The following is a piece of the email I recieved from Rivendell Sterling Peters San Diego
We've finally decided, yes, for sure, the Saluki will be a 650B bike. It will come in sizes 50-53-55-57-59-61, and if the hundred we're making ever sell out, we may add another size, probably smaller.
It will be sold as a frameset (which as we use the term, means with fork also), and with headset. Color undecided, but we figure you either want a 650B bike or you don't, and so we haven't much thought about the color. The headbadge artwork can be seen here:
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/
For those of you to whom this is Greek, 650B is an old French wheel size, larger than a mountain bike 26-inch wheel, smaller than 700c. You can learn more about it in the next Reader.
In any case, we are planning to stock rims and tires as well. We're working on that and making some headway. A 650B bike still won't be the one you grab to go on your Tour de Third World, but for all-purpose day rides within 100 miles of your home in the U.S. or France, it should be fine. But again, and let me emphasizes this, 650B is not The Wheel Size For the Squeamish, and we aren't trying to talk you into it. But other than that, you ought to get one...
Who makes 650B rims? Rigida makes a really nice 36-hole double-eyeletted rim, silver and classically styled except for some weird but removable decals. We'll probably stock this. It weighs about 540g, so it's a toury-type rim.
We're well on the way to having Velocity make a rim for us. It would be premature to call this one a done deal, but we have sent them a hefty deposit on 400 rims (200 front, 200 asymmetrical rear). There are some technical issues to work out (unless, raise your hand if you want the tires to blow off the rims), but we expect all will be fine, and then we'll have a mess of rims. These will be 32-hole and weigh about 450g.
Tirewise, no issues at all. Mitsuboshi makes them, Panaracer makes them, Kenda, Michelin, and Schwalbe all make 'em, and we'll stock a few. Harris has some, too. Tires aren't the issue, but again, if you're squeamish, t'ain't the bike for you. But other than that, yotta get one...
Eventually there may be other models (by us or other makers), and all in all, it will not be a bad thing to see this smart wheel size return. If you aren't part of the solution, the saying goes, yer parta the problem; and we wanted to be part of the solution, just this once. In any case, the pattern has already taken shape: We don't exactly follow trends, and we do think about these things, and sometimes our thoughts are private and sometimes they aren't, but I promise you we don't make these 650B-like decisions lightly.