Craig Montgomery asked:
>>Sorry if this sounds like the iBOB :^) I have a British Path/Road
>>originally designed for 26 1/4 (597's). Given this size is no longer an
>>option, what would be a better replacement, 650B's(584) or 700c's(622)?
Mark Stonich suggested:
>26x 1-3/8" AKA 650A (590) would be the closest. Not funky enough
>for the iBOB crowd, but you can get a tire anywhere.
That's true, and 590 is a fundamentally _British_ size.
It mainly comes down to the brakes. To go from 597 to 590, you need to be able to lower the brake shoes by 3 1/2 mm.
To go from 597 to 584, you need to be able to lower the shoes by 6 1/2 mm--do you have that much room in the slots?
To go from 597 to 622 you would almost certainly need to replace the calipers with shorter ones, but this would likely result in considerably improved braking.
584 stuff is more expensive and harder to find than 590 but there is a greater range of widths available in 584 mm than 590.
622 is definitely a viable option, but only with fairly narrow tires, sorry, tyres. It would be less "authentic" with 622 but could be quicker, certainly easier to get supplies for.
Sheldon "Easy Question, Difficult Answer" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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