jaretj wrote:
Yes, I saw that, thanks. That was the article I was concerned about in post 36.
I'm not saying I disagree with the article, I'm concerned with the trend. As long as I can get good 650C tires I'm good for about 8 years. Maybe something will happen by then.
My point is that if the bike companies want everyone to go to 700C wheels, make a bike that will work for small people like Trek did with the Superfly. Hopefully people like you and Dan can put that idea in the manufactures ears.
I'm concerned with the trend, too. I think I can speak for Dan when I say that both he and I have beat the small-wheel-drum very loudly for years (and both of us are over 6 feet tall, so it doesn't even affect us personally).
Personally, I kind of disagree that it's worth making a big stink about 700c wheels and trying to make them work for shorter folks - at some point there is a cutoff that will necessitate small wheels. Say right now it's 5'3". They can change the geometry to make it work for someone that's 5'2"... but there are still folks who are 5'1". Smaller wheels address ALL of their needs, plus have other benefits covered in my article (i.e. toe overlap, lighter weight, less side force from crosswinds, etc).
If I was in your shoes, I'd probably just try to keep a good stock of tires on hand at all times. For wheels, there are still enough new options to get you by - Premier Tactical, Renn Multisport, and I'm pretty sure Velocity still makes the Deep V in 650c. Actually, I still have a set of Serfas Urbana tires that you can have if you pay shipping. I
reviewed them a while back. They're listed as 650c x 28mm, but it's more like 26mm on an average rims. The tires are used but still have quite a bit of life left.