The year of the 650B: the third wheel.
What is 650B? It is a rim that is a little bit bigger than a 26er but a lot smaller than a 29er. To avoid confusion and make it easier to market, Bike manufacturers want everyone to address it as 27.5". This time around the announcement of this new wheel is the same as previously done with the 29er. It was available about 20 something years ago. Some independent builders had already created a bike with this wheel size. Yet, citing lack of support from the bike industry fork and tire companies it was decided that it was not a viable option. So in the year 2014 all systems are a go. I want to talk about the fact that bicycle manufacturers stop producing 26" bikes because they were deemed unnecessary. They said you do not need a 26" when you have a 29er available.
Things you should know about 650B. If I were to give you the option of giving you a bike with 12.5 mm bigger tires, would you pay the premium of buying new tires, wheels, fork and frame? This question has been answered by every rider the same way. People have said, "why would you want to buy something that is just 12.5 mm bigger? That doesn't make a difference." That's basically the difference between a 26" and a 650B. All that separates those two wheel sizes is 12. 5 mm in a circumference. I could put 650B wheels on my 26er Specialized Epic with Schwalbe tires.
If Jaroslav Kulhavy put the 29er wheel on the map by winning multiple World Cup races, Nino Schurter did the same for the 650 wheel. Nino Schurter is no fan of the 29er. He cited the fact he couldn't get a good fit on the 29er. All of that I think is true but I think mainly his problem was the same problem I have had on the 29er: it doesn't handle the same. When you are on a 29er everything feels a more sluggish. So in 2012 Scott gave Nino a 650B in which he won every race except two of them. During the World Cup Nino was beat by a 26" bike, never by a 29er. This whole theory that 29er are faster regardless of the rider fell flat on its face. So these races definitely had an impact on parts manufacturers.
Things you should know about 650B. If I were to give you the option of giving you a bike with 12.5 mm bigger tires, would you pay the premium of buying new tires, wheels, fork and frame? This question has been answered by every rider the same way. People have said, "why would you want to buy something that is just 12.5 mm bigger? That doesn't make a difference." That's basically the difference between a 26" and a 650B. All that separates those two wheel sizes is 12. 5 mm in a circumference. I could put 650B wheels on my 26er Specialized Epic with Schwalbe tires.
If Jaroslav Kulhavy put the 29er wheel on the map by winning multiple World Cup races, Nino Schurter did the same for the 650 wheel. Nino Schurter is no fan of the 29er. He cited the fact he couldn't get a good fit on the 29er. All of that I think is true but I think mainly his problem was the same problem I have had on the 29er: it doesn't handle the same. When you are on a 29er everything feels a more sluggish. So in 2012 Scott gave Nino a 650B in which he won every race except two of them. During the World Cup Nino was beat by a 26" bike, never by a 29er. This whole theory that 29er are faster regardless of the rider fell flat on its face. So these races definitely had an impact on parts manufacturers.
Comments
Post a Comment