The title of this blog article is a little misleading. Biopace chainrings and chainstay v-brakes were fads. This development has proven itself to have immense staying power. Already, the 650b/27.5″ wheel phenomenon has taken hold of nearly everyone’s attention in the mountainbike industry, and in an overwhelmingly positive way.
From the release of the Pacenti 650b bike until now, the amount of interest and work being done in adapting this wheel size to mountainbikes is staggering. It took most of a decade for the 29″ mountainbike wheel to prove itself as more than a passing curiosity, and even so the 29’er is still considered a fairly small niche bicycle.
Major bike manufacturers are beginning to pick up on this, Haro being one of the first to leak their intentions on adapting a production mountainbike to run the 650b wheel. Fuji Bicycles is also testing the new wheel for a possible production bike. Rivendel Bikes has been producing 650b touring/city bikes, and recently they added a fully rigid 650b crossover mountainbike to their line. Called the Bombadil, it’s a lugged steel bike with options for fenders and panniers.
Kenda has announced that they are entering the 650b market, and will be offering possibly three 27.5″ tires. Sun Ringle (owned by Hayes) is also very close to releasing their own 650b wheels. Velocity (based in Australia) has been building a 650b wheel (the Synergy), and this is the wheel used on the Pacenti. For those interested in modifying their current ride, Rawland Cycles is one of, if not the first, to sell the Pacenti Neo-Moto 650b tire. Compatible wheels can be obtained from PeterWhite Cycles.
