650b is Moving!
January 23rd, 2009 by Arleigh650b site will be moving and intergrating with our sister site TwentyNineInches.com. We will still post updates when new things surface, have reviews or anything of that sort but 650b.com will forward to TwentyNineInches.com
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Sad… Guess I’m going to have to change my quick links.
Ah, the curse of the “globalization merger mania” continues!
Why is no one simply happy to occupy an eccentric niche? To take a certain pride in sometimes being the odd man out? To revel in the individual pursuits of fancy and obsession despite the incomprehension of the masses?
Woe is me, sixfiftyB joins the herd. To gather where the trumpet and bellow proclaims “if a little bigger is better then a lot bigger must be best!”
I bid you a fond farewell and adu…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCt0g0VpnyU
RJ
Thanks and good luck, Arleigh.
It will likely become more of the my tire size is better than your tire size and 650b is destined to fail, yada yada.
thanks for the good times arleigh. sorry to hear you giving up on the wheel size so quickly. the troll killer is certain that any 650b info will be handled like the proverbial red-headed step child over at the over-compensation, male enhancement, er, um twentiynineinches.com.
the troll killer wont be visiting that site anytime soon, or ever for that matter. too many arses over there for the troll killer to stomach; especially that moron of a ‘moderator’.
sayonara,
tk
I would like to say we aren’t giving up on the wheel size. I still will be at Sea Otter and Interbike to give you the latest news on this but for traffic and advertising sake we decided it was smartest to put all “big wheels” in one location.
RJ - I’m sorry you feel the way you do, we haven’t sold out. Twentynineinches.com and 650b.com are run by the same writers and company.
Arleigh,
I meant nothing personal by my tongue in cheek comments. I appreciate all the work you have done. But the fact is that for me a 29er site holds no interest, I already know all I care to about that particular topic. I see a merger of the sites as another example of something that may make business sense but offers me no additional value from the “consumer” end. It actually just provides a distraction from the topic that brought me to your site in the first place, which is of course the 650B wheel size.
So, good luck with the future direction.
RJ
Well, one could also say that bailing out on looking for 650B stuff just because we are combining the sites is also a sell out on the viewers end. Ya know? Like, are you guys really into this? Just saying…..
I always chuckle when folks paint me as the bad guy or the villian in terms of the 650B wheels. Heck, it was my idea to put this site separate from Twenty Nine Inches and have Arliegh run it in the first place, but that wouldn’t matter to some of you folks.
But beyond all of this, which is really just silly, we’ll be covering 650B stuff with objectiveness, fairness, and an open mind just as we always have been. We’ll also be combining mixed wheel sizes and 36″ers into the section called “Rogue Wheels” that we have created for these niche bikes. We’ll ask hard questions and we’ll say we were wrong when we are proven to be wrong. If you want to join in the fun, you are invited.
If you don’t, have a great ride. Maybe our trails will cross somewhere else down the road.
I’m not trying to start a debate here, really. But I will say just one more thing in answer to Ted’s question.
My POV is that I’m into a lot of things, one of them is pursuing the 650B. But I only have so much time for something like the minutiae of different bicycle wheel sizes - I am only interested in 650B related content specifically. What I like best about the 650B wheel specific site is that it doesn’t matter if there’s something new every day (or even every week). I know for sure that if there is something new posted it has a high probability of being of interest to me.
With a combined site that topic of interest is diluted, I have to weed through unrelated stuff. Only time will tell if enough content of interest will come up with the new combined site to keep me coming back. A quick look has already not given me a hopeful feeling about that.
So look, I’m not trying to label villains. I don’t expect the world to revolve around my specific interests. What started as a tongue in cheek ode to the loss of a good site turns into some free, though unsolicited, advice. Some visitors to your sites already know what they are looking for, and what they are not. If you really need to combine such a wide range of content to make the numbers pencil out for you then consider some sort of flagging of content that would allow people like me to filter their personal wheat from the chafe.
