abshipp 

I've never shellacked bars before, but these might be the first. How many coats would you recommend?

due ruote 

3 or 4. Some do more, but I feel like it starts to look too glossy/plasticky if you go too far. This is Newbaum’s maroon with amber.
Oops - with 700c wheels. My bad.

Jmclay

Very, very pretty and it has to be vastly more enjoyable on real world roads, even if you couldn't fit big rubber on it.

abshipp 

Looks great, thanks

Jmclay

Not a conversion, a new frame from my shop...and not 650b, but spiritually and functionally singing loudly in the same choir. Still, I thought y'all might like a look. The 559x50mm Rat Trap Pass tire is a better 650b than 650b, though a bit more challenging to fit! This is for one of my brothers; the one still in Tally; but it's entirely possible that an encore will end up in Modena, Italy for my oldest brother... though he already has one of my frames, if for the relatively skinny McClure Pass tire. And you didn't know that "Clay" was an old Italian name? This is the first one with my name on it; I've focused my energies exclusively on the frames, not the advertising. But it's time. How'bout that nearly Molteni orange! And the chainstays...Big room for big rubber, and associated fenders. The paint's been curing in the attic for a few weeks so I recon it's about time to build it out.

Happy New Year, all!

Road Fan

I agree completely! I bought a 650b Terraferma Super Corsa. Mike Terraferma told me back then he built nearly all his bikes with 8 cm BB drop. Nominal estimated diameter of the wheel is 584 + 2*42 = 668 mm, with a tire height of 42 mm for a 584 x 42c being the estimated part. I use 170 mm crankset arms and narrow-Q chainset with touring platform pedals like the old Campy C-record, with no striking. But the similar diameter of a wheel with 22 mm tubulars is 666. I have not seen much of long distance riders using such bikes complaining about problems with 8 cm BB drop.

rando_couche

Oh. DiNucci. No wonder it's so GORGEOUS!!!! (If I had the means, I'd have Mark build me one...)

Jmclay

PSA: Low and tight fork raking available; ping me off-list if you need such.

I'm also refining my ROR chainstay bending to accomodate 60+mm fenders none/minimal stay crimps. I can do that on an experimental basis for other builders; some in-process photos, here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/216244...57717250289361

Electrical Slip Ring fabrication photos for general how-I-did-it info (the Hirose approach, smaller hole in the steerer tube), here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/216244...57710996851941

abshipp 

Something a bit different - an amateur built Columbus SL track bike with 38mm Pari-Motos. This fork would just barely clear 700c X 23 and there was no clearance for a brake, hence the conversion.

48x17 gearing should land me in the 72" range.

37mm actual in the rear and 39mm actual in the front. Barely enough room in the back, I'm hoping the wheel is stiff enough to not flex too much. A little ride around the neighborhood last night gave me some optimism that it will work.






Now it just needs to not be 10°F so I can go have some fun

southpawboston

That fork bend is really nicely done! And I've been following your electrical slip ring project... really nice stuff there!

hellojoben

Hi Everyone! This thread has given me enough inspiration that I'm investing my hard earned cash to build a 650b wheelset to convert my Allez. I was wondering if any of y'all had experience with Velocity's Quill rim in 650b? Like others here that have converted racier frames, my bike can clear a 38mm-40mm with rims that a smaller internal width but am unsure of how the tires will sit on the Quill. I don't post here much, a bikeforums visit always leaves me wanting to buy and or build up something new haha

mountaindave 

What a beautiful Allez SE! I have plans to convert my wife’s SE to 650b as well, but with A23 rims - the Quill is wider. With 38mm tires, I wouldn’t worry too much about internal rim width. I routinely Mount 38mm tires on old Mavic MA40 rims (~14mm internal) with no problem. I say go for it!

velojym

Not exactly vintage, but I was going for that effect anyway. The Montague Fit is designed around 700c wheels, but the disc brakes made for an easy swap.
I could only get a 30mm tire on the back, the vestigial brake bridge being the only obstacle. With the 650b wheels, I've easily cleared 48mm Gravel Kings.

hellojoben

Thanks Dave! I had it repainted after a flub at a local bike kitchen that dented my cable guide. My worry is that the wider rim will balloon the 38 tire and it'll end up being too wide for my chain stays.

mountaindave 

Ha - I see you over on the 650b google group! Hopefully the Panaracer chart will help guide you. However, I still think it will be a worthy effort with 38's. Report back on your results.

Hproduguidon

in France the most popular 650b is 44x584 and 650x35b

Hproduguidon

gugie 

This one started out as a "standard" 650b conversion + powder coat. Customer decided that a custom front rack was desired for randonneuring, but why not some custom lowriders to turn it into a campeur when desired?

