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27.5 / 650b Mountain Bikes

  27.5/650b:The correct wheel size?

    The first time I had heard of 650b (27.5 in) was several years ago when I asked Tom Ritchey if he was going to make 29er tires. His response was short and approximately, "650b is the correct wheel size for mountain bikes," end quote. In the time since, a large cadre of Hub workers have bought and now ride 650b and passionately believe that 650b is the correct size (although we do still have our 29er and 26er hold outs) and now The Hub is stocking a variety of 27.5 models at 3020 Minnehaha Ave S.

     Cutting to the chase, this is a quick list of why 27.5 / 650b gets us excited.

1. For smaller riders the 29er's larger wheels are proportionality too big for good ergonomics, and 650b bikes will fit them better. We are stocking 3 women's 650b models this year.
2. Where we live, a lot of our singletrack trail is built tight and twisty to fit into a small plot of land. Compared to a 29er when going thru switchbacks the 27.5 / 650bb bike's shorter wheelbase will turn a tighter arc which greatly increases your choice of line and the 27.5 / 650b's lighter weight wheels are easier to redirect to your best path to carry your speed.
3. Smaller than the 29er, the 27.5 / 650b wheel is lighter, tighter and more instantly responsive to rider input, sprinting, turning, braking.

4. The smaller 650b wheel has shorter spokes that create a stiffer, more accurate wheel when cornering and riding on off camber trail.
5. 650b wheels hook up to climb out of trail ruts much more like a 29er than a 26" wheel.
6. Roll over is so much better than the 26" wheel, and closer to a 29er's gentle angle of attack.
Beyond spouting theory, when ridden, a large majority of riders quickly decide that 650b is the wheel size of their next bike. Below is a link to a nice info graphic from Singletracks.com generated by a survey they took of 452 of their members. Also of note are that the #2 and #3 picks selected when the question was "Who is making the best 27.5 bikes?",were Giant and Jamis. Both are considerably more affordable than the #1 pick. Jamis and Giant 650b bikes can be purchased at the Hub's 3020 Minnehaha Ave. S. location.

http://www.singletracks.com/blog/uncategorized/27-5-will-rule-them-all-survey-results-and-infographic/
So really, just schedule a trip to The Hub's 3020 Minnehaha Ave. S. store and throw a leg over one of our 27.5/650b bikes and weigh in on whether 27.5 / 650b is the correct wheel size, and what we should call it.


If you like research and graphs below are links to Jamis, and Giant's findings from their research on the 27.5 / 650b wheel size.

Giant's tech info on 27.5 (the Americanized term)
Jamis's tech on 650b (what Jamis and history call this wheel size)

http://www.jamis650.com/the-wheel-deal.html