I'm a bit late in the discussion, but wanted to add something for the archives. I have two pair of DAM wood rims acquired with the MPI inventory. One pair is 700c, the other is 650b, both for tubulars. The 700c rims are quite wide, about 33mm, and the tire seat area is about 27mm. The 650b rims are actually narrower at about 28mm, with a tire seat area of about 22mm. The 650b rims have fat unglued Vittoria tires on them. I'm pretty sure that the 650b set was for sulky racing carts, not bicycles. I say this because I also acquired two sets of sulky disc wheels, one in a box labeled "racing" and the other in a box labeled "training", both 650b, and I know that Mel sold sulky wheels and tires (as well as scooter tires) at some point. I have to suspect that the DAM rims are from a later period than the 50's, since MPI began in 1958, and I'm confident that Mel didn't jump into this kind of stuff right away. Of course, it's possible that these were just oddities that someone gave to Mel along the way. I haven't spoken to Mel specifically about these, but I will when the next opportunity arises.
I'd like to know more about these rims, about DAM rims in particular, and about the use of 650b rims in sulky applications. Could it be that there are interesting 650b rims and tires out there somewhere, but bike geeks are just looking in the wrong places?
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Wayne Bingham
Velo Classique
PO Box 2069
Purcellville, VA 20134 USA
540-338-8376
http://www.veloclassique.com