Re: The 650B Revival: Bikefanclub.com

Here I go again, seemingly replying to my own posts but thanks to andreu and others who evince interest.

I live in the north country, much closer to Toronto than any major American city, and cycling in winter in the Finger Lakes of western New York poses issues that are not like other places that are cold and snowy. Unlike, say, Boulder where there is more sun and less wind, we often have too little of one and plenty of the other in these months and call me weak but it takes a very hardy soul to make everyday the Ida'bike. (I have such a pal who lives in a place even more challenging than Bristol, New York and he qualifies as my hero when he's not saving children's lives as a doctor. No names; hopefully he is not reading this...too modest). This wind up to my own pitch is that yesterday in a very mild 35degrees (little wind, some sun), I got out for a few sincere hours on the new Rivendell Saluki, the 650B wheeler.

I have other 650B bikes (and have had them for years: Herse, SInger, Mariposa) and Rivendell's is the first production model since WhoKnowsWhen,Rene? This particular one is shod with a selection of beautiful old bits including the redoubtable Suntour PowerRatchet (as they original instructions put it, "They go tick-tack, tick-tack...") bar end shifters and an XC Pro that is so old that it's silver and silver (without the black plates of the last generation, gosh, those were great derailleurs...). The key are the tires, in this case, Mitsuboshi 650Bx37 Trimlines that max out at 45psi (yup, 45...). You would think that such a low tire pressure would make for a slaggardly ride, just too soft and "slow," But this is not so, decidedly not. Our dirt roads and pavement here are pretty clean but given that it's BeforeSpring, they are currently a great testing ground for slippery, challenging, potholed, glass-strewn, and "someone lost their mitten." (Roadkill is the preferred hazard of summer, btw.)

This bike is about perfect and it was more than my enthusiasm after hibernation. It is so cushy that it's nearly embarrasing. I mean, you think you can't be riding with this sort of road bike feel on wheels that are this comfortable. All this talk nowadays about stiff-this and stiffer-that. Okay, I get it but I just don't get it. These tires didn't feel like they slowed me down _one bit_ but they certainly felt like the road no longer had any harshness left it in. Remarkable. Downright perfect. I am a convert to my own conversion, again; deja vu all over again, as the Yogi put it.

Of course these are big, fat tires and one could say that any steel bike with Berthoud stainless steel fenders and "heavy" wheels is more like a truck or a geriatic-mobile (and maybe I am just old) but I had more fun and a more pleasant ride you could not have had. That's sorta' what it's about, no? To each his (or her) own, of course. But I can say with a straight face that 650B is not just a comfort-bike or a rough-road bike or a trails and roads bike, it is an everyday bike for everything but racing. I'm bringing my non-fender-shod 650B to the crits this spring and will ride the opening "training" laps just to scare the locals.

dbrk

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