Cycling UK Forum

le.voyageur wrote:not sure about tough but
GRAND BOIS CYPRES 32MM 650B

https://www.pelagobicycles.com/grand-bo ... s-650.html
Also
https://www.rivbike.com/collections/tir ... 9081161741

I noticed those, but wasn't sure about how good they were. I'll check 'em out again.

- Tim

Bonefishblues wrote:No, I'm afraid not, but what an interesting builder. I thought I knew all of the Repack guys, but clearly not.

Yeah - I got a bike from Bruce Gordon (who was tangential to those guys), which I'm going to steal some parts from for this bike. It's a great touring bike, but not so much for traveling (not coupled, and very heavy steel). Gary Fisher lives around here and I've run into him several times at local events (one night at a party I said hello to him, and he said "HEEEEEY!" and drunkenly punched me hard enough in the shoulder that it hurt for 2 days... so my claim to fame is "Gary Fisher hurt me" ); and I met Joe Breeze at the Mountain Bike Museum. I'm collecting them all!

Steve Potts is a really nice fellow, the real-deal as far as honest, old-fashioned craftsmanship is concerned. I'm looking forward to the bike, despite the tire issue.

- Tim

Hey all...

So I'm having my dream touring bike built; I decided to go for 650b wheels, as 1) this is for an S&S coupled bike, so it'll be slightly easier to fit in the case without as much playing with the parts, and 2) it seems like 26" will be slowly dying while 650b will be slowly taking its place.

I'm not sure how true any of the above is, but after lots of discussing of this with people, this was the route I took.

In any case, the frame is being built right now (by Steve Potts, made of titanium), and the wheels will be built by a good local builder (the guy who builds the wheels for Rivendell).

So it was time to look for tires. I was just going to get some of the good ol' Schwalbe Marathons that I've used in the past on my 700c bike... until I found, they don't make them in that size. Anything they do for touring in 650b is wider than that.

So I've been looking around, and 32x650b is almost nonexistent... almost nobody makes such a tire. The few I've found seem to be marketed to mountain-bike-oriented people for that cohort's city bikes... slick tread, "fast" etc... not so much for touring.

Has anyone got some ideas about what I might try? All I've found after searching the major sites have been these two:

https://www.schwalbetires.com/node/282

https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... tact-speed

Those might do ok, but they're not as tough as the touring tires I'm used to.

Anyone have any suggestions (besides telling me I made a mistake getting a 650b bike? ).

- Tim

ubert767 wrote:My wife and I have owned a couple of Thorn Mk1 Rohloff S&S Nomads since 2007. The bikes (and the couplings) have behaved faultlessly and taken us on a number of overseas tours but we probably used the couplings for just 50% of those flights. I find the operation of the couplings to be an easy operation ( I flip the bikes over) but now I prefer to simply remove the front wheels and transport the bikes in polythene flight bags. The problem is that if split then there are two halves of the frame to clash inside the package and I have found it leads to more paint damage. The seperated halves don't play nicely when laid against each other.
The couplings are good if transporting the split bikes inside a car but for flights, not as useful as I thought they might be.

Rob

I bought a big roll of that velcro protective foam that S&S sells, and cut it to fit all the bike tubes. I wrap up the whole bike before packing, so nothing ever gets nicked or damaged.

- Tim

Sweep wrote:I did once consider these couplings years ago but then got diverted by other cycling interests.
Honest questions though.
With such a frame isn't someone still going to use a hard case of some sort?
With all the storage issues of that?
Is the broken down frame less handy for transporting in a soft or padded bag of some sort?
Is the broken down frame less identifiable as a bike to the sometimes careless (or worse) baggage handlers?
Apologies if these are daft questions, still early and the espresso hasn't kicked in yet.

I explained it in another thread here once before, but I'll explain it again:

1. Yes, you use a hard case - it's 26"x26"x10", max size allowed on airlines without paying oversize fees
2. Storage: yes, but all my trips so far I've had someplace to store it, so no issues.
3. They make soft cases for the broken down frame, but I haven't used one before, since it's all been transported by plane and a soft case wouldn't protect it
4. The case it's in MIGHT be identifiable as a bike, but I don't know

Also, the way I travel I usually use public transport to get from place to place, or walk; getting a full bike AND lots of luggage from place to place in that way is very difficult if not impossible. If the bike is broken down, and in a case with wheels, then carrying that around along with other luggage is quite a bit more convenient. I don't typically hire cars to transport myself, bike and luggage, so the fact that it's in a regular case makes it much easier for me to move around with it. It pays for the inconvenience of having to take it apart and put it back together.

