ThermionicScott 

Try this. Sigs aren't working consistently for me either, so I went straight to @mountaindave's profile: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...JnN3k3ZjJFQmln

noglider 

The listing says 584, so if that comes off the sidewall (and that number didn't make it into the picture), then yes. But see if you can see your way to getting nicer tires than those.

noglider 

Agreed, those Weinmanns weren't very good. Tektro dual-pivots are inexpensive and work extremely well. You'll like them.

noobinsf 

These are fairly well accepted as good tires for 650b, and the price is not far from the Sunlites that you posted: Panaracer Col de la Vie tires 650b at Universal Cycles

inkandsilver

I've been meaning to post this for a couple months. 1981 Trek 710, Compass Babyshoe Pass EL.
I had an '83 600 that I converted, loved, and wrecked within a few weeks of finishing. Two years later I finally have a replacement rolling, with a few nicer bits & pieces.

mountaindave 

vp1337

Beautiful!

cs1

ksryder

Velo orange

inkandsilver

Thanks, VP & David!

Re: shimmy, so far, so good. I had some with my last Trek conversion, so I decided to go ahead and install a needle-bearing headset. Seemed like a good measure to take, especially because I had offset added to the fork to lower the trail a bit (to around 40mm).

mountaindave 

Or Niagara.

ThermionicScott 

Build your own! Lots of 130mm rear hubs out there, you get your choice of parts, and it's not hard!

ThermionicScott 

Meanwhile, I just got back from riding my 650B conversion on 470 miles of RAGBRAI, and it performed comfortably and nearly flawlessly for the whole trip. Only the headset loosened up a little, and that was probably due to the crash on Day 2. I was able to use a headset wrench at a bike tent in a midway town to get it back into adjustment, and then finalized it with my own headset wrench when I got into camp.

Also, my Pacenti Pari-Motos are now up to nearly 2600 miles, with only a couple flats along the way and the rear tire has yet to wear smooth. I'm happy with them.

fordbailey

Here is my Raleigh Competition with 650 x 42b tires. Paselas for now, Compass Baby Shoes later. The only thing I did to the frame was to drill the chain stay bridge and tap the dropout eyelets. Otherwise it went together pretty easily. My only problem now is that the MAFAC Raid brakes don't seem to want to stay centered. It's very hard to keep the pads aligned to the rim. Eventually I would like to refine it with brake posts, rack and maybe a tiny bit more tire clearance in the rear. And some fresh paint.




1973 Raleigh Competition 650b

gugie 

The bridge part of the arm should be centered so that the posts are parallel with the hub. Check that and tighten them down. Make sure both arms swing without binding. Once all that's found to be proper, one spring might be "springier" than the other. Disconnect them both from the arms, they should be rotated about the same. If not, "tighten" the less rotated one by bending them up until they're both rotated the same, then re-engage the springs.

Brazed on posts help by eliminating one of the variables, and stiffen the entire assembly.

noglider 

That's really nice, @fordbailey.

mountaindave 

Gorgeous! Why do bikes look naked without fenders to me now?

fordbailey

Yes ! I've done that- the bridge seems to want to move even when tightened down. I will be brazing posts to this frame- either cantilever or Raids. I'm not sure which, yet. I love the bike, though.

fordbailey

Hey - thanks !

VintageRide

Glad I am not alone when I get the same feeling that a good set of fenders just seem, well, the perfect compliment on a nice bike that finally makes it look complete, and to think for years all I had to ride was my '70's Italian road bike which unfortunately created within me a certain bias that considered any bike that sported fenders as being unnecessary if not odd. Now I fully embrace them wholeheartedly and feel the need to mount a set if one of my bikes is devoid of them - I made an exception to my P.Peschi but then again it does have eyelets - I think it is trying to tell me something!

mountaindave 

noglider 

@VintageRide, someone once pointed out to me that Italian shoes have thin soles whereas British shoes have thick soles. The difference reflects the difference in climates. When I was 20 years old on my wandering trip through Europe, I was in a large room, maybe a train station, and I needed an English speaker. I chose the person with the thickest-soled shoes and asked him if he spoke English. And he turned out to be British.

The difference in cultures transfers to the normality of fenders. Fenders may be rare on Italian racing bikes. I saw club rides in England, and all the riders had fenders on their bikes. The British were shocked to see my bike without them, and I was on tour, riding through a whole lot of rain. I just didn't know better at the time. The British really can't stay off the bike when it rains. If they did, they would hardly get to ride. People in southern California, on the other hand, might as well skip the rain on the rare rainy day, because it's extra trouble, and it's rare enough that they'll be able to ride the next few months without a concern.

fordbailey

Thank you mountaindave- it may be that the lack of a suitable lock washer is making them move more- I'll try adding one. I too have used the Weinmann center pulls on other bikes with great results. This time I wanted to try the venerable RAIDs if inly for their looks and relative rarity.

ps- yes- I am getting links to the first page in email alerts

noobinsf 

Here is an update to my in-progress post from above. I finally got around to wrapping the bars and replacing the brake pads with Kool Stop canti shoes. I'm not in love with the Symmetric shifters and their constant need for hex key readjustment, so I recently grabbed a set of Suntour power ratchets at the co-op and plan to tackle that next. Had a recent bout of ghost shifting, but it's solved -- just the hanger a touch out of alignment. Shifts like butter now...

Chris Chicago

this one looks nice