I don’t have a clue. They just said “we wouldn’t recommend it”.

You should ask why.

here is the question you should ask them. "what tire radius did you choose as a design input when you designed your frame?" if they come back with anything other than a specific number, then pass that frame maker by. and, it's not "bummer." it's "thank god." because you haven't bought it yet. "bummer" would be if you bought it and then you found out you chose poorly.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I did. Here’s their reply:


The allroad is really a road bike. the chainstays are not shaped to where any more clearance would be gained by going 650. you would actually probably lose clearance.

I am assuming you are not looking at a Festka anymore give they very clearly advertise the bike for dual wheel sizes but instead are looking at the Allied Allroad. I had a quick look at the Allied website and the geometry looks to run into the same issue a Trek Domane does when you try and put in 650B wheel. They have kept the chain stay short, haven't dropped it and have shapes it to pinch in near the chain ring to provide clearance for at least a 53 ring if you wanted it. The funny thing about this shape is that it means the narrowest point on the chain stay is right about the widest part of 650b tire and so I agree with Allied you would probably lose clearance although it kinda tire dependent. Hopefully the pictures below work and you should be able to see that if you decreased the wheel size and thereby moved the tire further from the seat tube you would bring the tire closer the chain stay.

Yea I decided ordering a bike from the Czech Republic made me a little too uncomfortable with repairs, warranty needs, etc. I’m probably going to get the All Road from allied cycle works. I’ve ridden their Alfa road bike for 3 years now and love it. I’ll probably end up selling it as there’s lots of overlap between the two. I don’t anticipate riding gravel often. Probably just a few gravel fondos a year to mix things up. If I do love gravel I’d probably get a lower end gravel bike like the aspero or similar.

That's like saying ordering an Italian bike is just too far away.

Oh and the Festka is also really really expensive. After these margaritas in front of me I may order later tonight 🤌🏻

I’m think of buying a gravel bike this Spring/Summer but this thread has me thinking keeping my old LeMond Poprad with a triple crank is easier.

1x vs 2x
700 vs 650
Frames designed around Specific tire widths
Blah

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Formerly DrD

on the Feska, it seems as if they're espousing the same thing i wrote you above. when you go to their site here is the first, and the highlighted, quote from a user on that company's front page:

"Festka Rover is a very versatile bike. Firstly I used it as a road bike, but when I bought the second pair of wheels (650b size, 50mm width) and bags I fell in love for bikepacking. Rover handles every terrain. It’s amazing to have a bike that’s so good both off the road and on the road.”

then, they say below that that this is the recommended use: 2 wheelsets, one 700c and one 650b. i think the questions then are what max tire clearance do you want, and what gearing scheme do you want. if i were you i'd broaden my horizon, and look at 3T, OPEN, OBED, and other bikes that offer you a lot more range.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Very very helpful information Dan. Crowd sourcing information is why I’m a slowtwitcher!