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Tech trends: What are 650b tyres and road plus?

Is the resurrection of 650b a good thing and could it be for you?

Among the constantly evolving road bike trends has been a bit of chatter about 650b, an old French wheel standard that has been making a reappearance in recent years. But what is it and what are the benefits? Watch the video to find out. 

I wrote an article about 650b a couple of years ago and we're starting to see a few more bike manufacturers design their adventure and gravel bikes to accommodate wider tyres on smaller wheels. I've finally got my hands on some suitable wheels (3T) and tyres (WTB Horizon) to find out what it's all about, so stay tuned for a review very soon. 

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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11 comments

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brylonscamel | 6 years ago
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This was a good article to whet the appetite.

I've just splashed out on a 650B 'Road Plus' bike  having test ridden one at my local bike shop in Bristol.

Test ride new kit if you're a wee bit sceptical. You'll soon find out if it feels "right" or not.

I've been into mountain biking since it became a 'thing' in the UK and have seen loads of weird trends become firmly established. Mountain bikes have improved hugely over the years and some  of the best recent developments have emerged by playing around with wheel size and tyre setup.

Have road bike makers simply followed the trend? Maybe - I think some framebuilders have always been interested in playing with these idea. Bristol is lucky to host the Handmade Bike show and I've seen a trend towards different wheel combinations on road bikes. It takes tyre manufacturers and bike manufacturers tro commit to the idea before it can really fly - something that seems to be happening at the moment.

If you're worried about it being a fad that might be unsupportedin the future, mountain biking seems to show that all these variations in wheel-size / tyre-width / tread-type can happily co-exist!

 

 

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StraelGuy | 7 years ago
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A quick look online suggests 650b x 38 mm looks doable John. Have a look at this link.

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BikeJon | 7 years ago
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What 650b tyre size is roughly equivalent to 700 x 22? I need a new wheelset for a folding bike I built up. It originally had 26" wheels but I've squeezed in 700 x 22 since. I thought 650b wheels would help me run a bigger volume. 

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griggers | 7 years ago
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Another case of 'back to the future' proving there's nothing new in cycling - just new materials and new demands. 

The Caribou RTB (road mountain bike) used 26in wheels in a custom road bike frame in exactly the same way in order to accommodate up to 1.75in slick tyres. 

Its true that there's more scope for different geometry when using small tyres but what manufacturers have actually done this?

the main benefit of 650b appears to be the greater tyre width that is getting used by road bikes anyway these days but 6590bs are actually going for it rather than adding 2mm at a time to avoid shocking the stalwarts. 

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Adamar | 7 years ago
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"Wouldn't use them for a gravel race"

That's exactly what Jan Heine talks about his Compass stuff (which is the exact same philosophy as the WTB) being used for, with a pretty good level of success. Outside of certain conditions the large volume is more useful than some half-hearted tread that a lot of gravel tyres seem to sport.

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
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Call me cynical but manufacturers seem to be pulling every trick in the book to get you to buy new stuff. And why not I suppose?

I remember when people could win a downhill race on 26inch wheels but now you'd think they where square or something the way magazines and the like talk about them.

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burtthebike | 7 years ago
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Just one comment.  This is yet another obscure tyre size to confuse people, including me.  The only thing I really want to know about 650b is what is the ETRTO size?

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David Arthur @d... replied to burtthebike | 7 years ago
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burtthebike wrote:

Just one comment.  This is yet another obscure tyre size to confuse people, including me.  The only thing I really want to know about 650b is what is the ETRTO size?

 

It might be an obscure tyre size, but I don't think the industry is trying to confuse people, just offer more choice. Of course, for some people too much choice is a bad thing...  To answer your question, 650b wheel size consists of a 584mm rim (700c is 622mm) and a tyre width of between 30 and 50mm.

