# 29er wheels with slicks in a 650b frame for hardcore commuter beast



## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

hi all, contrary to all the 700c to 650b conversions that are now very popular i thought of going the other way. . .

I've got this great image of a raw finish on-one 45650b and exotic carbon rigid forks with tough 29er wheels on and schwalbe kojak 700x35c tyres.

with 29er bikes on slicks the wheels look a bit lost in the frame and i know people squeeze 700x25c into some 26 bikes just about so thought this being a 27.5 could be possibly a good looking viable option, also with the slightly higher bb from the taller wheels, the frame already has a really slack head angle around 65 degrees so if i throw on a 44.5 length fork it will drop the bb and steepen the head angle to a more reasonable 67 ish.

what does anyone think?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

curious what you intend to do with a bike like that and skinny tires?


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

Well you know lots of people throw on 700c wheels on their 26 bikes for commuting purposes but you only really get away with 25-28c tyres. Well by using a 650b bike you would have an extra 1/2 inch more clearance to play with and fit proper 29/700c wheels with 40 tyres and have a real playful tough commuter and the overall wheel size shouldn't be much different to a 650b wheel so everything should still be as normal. It looks like it would open more options than with 26ers


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## fotooutdoors (Jul 8, 2010)

That's a one-purpose bike, which I generally try to avoid. My commuter is an on-one inbred 29er with swap-out dropouts. Up until a month ago, it was singlespeed with dirt drops, and I swapped between slicks, cross tires, and studded tires by the season. I just put on gears and riser bars, and on the weekends it sheds its normal slicks for 2" cross-country tires. I like to tinker, though, so I try to avoid a setup that requires a bunch of expensive changes (fork and wheelset, in your proposed setup) to make it something different. YMMV


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## Mr Pink57 (Jul 30, 2009)

I think this would be fine if you are trying to get some commuting in and do not want to wear out your other tires. It's like putting summer tires on a car once winter is over.

I ride a 29er Inbred that has a fat front with an Endo up front and a RK 2.2 on the back, it is swapped out in the winter for a studded rear and hopefully this year a studded fat front tire.


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

29 inbred seems to be pretty popular. I've my mojo hd for all my proper riding so it will pretty much always be for commuting, steps and the odd fall off getting stuck in tram tracks which I always do here in Switzerland they are everywhere!


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## 06HokieMTB (Apr 25, 2011)

I'm running Kenda Happy Medium 700C (somewhere around 32-40 wide) tires in a 26er rigid fork with tons of clearance


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Dan Ford said:


> Well you know lots of people throw on 700c wheels on their 26 bikes for commuting purposes but you only really get away with 25-28c tyres. Well by using a 650b bike you would have an extra 1/2 inch more clearance to play with and fit proper 29/700c wheels with 40 tyres and have a real playful tough commuter and the overall wheel size shouldn't be much different to a 650b wheel so everything should still be as normal. It looks like it would open more options than with 26ers


I get that part. By "a bike like that", I mean that is a strange bike to be putting new wheels with skinny tires on. Why not just put some Big Apples on the wheels you have? A skinny tired bike with such slack angles is going to feel weird, and you're not going to be able to be all that playful on it, even with 40mm tires.

The Inbred is a popular bike because the geometry is a little more flexible than the bike that you're talking about.


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

Well I'm certainly not gonna throw slicks and commute on the mojo! And it is definitely a tie between the 29 inbred and the 45650. The angles are slack on the 45650 but it's meant for a 150 fork so when you throw on a 44.5 or even a 42.5 fork the angles start to look quite good. The bike I imagine would look pretty cool and be quite fun as would the inbred but 40 or so slicks would look pretty lost in the inbred frame where the 45650 would look better fitted. I have to order one of them so thought it worth bringing up the extra clearance on a 650 allows much more flexibility for converting for road use than a 26 does


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

like I said, you're better off throwing some Big Apples on.

Trying to turn a bike into something it's not just creates a mess of compromises.


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

Oh and The 45650 has a 10mm shorter chai stay and comes in the wicked raw finish. It would look fantastic bunny hopping steps and manualing to work!!


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

So your idea is 29 inbred on big apples. I thought the schwalbe kojaks looked pretty cool


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## ghettocruiser (Jun 21, 2008)

Dan Ford said:


> i know people squeeze 700x25c into some 26 bikes


That`s not really a squeeze. 700X32 cross tires fit my 26`carbon hardtail, and that frame has the *least* tire clearance of any bike I`ve seen.

I`m not sure the 700X35C tires would actually have a larger outside diameter than regular 650B MTB tires.


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

That's my thinking. So if could work out what 700c tyre would match say a 2.3 650b tyre. Hopefully something like 40c or 45 all the geo would be the same except it would be quicker steering with the rigid fork and a low bb. I reckon it could handle great and roll quick. Should be more playful than the inbred as it's shorter


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## Mr Pink57 (Jul 30, 2009)

On Sale Framed Twenty9er Black/Blue 29in 2014
If I did not have the Inbred already this would be my city bike.

I think the reason the Inbred becomes such a popular commuter is they're so cheap. Mine is about 4 years old and I paid $200 shipped for it. It's too beat up on the paint to really sell, plus I've had it for so long I do not want to sell it. It has gone through so many iterations of what a bike can be, plus nostalgia and all.








Last thing I will say on the skinny tire swap. They are great for a smoother longer ride, but with how cold it has been here in Minneapolis this past winter the roads are cracked everywhere (except on our greenway). Having large "balloon" tires softens a lot of the blows of so many potholes. We also have a lot of cobbles by were I live and the bigger tires certainly help on that. Now again if you want to say commute 15+ miles one way (my threshold) I would get some skinny tires no question.


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## newfangled (Sep 13, 2010)

NateHawk said:


> like I said, you're better off throwing some Big Apples on.


Yup.


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## Dan Ford (Nov 18, 2013)

you commute with a balloon tyre!! every things really smooth here. well i might be safer with the inbred and it does look nice just thought if i was gonna build something unusual from scratch id have a good look around.


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## ghettocruiser (Jun 21, 2008)

I don't think I'd go out and buy a set of huge slick tires for commuting myself, but comparing the way my mountain bike rolls on the road with the skinny 700C slicks verses wore-out (almost bald) raceking 2.2s, the difference isn't as huge as one might expect for a 10X difference in tire volume.

Fat tires do roll okay.


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