In my next trip, I'm going to assemble the bike, then ship the empty case to my end-point so I can disassemble it again and carry it with me on the way back to the starting point by train. Most European high-speed trains don't allow full-sized bikes on them, so this is a necessity.

- Tim

In 2015 I rode from Astoria, Oregon to San Francisco, CA (where I live).

I took the train from San Francisco to Portland, then a coach from Portland to Astoria. Spent the night in Astoria, started the next day.

Astoria is at the very top of Oregon, on the coast, so it was a good place to start. It's also where they shot the movie "The Goonies", in case you're interested in that.

I've been told that that section of the coast is the best; cheap camping at hiker/biker campgrounds every 30-50 miles (they're required to find a place for you, and it's something cheap like $5-$9 per night). I did the trip in 2 weeks, I think; stayed in a few hotels along the way when I got tired of being grubby (though the campgrounds in Oregon usually had hot showers).

In Astoria, I stayed at this place:

https://www.norbladhotel.com/

Interesting, funky hotel, friendly to cyclists.

- Tim

mercalia wrote:so how much would a frame wuth S&S couplings cost? To have a frame converted seems a lot of money then there is a respray

My current touring bike is a Surly Long Haul Trucker; I brought it to a well-known local frame builder, who put the couplers on it for something like $600 USD, I think (it's been awhile). I then had it repainted (powder coated) at a local paint shop for around $120, I think.

- Tim

PhilD28 wrote:As things stand today, if you are planning on travelling in remote areas I would choose 26” for drop in availability. There are still more 26” wheels in existence than 650B in the developing world.

Quite true. In the near future, I'm just planning on doing tours in North America and Europe. Later on, I may add more remote places.

Since I don't already have anything other than 700c bikes, and since this is a new bike I'm creating from scratch, and given what various people have told me about how they think 650b will eventually replace 26", I'm tending towards 650b at the moment. Of course, 650b may not reach the distribution that 26" currently has, or if it does it may be in so many years that it won't make a difference to me. My main concern is "how well does it fit in the S&S case" more than anything else, otherwise I'd get 700c wheels.

I'm still puzzling it all out.

I appreciate hearing from someone like you, who has done a lot of touring on 26" wheels - thanks much!

- Tim

whoof wrote:Reasonably early in your route you are going close to both
Rocamadour
rov.jpg
and the Gouffre de Padirac
gouffre.jpg

Beautiful places! I may add those to the route, thanks!

- Tim

horizon wrote:

tbessie wrote: I've been reading about 650b wheels (lots of debate about them out there, mostly in the mountain bike world), and also I see that they're not THAT much bigger than 700c... I guess they split the difference between 700c and 26".

Just for clarity - that is a typo?

Ha! Yes, thanks for catching it! I meant "not THAT much bigger than the 26""

- Tim

simonhill wrote:Where are you planning on going?

650Bs and 29 ers (700) are rumoured to be spreading to far flung places, but I'm yet to see them outside more developed cities and towns. What keeps the 26 alive is the ubiquitous cheapo Chinese MTB style bikes. Available in every developing country I go to. Once the Chinese stop knocking these out these then things will get serious for us 26er boys.

Well, ideally this will be THE bike I take everywhere I travel to. Mostly North America and Europe, but in the future hopefully everywhere else - Asia, South America, perhaps Africa, India, etc.

- Tim

andrew_s wrote:Disc brakes or rim brakes?

I've chosen mechanical disc brakes for this build.

- Tim

Hi all...

I'm going to be riding from my dad's place in southwest France to Munich, and created a route over the prettier parts of the Massif Central, somewhat through the alps, stopping in some cities I'm interested in. I've created the below route, and am curious if anyone has suggestions for routes along the way, things to look for or avoid, etc.

Thanks much in advance!

- Tim

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_Isl3 ... sp=sharing

Hey all...

So I'm having a custom touring bike built, and it'll have S&S couplers on it. I've explained why this is useful for me for traveling with the bike, so I won't mention my reasons here (search my posting history if curious).

I have a 700c bike with S&S couplers I currently use, and decided I wanted this custom bike to be able to pack smaller into the S&S case, as the 700c wheels won't fit into the case unless I take the tires off. Also, smaller wheels will have less bulk in the case.

The bike builder and I discussed 26" wheels and 650b wheels. I like 26" wheels because they're the smallest. However, I've been reading about 650b wheels (lots of debate about them out there, mostly in the mountain bike world), and also I see that they're not THAT much bigger than 26"... I guess they split the difference between 700c and 26".

What would you folks recommend, if wheel size was an issue for you like it is for me? I'm thinking in terms of ride quality, availability of replacement parts, tires, etc. and suitability for a touring bike.

- Tim

Thanks for all the info, Richard!

- Tim