It's not being presented as a replacement for 700c, instead it's an option for people that want to go to a wider tyre. There's a limit to how wide a tyre you can go on a 700c rim until you have to start altering the geometry (lengthening the wheelbase etc), and that's where 650b offers a neat solution, because you get a bigger tyre without negatively impacting the geometry

 

There's a bit more explanation in this article (http://road.cc/content/feature/171905-650b-future-road-bikes-roadcc-inve...) and I had an interesting chat with Richard Hallett who has been working with 650b http://road.cc/content/news/120924-first-look-hallett-handbuilt-cycles-6...

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burtthebike replied to David Arthur @davearthur | 7 years ago
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David Arthur @davearthur wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

Just one comment.  This is yet another obscure tyre size to confuse people, including me.  The only thing I really want to know about 650b is what is the ETRTO size?

It might be an obscure tyre size, but I don't think the industry is trying to confuse people, just offer more choice. Of course, for some people too much choice is a bad thing...  To answer your question, 650b wheel size consists of a 584mm rim (700c is 622mm) and a tyre width of between 30 and 50mm.

It's not being presented as a replacement for 700c, instead it's an option for people that want to go to a wider tyre. There's a limit to how wide a tyre you can go on a 700c rim until you have to start altering the geometry (lengthening the wheelbase etc), and that's where 650b offers a neat solution, because you get a bigger tyre without negatively impacting the geometry

There's a bit more explanation in this article (http://road.cc/content/feature/171905-650b-future-road-bikes-roadcc-inve...) and I had an interesting chat with Richard Hallett who has been working with 650b http://road.cc/content/news/120924-first-look-hallett-handbuilt-cycles-6...

Thanks, so it's the same as 27.5" then?  If it is the same, why do we need a new name for it, or to be more precise, to resurrect an old name?  Why confuse things with different names for the same thing.

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fukawitribe replied to burtthebike | 7 years ago
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burtthebike wrote:

Thanks, so it's the same as 27.5" then?  If it is the same, why do we need a new name for it, or to be more precise, to resurrect an old name?  Why confuse things with different names for the same thing.

 

To be fair, 650b has never really gone out of use as a term, perhaps more common in off-road circles - where 27.5" has become more popular recently as the way to describe it (perhaps because it's immediately obvious where it stands with regards 26" or 29ers. 650b tyre choice in the UK seems particularly short these days, so perhaps a regional thing as well although it's less noticeably less popular even on the continent now. 

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David Arthur @d... replied to burtthebike | 7 years ago
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burtthebike wrote:

David Arthur @davearthur wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

Just one comment.  This is yet another obscure tyre size to confuse people, including me.  The only thing I really want to know about 650b is what is the ETRTO size?

It might be an obscure tyre size, but I don't think the industry is trying to confuse people, just offer more choice. Of course, for some people too much choice is a bad thing...  To answer your question, 650b wheel size consists of a 584mm rim (700c is 622mm) and a tyre width of between 30 and 50mm.584mm rim (700c is 622mm) and a tyre width of between 30 and 50mm.

It's not being presented as a replacement for 700c, instead it's an option for people that want to go to a wider tyre. There's a limit to how wide a tyre you can go on a 700c rim until you have to start altering the geometry (lengthening the wheelbase etc), and that's where 650b offers a neat solution, because you get a bigger tyre without negatively impacting the geometry

There's a bit more explanation in this article (http://road.cc/content/feature/171905-650b-future-road-bikes-roadcc-inve...) and I had an interesting chat with Richard Hallett who has been working with 650b http://road.cc/content/news/120924-first-look-hallett-handbuilt-cycles-6...

Thanks, so it's the same as 27.5" then?  If it is the same, why do we need a new name for it, or to be more precise, to resurrect an old name?  Why confuse things with different names for the same thing.

 

 

Yes. The correct name for it is 650b though, 27.5" has just come from US mountain bike brands that have added confusion by picking a name that they think describes how the wheelsize fits between 26in and 29in. 

 

You can see how many wheelsizes there actually are on the Sheldon Brown website https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

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