richjac

Well we decided to buy the Co-Motion Mocha only to have a tire failure after our first ride. We were planning a ride with friends tomorrow, but no store in the area has 650b tires in stock, so either we cancel or I drive 120 miles in the morning to pick up a tire.

I guess I'll pick up a spare... starting to regret not buying the Primera IMG_1011.jpg

Spoonrobot 

That sucks. You have a local facebook cycling group you could post a request to buy/borrow?

I let someone borrow a wheel after seeing their post on facebook a few months ago.

kingston 

You can borrow my tandem. It's a '92 Santana Fusion with 26" wheels. My wife ordered 10 yards of mulch to be delivered tomorrow morning, so we won't be using it this weekend.

richjac

Thanks for the offer, but I think it's time for a visit to Madison anyway, or we can ride our singles...

chojn1

richjac,
Which tire is that and what happened to it?

richjac

It's a Schwalbe Marathon 650b 42mm. Torn right at the bead. It was either defective or installed improperly, so I'll follow up with the dealer for a replacement, but it's still going to be a hassle. I could have bought a Primera locally for less money, but I convinced myself that the Mocha would be more versatile. Novelty has a cost - I'm also finding it difficult to mount a rack on this bike because of the rear disc caliper placement, and had to buy an adapter to mount the front wheel (thru axle) to my car rack.

dabac

650 B is what MTBers call 27.5.
Not an ideal road tire, but should be rideable if you can get one.

waynesulak

I know it is frustrating to have a ride disrupted. I suggest no matter what type of bike you ride that you have spare parts at home. Even if you limit yourself to bikes and components that are carried by your local shop it may be a day when they are closed and you need a derailleur, tire, or chain.

A good example are tandem length cables. No shops around here have them in stock. I buy then on line and keep a supply in hand. Tandems require planning ahead to avoid disruption. My stoker says that's my job and I should have a bike ready to ride at all times.

dabac

Unless you run full-length housing, extending shifter cables in a reliable manner is no big deal.
Galvanized ones takes solder real well. Wind the cables around each other in a slack spiral for 2-3", solder and you're done.
Stainless take a fairly special solder, but can be reliably extended with crimp-on cable connectors. I drill out the stopper, run both cables through, and crimp it.

I haven't needed to extend a brake cable yet. But for a regular bike I wouldn't be particularly concerned about extending a rear brake cable.

richjac

Good advice which I will take to heart. I'm mulling over my options for 650b tires at the moment. I did find a cheap Kenda tire which got us through yesterday's ride, and will serve as a spare.

I can replace the Schwalbe Marathon for $35, but am looking at a pair of Compass Switchback Hill tires.. 2X the cost (each), is it worth it? I was going to wait until the stock tires wore out to try this, maybe this is the time.

I bought into the 650b wide tire paradigm with this bike - might as well take it all the way.

kingston 

Yes. Compass tires are worth it.

Dean V

All very possible and I can see it being useful if you are in a Jam, but for regular maintenance I can't see why you wouldn't keep a few tandem brake and shifter cables in the draw to use when required.

justcrankn

The Switchback's will fit. Ours measure 51 mm. We even have fenders but there's not a lot of clearance. Tubes are required after one blew off the rim when mounted tubeless. We use ours for light gravel and rough pavement and Terrene Elwood's for heavy gravel.

Paul J

richjac

I think you will really enjoy your new 650b bike. You have a little prep work to get set-up and then you will be good to go! We've not ridden this size configuration but several in this group do and really love them. Don't let this little set-back get you down on your new bike, as you get going and are enjoying your smooth ride as others are bouncing along on their 700 by 25c set-up you can just smile. You will need to connect with waynesulak as their team are very seasoned in riding this configuration. Ride on!

merlinextraligh

we just use Ritchey Cable connectors and single bike cables. That way if you break a cable, you only need to find a single bike replacement.

richjac

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure that this will work out just fine, once I get the bugs worked out and have a spare tire or two. Hopefully the Compass Switchback tires at 55psi max pressure will be fine. I could lose 20-30 pounds to make it even better!

richjac

I have them on order... looking forward to a smooth(er) ride. Tubes for sure. I'm not sold on tubeless... haven't figured out yet why I would need it, either on my single or the tandem. Seems like a solution in search of a problem.

Philly Tandem

We have a 26" Mocha S&S and like it for the versatility. Once you get the kinks worked out I'm sure you'll be enjoying it.

Although I will say that I don't get the recent fascination with 650 instead of 26". Functionally the same size, and 26" has decades of global support behind it as a standard. I can walk into virtually any store that carries bike parts around the globe and probably find a workable 26" tire to get me back on the road. The bike industry makes me crazy with its constant switching of "standards" just to have something new to sell.

But I digress...

chojn1

Goldilocks principle

richjac

It is ironic perhaps... we had a Trek T900 with 26 inch wheels and the first thing I did was swap the 2in tires for 1.5 inch at higher pressure. Researching the new purchase, I opted for the 650b wheels and will be putting 48mm tires on it tomorrow. This will give me a similar tire diameter to my 700c road bike with 25mm tires, and should be comfy without slowing us down. It's not about speed for us, but I don't want to work harder than necessary - always felt that smaller wheels took more effort to cover any given distance.