Mark’s 650B gravel

Mark’s 650B gravel

Mark is a local rider who had built up a set of 650B wheels with 42mm tires and squeezed them into an old road frame; this enabled him to test out the wheel/tire size, but wasn’t a great overall solution. So we took those wheels (converted to 12mm thru-axles) and designed a dedicated frameset around them. The geometry matches Mark’s preferred road bike positioning and handling, but with clearance for the big tires and fenders.

The frame features downtube shifter bosses for versatility (Mark is currently running a shifter there for the front derailleur, and has an adjuster stop on the other side for the rear STI lever), and external cables and hoses for ease of maintenance. The rear dropouts have the Syntace X12 thru-axle system, with custom flatmount bosses for the rear caliper.

We have one good exploring gravel ride under our tires together so far, and hopefully many more – I am excited to ride a bunch of gravel this winter; super fun to have new places to get lost!

One Comment

  1. Mark Hibbard / August 20, 2016

    The entire experience, from start to finish with Rob and this build has been wonderful. When I first spoke to him about a 650B gravel bike, Rob took about an hour to listen and discuss pertinent details of geometry, materials, etc. I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted, and, his expertise guided me through to an excellent frame. Through the building process, Rob communicated clearly his timeline for finishing, and, he made sure to anticipate componentry that I would need so that I had everything required for the build when the frame was complete. The build quality of the frame is superb; everything came together perfectly. After logging several gravel rides, I can honestly say this is one of my favorite bikes; it rides like a road bike, but you can take it anywhere there are roads.

    Thanks for a great bike, Rob!

    Mark

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