Beyond that I wish you luck in your future ventures. And if your travels bring you anywhere around Bend, Oregon we may indeed cross paths. If so, I’d gladly show you around and maybe buy you beer - if you aren’t compelled to buy me one first.
Just check in with Hutch’s, they know how to reach me.
RJ
HA! this is too funny. You just can’t make everyone happy, can you?
Personally, I’m glad to see these changes. I like bikes. More specifically, I like 29″er’s and 650B’s. They’re both neat. They both work for me. I’ll be happy to have to make only one click to see news and reviews for both sizes. I’ll also be very happy to not have to read any more of TK’s third person drivel.
RJ - scrolling isn’t THAT hard, is it?
gt you’re too funny…
“we’ll be covering 650B stuff with objectiveness, fairness, and an open mind just as we always have been. ”
you mean like these glistening gems of bjectivity?
http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/search?q=Interbike+650b
if this is representative of your idea of objective, fair and open minded coverage, the troll killer shudders to think of what your brand of partisan journalism might look like.
the the troll killer did get a chuckle out of the “To “B” Or Not To “B”?” article. the troll killer thought it was rather funny and ironic since so many of us have suffered the slings and arrows of what that mortal coil (guitar ted) considers objective reporting.
mortal coil: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t85/indythehoosier/poop.jpg
alvertersane,
tk
troll killer,
Wow, you make some good points with those links.
Guitar Ted said:
“I think the wheelsize is being pushed on an unsuspecting market place by one main motivation: money. Yep, I really do not see any other reason behind it that makes any sense.”
First thought - imagine that, someone in business for money! Stunning and outrageous!
Second thought - hardly sounds like unbiased coverage.
Sometimes its what the scrolling reveals that’s the problem…
RJ
RJ & troll killer,
I still will be doing most of the reviewing and writing for 650b, G-ted might add his two cents in but that will be very rare.
Everyone is open to their opinion of 650b, 29 26 or even 36, G-ted has his and has shared it. If you have read 650b you will know that I am the main contributor here and that will continue for the rogue 650b info over at TwentyNineInches.com
rj,
you don’t know the half of it. if anyone cared to wade through his bloviating drivel, you could find no shortage of gt’s supposed ‘objectivity’.
http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2008/07/alternative-wheel-sizes-where-is-it.html
http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-safe-choice.html
just go to his blog or 29inches and search for 650b. you’ll find out what this self aggrandized guru, would be industry insider and supposed ’somebody’ really thinks.
the troll killer generally likes to live and let live and avoid personal attacks, but its hard when a person so aggressively goes out of his way to revile something that he has almost zero experience with, and yet many people seem to enjoy.
his hypocrisy knows no bounds either. you noticed his comment about money; the troll killer is certain he has some financial interest in 29ers, through his blog, web site, big wheeled ballyhoo, etc.
the troll killer is dubious about gt’s supposed expertise as well. what can a guy who weighs 140 kilos, lives in a region who’s highest elevation is 487 meters, has snow on the ground for half the year and spends half his day on the internet, really know about high performance bicycles?
everybody’s got the right to express themselves, and gt seemingly has no shortage of things to wax philosophical about… but troll killer certainly wouldn’t recommend taking advice from this corpulent cleric of score and nine sect. simply put, it isn’t necessarily so just because gt says so.
good night and good luck,
tk
If it were true objectivity, I suspect the site would NOT be named TwentyNineInches.com; but somethin like BigWheeledMountainBikes.com.
So 29ers get what they want and no other wheel sizes get in the way of their ambitions.
Thanks for the effort though.
These are just bleeping! bikes. In the course of events who cares what bleeping! Guitar Ted, bleeping! David Copperfield or bleeping! TK say about bikes?Bleep them!. After all, it is about the bleeping! money! 650b is bleeping! golden!
