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About Brad

Bikes are cool, and I’ve been making a go at this ‘industry’ thing for a while now. You may remember me from some nine years at Dirt Rag Magazine. Or not. Now I do some writing, wrenching and photography to pay the bills. And run my half of a little magazine project called Urban Velo. We love riding in the city. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

19 Replies to “650b”

  2. …ta hell w/ 650 B wheels & all the attendant bullshit, that is one absolutely beautiful horse !!…

  4. I can’t wait until the 7343/5SZX wheel hits the market! It’s going to revolutionize the way wheels roll!

  6. I honestly thought this guy was joking for a little bit…
    That’s some serious passion for wheel size ya got there.

  7. All i know is the Germans will never embrace it. Its hard enough getting 29’er shit here, let alone an unheard of and never/rarely used standard endorsed/embraced by the French, fer chrissakes.

  8. (quote)
    – Comfort: due to the possibility of fitting large section tyres (30 to 35 mm.) giving pliability, performance and longevity.
    – Control: a lower centre of gravity and better tyre grip.
    – Stability: especially when descending due to the gyroscopic effect of the smaller wheel diameter.
    (end quote)

    I’ll agree that a higher volume tire can achieve a more comfortable ride, but the other two points; Control and Stability, they need some s’plainin.

    r/e the control. It seems to me that the center of gravity has more to do with BB height and rider position than a ~25mm difference in wheel center, and for the Stability. If you’ve got a smaller diameter wheel and a wider tire then the contact patch is in turn shorter and wider, and popular wisdom would indicate that that is *less* stable than a longer narrower contact patch.
    (isn’t this the argument for 29’r stability and traction over 26″ wheels?)

    ..anyway, technical merit aside it sounds like a big-ol waste of time to me. cause, like the cycling industry needs *another* “standard”.

  9. I admire the passion, but as a lifelong bike shop mechanic, there’s no reason to bring back an obsolete wheel size(again- schwinn actually sold bikes in the states with this size in the early 90’s) even though 650’s seem to be all the rage among some of the small custom shops, why not stick to a rim/tire size that has already been developed and is widely available with hundreds of variations of rim & rubber?

  11. C’mon I ride 650s and I still use a Sony Beta Max you just cant beat superior technology.

  12. Damn hobbits. If you’re short enough to have trouble getting a bike built around 700c with big tires, why not just go straight to 650c? Is an 13mm of rim diameter worth not being able to get replacement parts?
    sorelegs: Beta Max was superior. 650b is Laserdisc.

  13. …re: the 650 b web-site kinda folks…

    …& WE drunkcyclist blog-types get accused of having to much time on our hands ??…

  15. this is the crap we get? straight from the horse’s ass! grant has brought us nothing but an affinity for outdated itchy wool and bikes that are presented as handmade but rather mass manufactured in japan or wherever…for years! more shit for the tired commuter who rarely if ever rides. go go leather bigger than life saddle bag…woo hoo. big johnny should be picking up a rivendell soon since he can’t seem to make it out to any local events…

  16. 650 seems a legit idea. On our kraptastic planet, it’s now far simpler fop more standards than in the past, ie china can kick it out. and we have more US frame builders than ever. Look, I’m no racer. I like to get lost in BFE all over texas, oklahoma and whatever I can find long miles & shitty roads. A “touring” bike should be a legit format, but it doesnt fit with Bicycling mag’s over paid demographic. I usually can’t commute, only ride crazy tech MTB stuff when I’ve got health insurance (this is texas). I roll a velocity dyad on back & MA3 up front, and still cant find rims I can really get behind.

  17. Why drop three grand on a Rivendell when I can just ride one of the archaic poorly maintained pieces of shit I already own?

    On a side note, maybe I should start running a six speed freewheel…

  18. …can we get an “author” w/ a topic in here, s’il vous fucking plait…bikepunk, bush43, flagstaffist, somebody pick up the dropped ball…

    …cruisin’ the ether, i see big jonny is preppin’ ta playa in the black rock like a coolie w/ his rickshaw, while some dick from the ‘city’ takes it upon himself to screw it up for the desertlings…

    …nail that guy up to a cross & set him on fire on sunday nite…that’ed give him the attention he deserves & wants…burning man indeed…

    …meanwhile, back @ the site…