Quote Originally Posted by mimitabby View Post
a few pages back you wrote that you were anxious to compare the 650 wheel set to what you used to have. what do you think about it now?
I rode the 650c wheelset on a 25 mile club ride here in Maryland last night. Very different feel from the 26" wheels with mtb slicks. With the 26x1.3" tires the bike felt totally stable and bombproof over rough roads at any speed. The ride was never jarring even on major potholes. With the 650c x 23mm tires, the ride is definitely stiffer. I was using Michelin Pro Race 2 tires inflated to about 100 psi, and the tires were not remaining in contact with the road on chipseal at high speed - definitely a less than bombproof feel. Hopefully that will improve if I run at lower pressure. My intention for building 28 spoke 2-cross wheels was that the wheels would soften the ride enough to avoid this. However, I ended up using fairly stiff rims (Mavic CXP-33) with a v-section because a rim like the Open Pro wasn't available in 650c 28 hole. These wheels feel noticeably stiffer than the 700c sewup wheels (non-v rims, 36 hole, 3-cross) on my old bike, but that frame is stiffer and I got jarred badly on potholed. The sewup wheels never felt like they were losing contact with the road at high speed.

To do: (1) Try the Michelin Pro Race tires at lower pressure. (2) Put on a cyclocomputer (just bought a Strada wireless), calibrate both wheelsets, and see if the wheels make much difference in my riding speed. If they don't, then I'll probably ride the 26" wider tires all the time because the ride is more comfortable and more stable and I can commute with weight on the bike (ie. laptop).