Slowly I have been toying around with the thought of 650b on the road for longer distances. Most my rides on pavement consist of commuting or longer 40+ mile rides. This has brings me to thinking about 650b wheels with slightly fatter tires than my 23c.  More stable for my commute, especially if I want to load it down with panniers, and more comfort that wider tires can give.

Renold from YiPsan Bicycles recently posted a great article on his blog about why 650b are great for the road. He touches on handling, acceleration, gear choices and over all wheel/tire diameter. The 650b bike he has pictured on his site really grabs my attention. Disc brakes, fenders, decent toe clearance, and comfortable tires. I could commute, ride longer rides, path ways, tour and maybe even race cross with it.

With a 32mm to 42mm width tire mounted, the resultant wheel diameter of a 650b wheel is quite close to a 700×23c wheel, this means that if you are used to modern sport bikes with such a wheel size, you will easily adapt to the 650b size since the gearing on the bike will feel very similar. However, you can also easily gear down for loaded applications or off road riding conditions. For those concerned about speed, I must say that riding a 650b wheeled bikes is not any slower than a 700×23c wheeled bike on most recreational sport riding provided that the bike fit well. The up side though is a much more comfortable ride which may give the rider a stronger ride for a longer duration.
Another thing about gearing is that with a wide tire 700c wheeled bike, it will be harder to accelerate or require down shifting more. If in a stop and go situation, it can be tiring with all the shifting duties. I think that on a 650b wheeled bike, a compact crank (50/34) combined with any road or off road cassette can cover most riding conditions easily.

Take a second to click over to the article and give me your thoughts!