From Jill’s site :

We’re going to be introducing a 650B full-suspension bike based on the Sonix suspension platform. This will be a 120mm travel bike using a White Brother Magic 650B specific fork. We’re shooting to have this bike retail for about $2,600.

The process of swapping out parts wasn’t too difficult, but when John test rode the refreshed Bianchi down the driveway he found some complications.  The front tire was rubbing the carbon fork, the seat was a pain in the ass (no, it really was) and the brake levers had too much reach for smaller hands.

Read on at John’s blog to see what his remedy was.

The 650B conversion is probably the Bianchi’s final state of being, and it appears to be serving my wife very well. In her case, I think the wheel swap probably did help make the bike more comfortable and approachable. But if you haven’t converted a bike to 650B before, I’d suggest starting out by thinking about the goals of the project and making sure your bases are covered. In my case, the goal was comfort and usability. The wheelset helped, sure. But so did the saddle, handlebar position and the compact brake levers, and I think a pedal swap will seal the deal. In this case at least, it was the full experience that made the difference.

Here is some of my favorite 650b bikes I’ve saved over the past year or so:

There have been some changes to the soon to be released frame from the prototype we saw back in this PAST spring.

Changes from the concept prototype:
1. Allows for SS or geared set up with a track style dropout. Disc mount does allow removal of rear wheel w/o loosening the caliper.
2. Gusset for improved fork knob clearance.
3. Tange heat treated CrMo, instead of Pacenti Heavy Metal tubes.

Things being left the same:
1. Same Carmelized Orange with Vanilla panel paint job which we got nice comments about
2. Geometry is roughly the same. To maximize standover we are using an extreme slope so a 400mm post is recommended for longer legged riders. This is similar to what Niner does, but less extreme.
3. Jason Grove built the concept with diamond-shaped cage boss braze-ons. We liked them, so we are keeping them.

No pricing yet. Should be similar to the Juice though.

It is very frustating right now to be a consumer interested in the 650b movement.  For the first time it would be faster to go to a custom builder, even with a long lead time, and get that 650b frame built of your choice.  First Haro’s Beasley bikes were 6 months late and now Soma is a year into the buzz they started.  Only to tell us that we are 6 more months until release.

Is it the dollar? Is it turn around time from over seas builders?  Is it cost or the economy?  I hope someone can chime in and explain why they create this great buzz to only let it simmer down.  Keep it going, even if its going to be a long time. Give teasers, photos, specs and reasons.

Check out Black Mountain Cycles blog for more photos and hopefully more input from who ever the lucky rider is!

The build still is not complete but you can follow along on part selection.

Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 3.5, Part 4

Here’s a cool site that did a short little write up on 650b.com and borrowed some photos.

Stan’s 650b wheel

50b is an intermediate wheel size - it’s bigger than a standard 26″ wheel but smaller than a 29″.  650b wheels are actually as old as the hills; French touring and utility bikes have used this wheel and tyre size for decades however with mountain biking branching out from traditional 26″ wheels it looks like the 650b will be resurrected.

Those who sing its praise claim the 650b has the smooth rolling characteristics of a 29er but without the extra weight and inertia.  650b wheels fit in some 26″ forks (like the Fox F-series this wheel is used in) and there are a handful of manufacturers producing 650b frames.

Tyres seam to be the limiting factor as only a few brands and models are available.

All in all it’s an interesting development but I’m certainly not predicting the demise of the 26″ wheel

After many delays, most of which were far outside of our control, we’re pleased to announce that our first production run of Bealsey 650B bikes are in our warehouses! This is a very small run that consists mostly of 1 x 9’s with a few 20″ SS bikes. The balance of the SS bikes are due to ship any day so we should see those in a couple of weeks.

That means if you haven’t ordered yours yet, get at it!