JMONAY

Hello, friends.

So I'm used to puttering around in the c/v forum but I bought my first modern and brand new bike a month and a half ago, a 2017 Raleigh Stuntman. I love the heck out of it but there is one issue that's been bothering me. First of all, I know it's more of a fat-tire road bike than a drop bar mountain bike, geometry wise, but I figured you guys would be better to ask since this is about wheels and tires.



Mine is a 54cm frame and I'm having a bad time with toe overlap when clipped in. I know fenders make it worse. I don't want to remove the fenders. The frame has 80 mm of bottom bracket drop and 170 mm cranks, and right now it has 700x50c tires. My main question is if anyone knows (or can infer) whether building some 650b (27.5) wheels for it will make pedal strike an issue (although i'm used to keeping my inner foot up through turns anyway), or if maybe it won't even help with the toe overlap situation that much with the same width tire, or maybe I just have terrible riding technique because I'm used to old 3-speeds and road bikes with relaxed geometry. I have an old road bike which I converted from 27" to 650b for commuting and that helped a lot with the toe overlap, but I think the Stuntman's geometry is even more cramped. I just find that when I'm crawling slowly up steep hills, it's obviously hard to keep the front wheel aimed remotely straight so I'm always bashing my feet. Thanks in advance for the feedback

Edit: or maybe I would rather have a fork with more offset?

DMC707

Maybe learn to keep the wheel straight when your climbing -- toe overlap is going to be an issue with a lot of small framed bikes

Im 5-8 and i know thats not a midget, but its short enough that i deal with that to some degree on a lot of bikes i own

Nsokerbloom

Most likely you would end up with pedals scraping the ground when turning. Usually when converting to 650 one would put on much larger volume tires which you probably wouldn't be able to do as they are fairly large to begin with. Like others have said you really shouldn't have to turn that much unless you are just poking around a parking lot or something which you get used to and only do so while your crank arms are vertical.

JonathanGennick 

Do you know anyone with a 650b mountain bike who would let you borrow a wheelset for long enough to try it on a ride or two? That's the approach I took a couple years ago when I did a similar conversion.

JMONAY

Hey folks, I forgot to update this post. I went for the new 650b wheels a few months ago and am super happy with the results. No more toe overlap. I already developed the habit of keeping the inside foot up during turns, so pedal strike has not been a problem. The new DT wheels and tires (which I am running tubeless) shed 1 kg off the weight of the bike and it rides noticeably smoother and faster. It climbs faster as well which so far has resulted in more stability and less wobbling about. It's been a good change in every way.

Nsokerbloom

That's good to hear. That bike has great geometry and is quite practical. Now you must find out how many thousands of miles it can go. Thanks for the update. My touring bike has a very low bottom bracket. (so does the super popular trek domane) As long as you adapt to it you can enjoy the extra stability.

Clem von Jones

I love the tight geometry with huge hoops so I borrowed your bike to see if it would fit. This is the right way to design a 29er mtb. Wish there were more bikes like this. Can I live with the toe overlap? Having the front as low as possible helps prevent the front wheel wandering on steep climbs but even without fenders it looks cramped. I've wondered how a 29er with geometry like this would look, and now we know.

Clem von Jones

56cm frame setup for 186cm-ish person. Toe clearance still looks a bit tight but probably okay.

Clem von Jones

58cm frame, toe clearance looks good. This concludes my experiment in Stuntman frame sizing.