650B (Part 1)

The 'final' step in the complete re-furb of my 1982 Trek 614 is about to begin... with some help from Spokes Belle View.  I've been fascinated about 650B wheels for a couple of months now, I'm attracted by a couple things in comparison to 700C;

1. Wider, lower pressure tire options,
2. inherently stronger (slightly),
3. matches my wife's 650B Motobecane Mirage Mixte (should it be known as the M3?),
4. Easier to fit fenders, and
5. cool/different...

Ok so the last one is entirely subjective. I will say that the set of used rims/tires I used in the refurb of my wifes 'M3' sold me completely... that bike is running the Panaracer Col de Vie tires and it is a very comfortable ride.

What you see in the lead photo is really the second of three stages in acquisitions related to the conversion. First was a total lucky break at the Velo Orange garage sale last month, I picked up some prototype long reach, very nicely milled alloy break calipers.  My friend and Park Tool School teacher Mark at Spokes has sourced some of the ancillary parts to make it work and we'll be installing them when the new wheels are ready.  This second stage is the rims (Velocity Synergy), Tubes, Shimano Generator Hub, and tires ('Extra legre' Grand Bois Hetres...)  The only bad news is the fine folks at Harris Cyclery accidentaly sent me a 32 hole version of the generator hub vice a 36 hole one, so I'm waiting to hear back on the exchange/return process.  About the tires, well I bought them, darn expensive bike tires. Can't wait to see how they do, more on that soon!

I'll get some in progress photo's of the wheel building and eventually some good shots of the bike to show off the build.