Hey Arleigh, funny how the Holiday post only got two responses. Where’s the spirit?
nalax gets it.
tk
Unfortunately exactly what Nalax is talking about is why we have had to combine sites. The traffic, feedback or interests in 650b was not equaling alone the cost of keeping this site running, let alone the time it takes me to drill through, contact manufactors and keep my normal 40 hour job.
It’s always interesting who comes out of the wood work when things aren’t going the way they want, yet when 650b was at its most updated with product reviews, and information there was no feedback or interest.
TK- I also noticed no comments on GT’s posts about 27.5″ers.
Maybe y’all should count your blessings that the site isn’t dissolving altogether. At least you’ll have an outlet for all of your “tweener” fantasies…..
Nugga nugga nooch.
Troll killer-
Sorry to keep inundating you with comments, but you brought it about single-handedly. Why the hate, child? Did someone point at your Beasley and chuckle? Shoot…
There was SO MUCH talk about 650b’s on TNI, that I got fed up and suggested that they break the site in 2 and come out with twentysevenandahalfinches.com and get it over with!!
I think the things that GT said about 650’s in the beginning weren’t the most un-biased, but all the rest of us in the industry were thinking the same things. And looky looky, there are about the same number of tires, forks and wheels for 650 b’s as there were when the “movement” first started happening. I think perhaps there are some hard feelings there somewhere?! Deep inside maybe? Right next to your love of John Tesh concerts?
Look, I’m sorry about 650b.com. It sucks that the site is going down and being absorbed by TNI. Sorry. Mostly sorry to Arleigh. The fact that none of you had any positive feedback about the blog/site and now you launch a barrage of insults at GT because you all were inactive is really stupid and unnecessary.
And lastly, Troll Killer:
1) It’s all objective reporting until someone says something to your contrary.
2) Referring to yourself in the 3rd person all the time is pretty stale. That type of behavior is usually reserved for date rapists and used car salesmen.
And that’s all that Dirt McGirt has to say right now.
Dirt (if that’s your real name…),
Thank you so much for the heartfelt welcome to the new combined website. You have allied my every concern that the enthusiasts of the 650B wheel size would not be greeted with open arms. As a fellow oddball wheel size proponent yourself it’s clear you have a deep empathy from your recent experience as championing another fringe market segment yourself. I’m so thankful that such an important industry insider has deemed us worthy of your indispensable insight. I am now full of hope the merits of each wheel size will be determined by the riders themselves and not on the basis of a raucous popularity contest. The example you set is truly extraordinary.
I will now return to my humble existence secure in the assurance henceforth the “other than 26 inch” world will be united in peace, harmony and mutual respect.
Respectfully,
RJ
So you won’t be greeted warmly. Y’all should be used to that by now.
I gave 650b a fair swing. I think it’s an attempt at outrunning another already established alternate wheelsize. And more power to the companies behind it! That takes big huevos to dust off an old and not very widely used wheelsize from off the touring shelf and market it as something new and exciting.
I also have respect for people that will follow such a niche market with wild such wild abandon that they’ll follow and contribute and comment on a site dedicated to that niche market…. but wait…. you didn’t…. and now the site is being combined with another site that is dedicated to another already widely accepted wheelsize alternative……..
Dang it! I almost respected you!! Almost…..
And no, I don’t want/need your respect or your snippy remarks.
Get out and ride and quit being a friggin cry baby, will ya?!
more supposed “objectivity’ from the inane one… who by the way didn’t even attend the show. ???
http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2009/03/wednesday-news-and-views.html
if you listen to kent eriksen here: http://tinyurl.com/bzbr5q
you’d think 650b was a pretty good thing. maybe kent, sherwood, carl, kirk, grant and the host of other designers behind 650b really don’t know anything about bikes after all? maybe they need to go to the gt school of bicycle design? tk is sure that gt would be happy to enlighten these wankers.
sholom aleichem,
tk
This is the best place to go:
http://650bpalace.blogspot.com/
I always buy an essay or term papers just about this topic.
People in the world take the home loans from various creditors, because it is comfortable.