650B wheels on 26" Long Haul Trucker

[style over speed]

The information was here My link, and planet x were stocking Hetre Grand Bois tyres, so I had to try this

So just wanted to confirm that it is possible to fit 650b wheels with Tektro cr 720 brakes. Need to use the inserts that came with the brakes as the Koolstop pads I'd fitted a while ago wouldn't reach.

Not enough adjustment for koolstops:



but the tektro's just fit at the top of their adjusment range:




close fit:




Side by side 26" Big apples (2" size) and 650B Hetre Grand Bois 42 size, theres not much in it. It was a straight swap onto the bike:




almost the same width:



only had a quick test ride, not sure if they're an order of magnitude better but they certainly roll along very nicely and make a nice humming sound on the tarmac. So pretty pleased it all worked

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Very interesting and well done!

I do agree the 2" Big Apples are heavy, but if the motivation is light but fattish tyre/rim combo have you considered Schwalbe's Kojak on 26" wheels? I have the 1.35"/35mm folding e.g. and they do weigh under 300g as advertised. The 2" folding at 460g is nearly 300g lighter than the Big Apple (albeit 48g heavier than the 42mm Grand Bois per PX's ad).

I am guessing here since I know next to nothing about 650B rim/wheel availability but I would have thought you can get significantly lighter wheels/rims in 26" than in 650B because of the sheer amount of technical development done on them? E.g. do 650B rims come in at under 360g each or wheels come in at under 1600g a pair without skewers/cassette/tyres/tubes?