650 wheels on a cross bike?

[Cataboo]

Rivendell's website & harris cyclery have various 650b options - I have no idea whether or not they're appropriate for cyclocross or not.

If you look at this sogn build:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2567121...7615670220313/

That's the paul's motolite bmx brake. You can slide the brakepad up & down those cantilever brakes - so you can swap between 2 sizes of wheels with those. So you could swap on 700c's on a 650b bike.

[Kathi]

Could you use a set of 650c Mavic Open Pro's? They were handbuilt for my road bike but they were overbuilt for me so I no longer use them. I'd love to find them a good home.

[MartianDestiny]

Could you use a set of 650c Mavic Open Pro's? They were handbuilt for my road bike but they were overbuilt for me so I no longer use them. I'd love to find them a good home.

Maybe. I'll get back to you after the builder, fitter, and me settle on the final specs. Should be getting a call from the builder this week.

[MartianDestiny]

Rivendell's website & harris cyclery have various 650b options - I have no idea whether or not they're appropriate for cyclocross or not.

If you look at this sogn build:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2567121...7615670220313/

That's the paul's motolite bmx brake. You can slide the brakepad up & down those cantilever brakes - so you can swap between 2 sizes of wheels with those. So you could swap on 700c's on a 650b bike.

I've been paroosing the 650b wheel options. Seems most of them are decidedly mountain and thus too wide. Those brakes look cool (and expensive ). I'll have to keep them in mind.

[DebW]

My custom bike has both 650c wheels and 26" wheels. The 26" wheels are Ultegra road hubs and narrowish mtb rims. I use 26x1.3 slick tires on them, and I love them so much the I rarely switch over to the 650c wheels. The 26x1.3s are perfect for touring and commuting, and road riding over spring potholes. For touring on unpaved trails, I put on 26x1.5 tires. If you're going custom, you want the best fit without compromises, so don't insist on 700c wheels if that alters the optimal design. I'm 5'7" with long legs and short torso, and with my foot size and crank length, I couldn't have used fenders with 700c wheels.

[Kathi]

Who's you're fitter?

[MartianDestiny]

Who's you're fitter?

Kathi,

My fitter is Chris Jacobson at Sports Garage in Boulder

Here's the shop's fitting page:
http://sportsgarage.net/articles/bic...ices-pg124.htm

And his (short) bio at Serotta:
http://www.serottacyclinginstitute.com/staff.html

It's so nice having the best of the best a bike-ride away from home
I definitely HIGHLY recommend him (and really anyone else in there) for fitting, service, or bike purchases/advice. It's hands down the best bike shop I've ever set foot in. They're good people. I consider them all good friends.

(No, I don't get commission But if you stop in and tell them Trinity sent you they'll all get a good laugh. I've sent 4 or 5 people in so far that have walked out with bikes...)

[Kathi]

That's who I thought. You are definitely in good hands. Chris built my Custom Serotta-Ottrott, 48 cm frame with 650c wheels. The fit is wonderful!

At the time I didn't know Chris very well so it was a huge leap of faith for me to commit that amount of money to a fitter and a company I didn't know well.

The care that Chris and his employees took with me the first time I went into his shop convinced me I was in good hands. Besides, he had trained the fitter I worked with in Cincinnati.

[MartianDestiny]

Ooooo, custom Serotta!! That may be my PhD present to myself! I always drool over those in the shop. They are out of my league for now though.

I know far too well the "leap of faith" you speak of. People have been trying to get me to get a custom bike for awhile now and I just couldn't get over that trusting someone to build it to fit and ride the way I wanted without me, well, riding it first.

A year of riding with and 2 bike purchases (a Yeti and an Wilier) from Chris though and I had no doubt in my mind letting him get one built up for me. He said "custom Spot" and I said "when's the fitting" without batting an eye.

The first time I ever walked into the shop was about 20 minutes before they closed and on a school night (so I walked in like the typical student with a backpack, etc) wondering if they had an XXS Yeti I could try. It was late and raining so I expected to come back that weekend if they had one (I also never expected they'd have one). Chris spent 30 minutes on a trainer fitting me to that test bike, and then even though they were closed and it was raining INSISTED I go ride it and get it muddy as well as the other bike they had that would fit (a rocky mountain) for comparisons sake. Any other shop would have probably treated me like a stupid short chick that didn't know what she was doing and couldn't afford the bike anyway; especially at that time of day (and even a good shop would have told me to come back at a different time). Chris is just simply amazing.

Do you ever come ride up this way?

[cycling78]

Informative for me.

[MartianDestiny]

My custom bike has both 650c wheels and 26" wheels. The 26" wheels are Ultegra road hubs and narrowish mtb rims. I use 26x1.3 slick tires on them, and I love them so much the I rarely switch over to the 650c wheels. The 26x1.3s are perfect for touring and commuting, and road riding over spring potholes. For touring on unpaved trails, I put on 26x1.5 tires. If you're going custom, you want the best fit without compromises, so don't insist on 700c wheels if that alters the optimal design. I'm 5'7" with long legs and short torso, and with my foot size and crank length, I couldn't have used fenders with 700c wheels.

Glad to hear another instance of this being done.

What was your brake solution? Are you using disks or some sort of modifiable canti?

It could very well be possible that I'm happy with road modified 26" wheels given tire options, but I'd really like the option of going up to 650c's in case I don't.

[DebW]

Glad to hear another instance of this being done.

What was your brake solution? Are you using disks or some sort of modifiable canti?

I have longer reach Shimano road brakes. Switching wheels means shifting the pads up or down a couple milimeters and fiddling with the pad angle. Because the 650c and 26" wheels have different rim widths, I also adjust the brake barrel to compensate so I get the same lever travel. The road brake caliper restricts the tire size I can use to 1.5" max. If you might want to run knobby cx tires, you probably don't want caliper brakes, and typical cantis are somewhat difficult to move and center the pads. Definitely pay attention to ease of brake pad adjustment in whatever brakes you get.