I currently ride a Dekerf Team ST and am in early correspondance with Brendan at Siren Cycles in regards to building a Song sometime in the future. The Song is a soft-tail if you're not familiar with them. Originally I was going to go with a 29" front and 26" rear. I've never ridden a 29'r of any sort other than around the parking lot. I'm not sure about that big wheel up front though and since I'm only 5'6" I thought the 650B route might be better. So the question is should I have the bike built 650B front and 26" back or 650B all around? This bike will be used for midwest single-track and some 50-100 mile endurance events. Possibly a stage race such as the Breck Epic or BC bike race. What say you 650B'ers?
One of the benefits of the 650b wheelsize is folks your (and my) size can get some bigger-wheeled benefits without the geometry compromises inherent in a 29er built to fit us. I'd go for a full 650b Siren, personally--in fact that exact bike option was on my short list. I went with a Curtlo softtail 650b instead 'cause I like steel and the price was easier to take.
The price of this frame is one of the reasons I'm a little leary about going 650B front and rear. What if the 650B never takes hold and tire and rim options go away or remain very limited or say I just don't like the ride that's any awfully expensive ride sit around. How about this for a thought. 650B front with 80mm fork and 26" rear. If for some reason I want to go back to 26" front I could go with a 100mm fork, hopefully just convert the 80mm fork to 100, and the front end geometry should be virtually unchanged.
How about this for a thought. 650B front with 80mm fork and 26" rear. If for some reason I want to go back to 26" front I could go with a 100mm fork, hopefully just convert the 80mm fork to 100, and the front end geometry should be virtually unchanged.
I run 26" rear with 650b front with 80mm fork on a frame built primarily around a 26" 100mm travel fork. I have absolutely no complaints.
I would add that if you do go custom.......I would consider having enough room in the rear for 650b. Just my 2 cents. It really shouldn't be hard at all to accommodate the larger rear wheel.
I think 650b will be here to stay once Rock Shox or Fox officially jumps on board.
I run 26" rear with 650b front with 80mm fork on a frame built primarily around a 26" 100mm travel fork. I have absolutely no complaints.
I would add that if you do go custom.......I would consider having enough room in the rear for 650b. Just my 2 cents. It really shouldn't be hard at all to accommodate the larger rear wheel.
I think 650b will be here to stay once Rock Shox or Fox officially jumps on board.
I'm personally a 650b-eliever (I bought one of the first run of Rivendell Saluki's!) but I can appreciate why you'd want to build in that sort of flexibility. I agree that it shouldn't be hard to build it to take 26" as well as 650b either in the back or both. You should talk about it with the builder (the whole point of "Custom," right?) and I'm sure he could build in that option.
Good luck! It sounds like a cool bike, no matter what size you roll...
I'm personally a 650b-eliever (I bought one of the first run of Rivendell Saluki's!) but I can appreciate why you'd want to build in that sort of flexibility. I agree that it shouldn't be hard to build it to take 26" as well as 650b either in the back or both. You should talk about it with the builder (the whole point of "Custom," right?) and I'm sure he could build in that option.
Good luck! It sounds like a cool bike, no matter what size you roll...
I will definately be talking to the builder once I decide to take the plunge no matter what wheel size/combo I decide to go with. They seem to be very flexible and as you stated that is definately the point of custom. Can anyone comment on the ride in regards to a 650B/26" versus a full 650B'er?
The price of this frame is one of the reasons I'm a little leary about going 650B front and rear. What if the 650B never takes hold and tire and rim options go away or remain very limited or say I just don't like the ride that's any awfully expensive ride sit around. How about this for a thought. 650B front with 80mm fork and 26" rear. If for some reason I want to go back to 26" front I could go with a 100mm fork, hopefully just convert the 80mm fork to 100, and the front end geometry should be virtually unchanged.
Your concern about having a useless frame made me think. Isn't the point of 650B giving one the biggest wheel/tire combo without turning the frame, fork, and geometry into a frankenbike? That statement is not a diss' to 29'ers, but while many love 29'er bikes and their setups, many do not.
I'm not familiar with the frame you're possibly going to get, but it shouldn't be that radically different from a 26'er. If it is, I think the designer/builder missed the boat on the 650B concept. I'll even go out on a limb and say that IMO a 650B frame should be capable of running both 26 and 650B interchangeably. There are 26'er frames and forks right now that take 650B with the 2.3 Neo without any issue. Why does an "official" 650B frame and fork have to turn into some stretched out ungainly setup? I'm not saying they will, but this is a concern of mine.
^^^ yeah , what he said ^^^ (see the "special" WB 650b forks...haro beasly frame etc...again, not to knock them at all, just don't see the need for the "special")
for most all, (i'm thinking ~98%) 26'er bikes, the leap to having a 650b rear wheel is only a matter of widening the stays and/or moving an arch a couple mm's during the build/design process. no need for any radical new geometry.....of course 'the industry' would like you to believe otherwise so you will continue to buy more 'newer and better' stuff....
me personally, i like my 650 front/26 rear reign...works gooood.
Thanks for the input guys. I'm leaning towards 650B Fr & R. Now let's hope for some good news from Sea Otter in regards to some new products.:thumbsup:
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