LarrySellerz

I just bought a new wheelset (most expensive bicycle related purchase ever at $400!) but unfortunately they are 650c. Ive been trying to get them on one of my road bikes, but the brakes won't reach the wheel and honestly its not even that close, I think my best option is getting a 650c bike? Where can I get one? They are fast wheels, so the bike needs to be aggressive. Some searching leads me to see that this is a niche thing for smaller people.

It has an “8/9/10 freehub” and I put a 9 on it, but I kind of want to put it on a single speed or maybe get a surly fixxer so I can use it on a 700c frame without trying to make/get an adaptor for the brakes. Would that be the easiest way to get it rolling?

mstateglfr 

You spent $400 on old used 650c wheels and didn't realize the size?
That's about as on point as it gets.

I have a 650c road bike inmy garage right now...it's been for my kids between the ages of 11 and 13 because it's small and that's about the only use for that wheel size.
It was hardly ever popular and enjoyed very limited application.


Here is what you do-
- ride the wheels and don't worry about brakes because if you're not first you're last.
- try to sell the wheels to someone else who doesn't know what they are looking at or for.


Side note- are the wheels drilled for Schrader tubes and inserts are being used to fit presta tubes?...or am I not seeing that correctly?

Polaris OBark

Are you sure they aren't 650b? Those are the same as 27.5" mtn bike wheels.

I have 650b wheels as one of my wheel-sets for my all-road bike, which allows me to put on larger tires when I want to ride rough off-road trails. (Mine are disc brake wheels, so I can do this changeover very easily.)

Germany_chris

Tri dorks loved spinergy wheels and 650c (571) were popularish on tri/tt bikes.

shelbyfv

Yep. A failed tri trend from the 90s. Hard to believe anyone would pay $400 for those.

Herzlos

What was the tri trend; just that they are lower weight and will spin up marginally faster than a 700c wheel? The lower radius could presumably be overcome by a larger front cog.

As for Larry; it sounds like your options are (a) sell them and use the money for a bike that fits you properly or (b) buy an old 650b time trial bike, that should at least be an aggressive enough for you.

JohnDThompson 

Looks like the tire is marked "23-571," which would be 650C under the archaic size designation:

BCDrums

I clicked on this post without realizing it was a Larry thread. Like other Larry threads, the premise is just barely plausible; hard to believe, but earnest, not like an obvious troll. It attracts serious good-faith replies. But I can't help but think (again!) that Larry is pulling our legs. Will this be another multi-page thread like the currently-running What Counts as a Century (239 posts) and my personal favorite, Ear protection when pumping tires (locked at 357 posts). And who could forget Waving at cops?

Larry is prolific, and creative; the goof that keeps on giving.

All best,
BC

ClydeClydeson

Just install on an upside-down bike and keep it in the kitchen as a carrot cutter.

Just kidding, as I am sure you are. No serious person would buy a set of oddball wheels for $400 without checking the size.

big john

Tri bikes in the past used these with their weird geometry, like some of the Quintana Roo bikes.
A lady I know who is 4'10" has a custom road frame with 26" wheels. She said she regrets not using 700c.

LarrySellerz

Im also having trouble installing the back wheel (doesn't want to sit in the dropouts snugly, and there is a disconcerting "clicking" sound but thats with one 650c wheel on the back and a 700c wheel in the front. The front spinnergy tire is flat, needs a tube with a long stem as the 48mm wasn't long enough, but I kind of doubt that would solve the issue. I just grabbed a "skewer" I think its called from a random other wheel, dont have pics right now because its over at my parents house but I'll try to post where I'm at. I kind of think I'm barking up the wrong tree and should try to convert the wheel to fixed, or get a 650c bike, to put them on. First time trying to take off cassettes and gears and stuff yada yada and trying to see what fits.

I lost a decent amount of $$ in the stock market cant pick stocks to save my life and with inflation what it is, spinergy wheels seem like a good place to store value. They are only going to go up.

shelbyfv

And we were feeling sorry for Larry not having the $125 for the Sequoia century ride....

john m flores 

I'm 5'-8" and rode a Serotta Tri-Colorado with 650c wheels as my road bike for a decade. Great, supple ride, although there was some flex of the bottom bracket when standing and sprinting.

It's a shame that the trend didn't take off for shorter riders. 650c frames for shorter riders don't have funky geometry compromises that 700c bikes have, like toe overlap of the front wheel, little room in the main triangle for bottles, etc.

BCDrums

See what I mean? This isn't trolling, this is art!

ThermionicScott 

When someone's whole life philosophy seems to be "do first, think second", anything is believable.

icemilkcoffee 

There were a handful of regular sized road bikes made for 650c wheels. For example- one of the Paramount PDG series bikes was 650c wheeled:


The Nishiki NFS Altron/Alpha/Beta was sort of an early tri bike, which still had road bike seat tube angle. The Kestrel 500sci is another one.

Herzlos

Not by the time you've bodged them onto the wrong bike.

But I'm confused, I thought you only rode stuff you got for free/cheap, which is why you're using frames that are 3 sizes too small and seat posts that are over extended?
Wouldn't the $400 have been better spending buying a bike or frame that fit you properly?

bargainguy

Spinergy Rev-X wheels are prone to carbon delamination. You don't want to be riding them when they delaminate. Just a heads up.

LarrySellerz

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29565026174...Bk9SR9SblIz5YQ

If I was to get a bike like this to put the wheels on, is the "52" frame size in the listing directly translatable to regular bikes? Thats the only "size" dimension that means anything to me, and it might be different for those weird looking bikes. Hate the cockpit but its a flashy bike... normally I ride a 58

VegasJen

OK, silly question for a silly thread. If the main impediment to making this work is brake engagement, can you simply fabricate some kind of extensions for the calipers? Either a bracket to mount the calipers lower or extensions for the caliper arms. No ideas for the cassette and skewer thing though.

shelbyfv

No. Though there are calipers with longer reach. You can use them for 700 wheels on 27" frames and 650b wheels on 700 frames. None are long enough for 650c wheels on 700 frames. If Larry wants to use these wheels, he could dive for a 650c fork. He doesn't need a rear brake.

LarrySellerz

Jen is right, my partner at work could fabricate a part for it pretty easily. But its not worth the time lol I cant ask him to do that, we are too busy, also the reach would be hella long. He could make it but it would be janky and idk if id trust it, going a bit too far even for me. But yeah he could make the extender easily that was my first thought

shelbyfv

Go for it!

urbanknight

Also because lower is more aero. TT bikes in the 80’s had even smaller wheels on the front.

mstateglfr