Here's the list of mods:
1. Reraked fork to obtain 35mm trail
2. Repositioned rear triangle bridges for proper fenderline
3. 3 sets of Bottle bosses, BB cable guides, shifter bosses, relocated brake cable slots and used slotted bits for ease of rinko
4. Modified Lezeyne road pump (added spring) and brazed pump pegs on the non-drive side
5. Custom handlebar bag rack
6. Custom low rider racks
7. Patched a few small dents
8. Internal fork wiring for generator hub
9. Seat tube tail light by Velo Lumino (our own @southpawboston, proprietor)
10. Spread rear dropouts to 130mm for modern cassette usage
11. Brazed in a 7 o'clock stop on the 4 o'clock stop on the Huret derailleur hanger

And then, a curveball.

Ever since I saw a description of Rene Herse's slip ring conductor method of supplying power to the tail light, I've wanted to do it. I've been playing around with some ideas on how to do that. Then Jamie Swann posted step by step instructions. Customer wanted this badly, I decided to give it a whirl. I didn't do an SL dropout conversion, instead I brazed a brass tube through an enlarged vent hole near the dropout and had it reappear just below the fork crown. So we decided to do that as well.


Randonneur mode without low riders



Campeur mode. Note that I only have the upper bolt installed. Properly fitted the bottom attachment co-locates with the fender stay attachment, which would use a longer bolt.



Centerpull posts, polished MAFAC RAIDs, rinko'ed fender, pump pegs for Lezeyne road pump (modified with spring



The M4 screw is brazed into place and used as a "ground" or return path for the generator. The entire frame is part of the electrial circuit on this bike.

southpawboston

Mark, this is looking like one heck of a conversion! Can't wait to see how the slip-ring setup works out. I've spoken to Jamie a few times about his setup, I think his is the most evolved out there. Good luck!

How much did you have to re-rake the fork to arrive at 35mm trail? I'm just curious how much it lowered the crown? And is that drop something that can be compensated for with a headset that has extra bottom stack? I'm asking because I went through the math to rerake my Shogun fork but it would result in too much crown drop.

gugie 

Hi Anton,

Slip ring works just fine! The hardest part was finding someone who could turn down some insulators for it, a buddy of mine with a small hobby lathe turned them for me, as well as prepping the blind bottle bosses for use on the contact assembly. I added a bit of Corey Thompson method to insulate the contact (some of your shrink tubing does the trick!), also need to chase the bottom of the head tube twice as deep by using a spacer on my facing tool. Jamie's Flickr album shows he's a great teacher.

Your partner Tom Matchak's white paper on reraking forks is as explanatory as it gets, and points out that the drop from reraking is dependent on the tool you're reraking with. My DIY reraker (Babe Ruth of fork rerakers) has gone to bat on several dozens of forks by now, and I've measured the drop vs amount of rake enough to know that mine decreases the fork crown clearance by about 0.17mm for every 1mm of rake. I reraked this one about 10mm, so not quite 2mm of drop. I'm not married to perfectly horizontal top tubes, and 2mm drop isn't something noticeable without a measuring using a spirit level.

My fork reraker has a fairly large radius, a smaller radius mandrel would result in a higher rate of drop per amount of rerake, I believe.

mountaindave 

A double pun!!!

52telecaster

Late 70s motobecane super touring.

bark_eater 

Any thoughts on needing shorter cranks on a 1982 Trek 400t Elance with 650bx38 wheels and tires?

I am digging through my garage and I've got the 46-30t rings I want on a 94 bcd 170mm crank, but I'm wondering if I should go with 165mm cranks for a little more clearance.

I've also got the parts for a 165mm 110bcd 46-34t or 48-34T, which doesn't give me the low gears I'm looking for.

After that I'm spending money on 86bcd chainrings, or falling all the way down the slippery slope to a store bought 165mm 46-30t crankset......

nlerner

If your height from the ground to the center of the cranks is at least 25.4cm/10”, you’ll be fine with 170mm cranks.

Dylansbob 

What's the first thing you do when you convert a notoriously fragile road frame to 650b? Take it to the city's mtb trails of course!

Freshly build wheels are budget-friendly Zac19s I laced to a Nouvo Tipo rear and a ritzy shimano slx disc front. Moustache bar gives it an XO-vibe. Always great when shakedown rides leave nothing but a slipped brake cable to fix.

I'm still not completely sold on this frame being the home for these wheels. As of yet, it's near the top of my list but there are a few others I may have to move everything over to test out.







No cracks yet!!!