Originally Posted by
pressed001
I'm having trouble deciding between whether to go 26" road bike or 700c road bike. I will build the wheels up myself which will be either 559x35 or 622x35 both wearing some 1.35" (35mm) slicks (Kojak's). The rims will be tubeless and hookless regardless of BSD. For the 622 variant, I'll be using some 30mm deep XC mountain rims. Anyway, there's enough clearance for the 1.35" tires for the 700c setup.
What I'm wondering is if the 31cm BB height with the 700c set-up will be just too much. The 26" setup will be 6.3cm lower which would give a more aggressive road bike. Also to consider is the really long wheelbase which I think is about 1200mm. (20" 1995 GT Tempest)
I don't care about the wheel-size, but I want an aggressive road bike in the end, which I think leads me towards 26" wheels. The 700c looks better, but the higher COG will be a compromise.
Thanks for your input.
If by 'aggressive' do you mean 'head down, all-or nothing speed merchant' than your '26er in 700c high heels' would work, i guess, but it'd be a lot of weird compromises and workarounds just to have a polished frame.
OTOH, if agressive means cut-and-thrust, around-and-over-anything-in-my-way; then stay on the 559s but don't limit yourself to cheap, skinny 32mm slicks. Conti's Speed Contact 26" comes in 1.6" and 2.0", (42 / 50mm) or BMX 'Park' tires like the Kenda Kinniption and Maxxis DTH, even more volume(2.0"-2.3"), and a little bit of tread, so jumping curbs and taking to the dirt is still on the menu.