would do!!

Finally decided on wheel size
650b WTB Sti tubeless rims on Hope pro 4 hubs with db spokes.
Watched several YouTube videos and concluded there are more benefits of the 650b over the 700c for the riding I do.
Now onto tyre choice?????