DebW in the 21st century?

[DebW]

2) Wheel Size: Thats interesting to see your stats. I am even shorter than you, only 5'4" but my inseam is 31.5", so I have a super short torso. Given that your torso is a lot longer than mine, I think 700c wheels should be fine (and that is what you currently use, right?). While it is true that 650 wheels pack better than 700s, here is the problem. 650C wheels, are only available in widths up to 28c (the terry tellus, a nice tire by the way), although there are good options in racing widths like 23c. You could go 650b, but then the skinniest you can go is 34c. So if you want to be able to use tires in the 23c-32c range, you are better off with 700c. That is one of the reasons I used the 700/24" combo on my bike, instead of 2 650s, wanted to use tires from 23-32c wide (which are also available for 24"). You can pack 700c wheels in an s/s case, but you have to deflate them.

That must be why the builder recommended BOTH 650s and 26" wheels. Plus I could put a mountain cassette on the touring wheels and something narrower on the 650s. I've always ridden 700c but if I don't place my cleats carefully I get toe clip overlap (size 41 shoes). I've never had a professional fitting, so I'm anxious to see what I learn tomorow.

[Triskeliongirl]

That must be why the builder recommended BOTH 650s and 26" wheels. Plus I could put a mountain cassette on the touring wheels and something narrower on the 650s. I've always ridden 700c but if I don't place my cleats carefully I get toe clip overlap (size 41 shoes). I've never had a professional fitting, so I'm anxious to see what I learn tomorow.

Oh I get it, he could build it so it could use either a 650b or 650c wheelset, so you could keep one set for touring and one for fast riding. That's a very cool idea, I thought you had to choose one or ther other (cuz at least with cantis won't adjusting the brakes be a pita everytime you change your wheelset. I guess it would be easier with sidepulls). I kind of do that now anyway, that is for convenience I have a lighter wheelset that I keep 23c tires on and a sturdier one (more spokes) that I keep 32c tires on even though they are both 700c/24" sets. If I were to have gone custom, I would have really explored the 650 options better, but none of the stock frames with 650 wheels fit me since I need such a slack seat tube angle (I have a really long thigh so need a max STA of 73 deg, hard to find in smaller frame sizes). I found a link to the site where my friend shows the parts he used to build his waterford: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=84156

Another thing to watch for on smaller framed bikes is room to get your rack on. I find it is much easier to mount a rear rack on my bike with cantis than side pull brakes, so I strongly recommend going with cantis unless that will make the two wheelset thing too impractical, cuz that is a cool idea.

One more thought, I like your idea of keeping different casettes on each wheelset to. Do know with my XT rear derailleur, I notice no difference in shifting even a road casette (12-27) than with an ultegra rear derailleur, so while some things I read made me nervous about it, it was just fine (maybe its only an issue for very narrow racing casettes).

Do know one advantage of shimano 9 spd is that you can mix and match road and mountain parts, so I have road stuff in front and mountain in back. I am very happy with sti shifters and mountain gearing. I agree with Emily that on a bike like a friday where the wheelbase is quite short bar end shifting can work better, but I really like sti. You'll notice on my friend's waterford he chose bar ends so he could use a brake lever that is similar in feel to the campy levers on his other bikes.