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convert 29er to 27.5?


conva's picture

By conva - Posted on 07 May 2015

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

im just after peoples thoughts of converting a 29er in to a 27.5? would it work or would the 29er frame be to big for the 27.5 rims? and would it look stupid?

i just dont want to spend the money on a new bike.

[Mod. moved to MTB gear]

Simon's picture

Go the whole way and get a 26er.

Stupidly cheap at the moment and still my preference. Smiling

andyfev's picture

+ 1 for the 26" brigade... Not this old chestnut again Eye-wink

fairy1's picture

Grab some wheels off a mate and see what you think.

I am a weirdo and run a 650 front and a 26" out back, keeps the BB low HA slack and the smaller wheel at the back tries to turn on a smaller radius so it grips up more than having two same size wheels, however it only works if you are leaning the bike and makes drifting harder.

hawkeye's picture

Your bike will look like one of these.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/12/short-...

LadyToast's picture

Just been buying some great 26" stuff for my old bike, really good value at the moment and more than enough bike for practically everyone I would say.

ptpete's picture

Or you could write 650 on your tyres with white paint pen and pretend its a 650b. It will only cost 1 x paint pen.
The placebo effect should work awesomely, and it will still roll as well as a 29er, but with pretend 650b handling.
AWESOME!

MarkkyMarkk's picture

Agreed that there are some good deals on components etc, but I'm buggered if I can find a decent 100-120mm 26" fork with straight steerer & 9mm quick release. I've considered some 15mm axle forks & upgrading the front wheel to match, but I also run cetrelock discs - so options are very limited here, too.
It appears that all of the major brands are making it difficult to stick with 26".....

morrisan1's picture

I have been riding 26" frames with 650b wheels for more than two years and no problems I can't imagine putting back the 26" wheels again . So I think the conversion is better from a 26" frame to 650b than from a 29" to 650b the frame is to big and the geometry will be completely wrong.

LikeAGlove's picture

No matter what any internet genius may have told you this is a bad idea. Save your money and buy a 27.5 bike if you really want to.

fairy1's picture

Why? If the back end isn't stupidly long and the BB drop isn't excessive it should be fine. I would say putting 650b wheels on a 26" frame is the most stupid thing you could do but people do it and they love it, if it works for you, eff the rest.

Geegee's picture

27.5+ might be cool, what are you trying to achieve? It would be easy to swap between the two if you wanted.

hawkeye's picture

will be an inch or so lower. That means a lot of pedal strike.

That's a much bigger deal than the half an inch too high you get from going up a wheelsize from 26".

fairy1's picture

I ran my 650b frame with 26" wheels and the BB height sat at 12" which did make it clip some rocks but it was a lot of fun. With the longer wheelbase of a 29er you would clip more often so it may not be as much fun.

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