Over at About.com they have this mountain bike expert, Kevin. He’s an engineer and all in all knows his stuff. Every few days he’ll put out a new article involving almost anything that is mountain bike oriented. There is an article he wrote about 650b’s and his thoughts on the technology. Coming from a mechanical engineer in the bike industry I think it all has sound education behind his opinions.

So why 650B? The people behind the 650B movement claim that with 650B tires you get all of the same advantages of the 29″ movement (lower rolling resistance, better traction, smoother ride, etc.) with less of the disadvantages (geometry limitations, toe clearance issues, higher center of gravity, suspension travel limitations).

Much of this may be true, but as I always say, you should get out on a bike and see for yourself if it works for you.

One cool thing about these 650B wheels is that some fork manufacturers are now giving them the OK to run in their standard 26″ forks. This will take the 650B movement a long ways down the road to longer travel without other sacrifices.

I find the idea of looking into different wheel sizes appealing, but I think it may be a long time, if ever, before we as an industry can say what wheel size is best for any type of riding and any type of rider.

Read the whole article here.