aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Nothing wrong with putting in a seatpost and shim, as long as the combo fits properly and doesn't lead you to bend the ears of the seat lug.
I built up a bike with drum brake hubs but now I'm selling the bike piecemeal. I have the wheels if you're interested, and it would solve the brake-reach problem. The rear hub takes an 8-speed cassette and maybe a 9-speed.
Spacing the rear is easier than you think. Sheldon Brown wrote an article on how to do it. And you can probably just put your wheel in there without permanently bending the frame, at least to try it out.
Not every bike is a good 650B candidate. You need room for the tires, and you may be lowering the bike overall, which might put you at risk of striking your pedals against the ground. Have you measured?